Right-hander Ryan Dempster's eight-inning performance in Sunday night's 7-1 victory over the White Sox has caused manager Lou Piniella to change his rotation plans.
Originally, Dempster was going to pitch Friday's series opener against the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field. But with Dempster having gone deep into the game, Piniella will move Dempster back to Saturday and push rookie right-hander Sean Gallagher up from Saturday to Friday. Piniella is looking at recent history here. On June 11, Dempster tossed a complete-game victory against the Braves. In his next start, June 17 at Tampa Bay, Dempster went five innings at Tampa Bay and got a no-decision in the Cubs' 3-2 loss.
Although Dempster did not pitch poorly against the Rays, he threw 107 pitches in the short outing, compared with 119 for the complete game. Piniella said he is not a fan of complete games in general because of their effects down the line.
Dempster was allowed to go eight innings Sunday, Piniella said, because the night was cool and Dempster had economized on his pitches. His pitch count for his eight-inning performance against the White Sox was 103.
During his year and a half as manager of the Cubs, Piniella has used off days in the schedule to give his pitchers an extra day of rest.
