Ohhh John Henry, how does it feel when your old compadre Theo Epstein shuts your team down? I have this gut feeling that Mr. Epstein was cringing and smirking at the same time as the Cubbies dismantled his “other” team the RedSox this afternoon.

Ryan Dempster continues to make his trade value even better after pitching four-hit ball over seven shutout innings while striking out 3 and lowering his ERA to a beautiful 2.11. To top things off he decided to become a hitter going 2-2 with a solid triple and a single while scoring a run to wrap up his day.

While there wasn’t much hitting in the game (5 hits for the Sox and 4 for the Cubs) it was enough to shutout and record another win for Dempy.

Stever the Cleaver had another solid outing knocking a double while gaining two RBI’s.  Steve is making a good challenge for the catchers position while Wellington Castillo comes back from the DL. We should probably see some trade movement for Geo Soto come the trade deadline.

James Russell retired the side for Chicago in the eighth before things got tense in the ninth with Marmol on the mound (Again). But newbie Luis Valbuena made a diving stop on Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s hard smash to rob him of a hit leading off.

Marmol, back in the closer’s job after losing it, then struck out pinch hitter Daniel Nava but walked Scott Podsednik to load the bases, drawing a visit from manager Dale Sveum. He fell behind 2-0 to Pedroia before getting him to bounce to third on a 2-2 pitch to end the game.

Cubs win 3-0

Tomorrow we square off again against Theo’s “other” team.

Shark will be taking the mound against Lester at 6:15 CST