8/31 Demp: "That wasn't a good job"

In 34 innings over five starts prior to Tuesday’s game, Ryan Dempster had given up five earned runs. The Pirates nearly matched that in the first inning in a 14-7 win over the Cubs Tuesday night. Dempster gave up seven runs over three innings, his shortest outing of the year, and took the loss. It was the right-hander’s briefest stint since a 2 1/3 innings start June 27, 2008, against the White Sox, when he gave up eight runs on seven hits.

Dempster was unbeaten in August, posting a 4-0 mark and 1.31 ERA in his previous five starts. He’s ready to turn the calendar.

“That wasn’t a good job, a good performance by me,” Dempster said. “We should’ve won that game. We scored seven runs but it’s hard when your starting pitcher, being me, puts us in a hole and it’s 7-0. That’s a lot to overcome. I didn’t execute pitches, didn’t get ahead of hitters. No explanation, I just didn’t get it done.”

There are now 29 games remaining in what has been a long season.

“The job’s still the same,” Dempster said. “You come to work and try to do your job the best you can. It doesn’t say in your contract, ‘I’ll try as hard as I can as long as we’re in it.’ You try as hard as you can every day.”

– Carrie Muskat