Tuesday night’s 3-0 win over the Dodgers was a regular pitching duel.  Ryan Dempster looked spectacular against one of the better offenses in the National League in his eight scoreless innings as he struck out seven and allowed just one walk and four hits.  For the Dodgers, Clayton Kershaw was hardly the reason for the loss.  He went six innings and allowed four hits and struck out four.

The difference was the defense.  Rafael Furcal made two errors at short for LA, one of which allowed Ryan Theriot to reach in the sixth.  Theriot proceeded to steal second and scored on a Derrek Lee single.  The Cubs tacked on another pair of runs in the 8th when Lee sent a ball into the seats in right, but Theriot’s run was the one that counted.

After the game both Lee and Lou Piniella mentioned that the team has been playing better defense lately–a lack of which cost the Dodgers–and attributed that trend to winning more games.  Speaking of Lee, he seems to be coming around some, even if he won’t say so.  He was 3 for 3 with a walk and accounted for all three RBI for the Cubs.

Also of note Tuesday was Carlos Marmol.  “Filthy” doesn’t really do justice to his stuff.  He threw a perfect ninth for his 10th save of the year and struck out both Matt Kemp and Manny Ramirez–two exceptional hitters–with his slider.