CHICAGO — Ryan Dempster has a shot at 20 wins. He’s much more focused on the Chicago Cubs’ 100-year championship drought.
Dempster matched a career high with his 15th victory and Aramis Ramirez hit two three-run homers, leading Chicago over the Washington Nationals 9-2 on Saturday.
Mark DeRosa homered in his third straight game and Alfonso Soriano added an RBI double for the Cubs, who improved to 48-19 at Wrigley Field. Dempster (15-5) allowed one run in 7 1/3 innings.
Converted to a starter this season after he was Chicago’s closer last year, Dempster improved to 12-2 in 16 home starts. The right-hander, who predicted in spring training that the Cubs would win the World Series for the first time since 1908, is not putting any emphasis on reaching 20 wins.
“I don’t know. I’m not worried about that. It’s a great personal accomplishment, but my motivation is one reason and one reason only, and that’s to get to the playoffs and win the World Series,” Dempster said. “I will take 15 wins and a World Series and I’d be the happiest player in baseball.”
On a muggy day, Dempster retired 13 of 14 batters between the second and sixth in conditions similar to his previous win Sunday at Florida.
“It was as hot today as it was in Florida. At least as humid. It was sticky out there,” Dempster said. “But I felt like I got stronger as the game went on. I was able to maintain myself.”
The Cubs, who have the best record in the NL at 79-50, bounced back from Friday’s 13-5 loss to the struggling Nationals by getting 13 hits.
