Just What the Doctor Ordered

If I was going to draw up an ideal baseball game I would have drawn up Tuesday night's Cubs 3-0 victory. The Cubs had been playing great, winning 5 of their last 7 against division leading Philadelphia and Texas teams, and a very good Colorado team.
If that wasn't tough enough, on Tuesday the Cubs found themselves matched against the Dodgers, followed by the rival Cardinals.
That's why this game was so important. To this point, the Cubs have underachieved. They have wasted many excellent pitching performances because they haven't been able to come up with timely hits. Ryan Dempster has been one of those pitchers who has suffered from poor run support. Each of his 4 losses have been decided by two runs or less. Despite a 3.73 ERA going into Tuesday's game, Dempster was only 2-4.
Dempster pitched an absolute gem against the Dodgers, giving up only 3 hits in 8 innings, while striking out 7. This was the type of performance the Cubs needed to start this homestand. I believe it's crucial for them to take 4 out of the the next 6 if they want to be viewed as a serious playoff contender.
Demspter's performance was part of the ideal game I was talking about. The bullpen can't exactly be trusted at this point, and as well as the starter's have pitched, it's important that they can go at least 7 strong innings.

The other aspect of an ideal game is for a struggling player to break out of their slump. Derrek Lee, batting just .218 and 2 for his last 15 heading into the the game did just that. Lee came up with a huge single in the 6th to knock in the Cubs first run. Then in the 8th he hit a 2-run bomb to give the Cubs some breathing room, putting them up 3-0. On the night, Lee went 3-3 with a HR and 3 RBI. If the Cubs want to contend Lee and Ramirez cannot slump at the same time, one or the other needs to get going.
The Cubs also played a flawless game defensively. The same cannot be said of the Dodgers. Two Rafael Furcal errors at SS cost the Dodgers. The first came in the 6th when he missed a backhanded stab allowing Theriot to reach and eventually score. The second in the 8th when Furcal's throwing error allowed Starlin Castro to reach and score on Lee's home run. In a close game such as this one, a team cannot afford to make mistakes on defense, the Dodgers did and that's why they lost the game.
Tuesday's 3-0 victory was an excellent display of pitching and defense. Derrek Lee also broke out of his mini-slump, driving in all 3 of the Cubs runs. For a team looking to prove themselves, it couldn't have been drawn up any better.