Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Associated Press
pittsburgh
Jeff Samardzija knew about the reports that had his teammate and friend Ryan Dempster on the verge of being traded to the Atlanta Braves as he got ready to take the mound Monday night for the Chicago Cubs.
Samardzija, however, had no problem keeping his focus, giving up one hit over eight innings, and Alfonso Soriano hit two run-scoring doubles as the Cubs cooled off the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0.
“I could give you a long list of things that [Dempster] has done to help me become a major league pitcher,” Samardzija said. “He’s been a great teammate and a great friend and we all love his veteran presence on a young pitching staff. However, trades and things are out of our control.”
Dempster was still in a Cubs uniform Monday night despite reports that the team had agreed to a trade that would send him to Atlanta.
The pitcher declined comment and Cubs assistant general manager Randy Bush said: “There is nothing to report.”
Dempster has the right to refuse any deal.
A message posted Monday on the Twitter account for Dempster’s foundation read: “THERE IS NO TRADE don’t know where this info came from!”
Dempster is 5-4 with a major league-best 2.11 ERA in 15 starts, making him one of the most attractive pitchers on the market before the July 31 deadline for making trades without waivers. His contract expires after this season, and the fifth-place Cubs entered Monday 18 games below .500.
Samardzija pitched like an ace on Monday, though, as the only hit he allowed was a fourth-inning infield single to Andrew McCutchen, the major leagues’ leading hitter with a .373 average. The ball ricocheted off Samardzija.
“McCutchen is really fast and your first reaction is to stop after taking a couple of steps toward the bag if you feel you have no chance,” said Samardzija in explaining why he was late to cover first base as McCutchen easily beat first baseman Anthony Rizzo’s throw. “I would have hated if had cost us a no-hitter, though. We’ll probably have [pitchers’ fielding practice] every day for a month after that.”
Samardzija (7-8) struck out five and walked one in ending Pittsburgh’s five-game winning streak. He was pulled after throwing 99 pitches as Cubs manager Dale Sveum decided to not to give the 27-year-old a shot at his first career complete game.