Of all the Texas Rangers solid starters — Yu Darvish, Matt Harrison, etc. — no Rangers pitcher has more wins since the July 31 trade deadline than Ryan Dempster, who was acquired that day from the Chicago Cubs, sub-3.00 ERA and all.
That ERA took a hit early in his Rangers tenure, as he gave up eight earned runs, TWICE, in his first three Rangers starts. Since then, he's been pretty spectacular.
Dempster is now 5-1 as a Rangers pitcher (the club is 6-1 in his starts) and now has four straight quality starts after going six innings on Wednesday night, allowing just four hits and two runs with eight strikeouts and two walks.
“I was in a situation [with the Cubs] where you were playing for pride,” Dempster told reporters after the game. “Now, you’re playing to win the division and go to the playoffs. I’m just trying to do my part every fifth day and be as prepared as I can be. When my number is up, I just go out there and do the best job I can.”
So far, so good.
