Cubs starter Ryan Dempster stole the show today in a matchup against former teammate & mentor Greg Maddux, who made possibly his final Wrigley Field appearence on Thursday afternoon.

Dempster outpitched the future Hall-of-Famer, as he struck out a career-high 12 batters & came just 2 outs shorts of pitching a complete game during the Cubs’ 4-0 shutout win over the Padres.

The Cubs had a chance to get on the board in the bottom of the 2nd inning after Aramis Ramirez hit a lead-off double against Maddux.

Kosuke Fukudome grounded out to 2nd, but was able to advance Ramirez to 3rd for Jim Edmonds, who made his Cub debut today in centerfield against his former team.

During Edmonds’ at-bat, Maddux threw a wild-pitch which bounced off the backstop & right to Padres catcher Luke Carlin, who nailed Ramirez at the plate.

That play was critical, because Edmonds would later single which could’ve driven in Ramirez for the game’s 1st run.

The Cubs had yet another chance to score in the bottom of the 4th inning after Aramis Ramirez & Kosuke Fukudome hit back-to-back 1 out singles off Maddux.

Jim Edmonds would end the threat, as he hit into an inning-ending doubleplay which drew some boos from the fans at Wrigley Field.

The Cubs would finally get to Maddux in the bottom of the 5th inning after Ronny Cedeno & Henry Blanco hit back-to-back singles.

Cubs starter Ryan Dempster then followed with an RBI single, scoring Cedeno from 2nd base to give Chicago a 1-0 lead.

2 batters later, Ryan Theriot hit a bases-loaded sac fly to right field, scoring Blanco from 3rd base & giving the Cubs a 2-0 lead.

Derrek Lee knocked Maddux out of the game with his 2-run double, which scored Dempster & Soriano (who singled to load the bases) to give the Cubs a 4-0 lead.

The Wrigley Field fans gave Maddux a standing ovation as he left the game, realizing that it could be the 23 year veteran’s final appearence at the Friendly Confines.

Meanwhile, Ryan Dempster was on cruise control & appeared to be on his way to a complete game shutout win until the 9th inning.

Dempster gave up a lead-off double to Brian Giles before striking out Adrian Gonzalez for his career-high 12th K of the afternoon.

Kevin Kouzmanoff then singled, which ended Dempster’s afternoon.

Cubs closer Kerry Wood then entered the game & struck out both Khalil Greene & Josh Bard to pick up his 8th save of the season.

Ryan Dempster (5-1) picks up the win after pitching over 8 innings of shutout ball & striking out a career-high 12 batters.

Greg Maddux (3-4) takes the loss & suffered his shortest outing of the season, as he lasted just 4 & 1/3rd innings while allowing 4 runs on 11 hits.

The Cubs are now 7-1 on their current homestand & look to keep it rollin’ against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday afternoon at 1:20 PM cst at Wrigley Field.

Cubs rookie righthander Sean Gallagher (0-0, 6.48) will take the mound & be opposed by Pirates southpaw & Evergreen Park native Tom Gorzelanny (3-3, 5.97).

Gallagher’s only previous apperance against the Pirates was in relief on July 6th, 2007 as he gave up 1 hit on 1 run, walked two & struck out one in 1 & 1/3rd of an inning during the Cubs’ 8-4 loss.

In 2 starts already this season against Chicago, Gorzelanny has failed to reach the 3rd inning & has given up 14 runs in 5 innings for an eye-popping 25.20 ERA.

Overall, Gorzelanny has lost his last 3 starts at Wrigley Field against the Cubs & hasn’t beaten them there since August 4th, 2006.

Signing off for now,