As deadline nears, Dempster still a Cub, for now

Lot of activity but no definitive action before tonight’s Cubs game with the Pirates at Wrigley Field. Justin Germano makes his first big-league start since Oct. 3, 2010 while with Cleveland against the White Sox. Ryan Dempster is still a member of the Cubs, and he spent the pregame getting ready for his scheduled start tomorrow night – for the Cubs. Dempster met with a large number of reporters in front of his locker. We’ll detail it all in our take for tomorrow’s paper. “It’s an emotional roller coaster sometimes, but at the same time, I can only control what I can control and try to do the best job of that,” Dempster said. “I’ve got a job to do tomorrow and that’s go out there and pitch and try to prepare for that and get ready for that.” That said, manager Dale Sveum said he would be surprised if Dempster were still here after tomorrow’s 3 p.m. nonwaiver trading deadline. “Yeah, I'd be surprised I guess,” Dale said. “Yeah, I would. There's just too many teams and he's too good a pitcher for people not to want him these last two months.” Dempster added that there has been no friction or ill will between him and the front office. In other news, pitcher Matt Garza threw a bullpen session today, and Sveum said it went “extremely well.” The Cubs are still hoping Garza can pitch sometime this weekend in Los Angeles, provided he’s still a member of the Cubs. MINOR-LEAGUE REPORT Class AAA Iowa fell 6-3 to New Orleans. Rodrigo Lopez worked 5 innings, giving up 5 hits and 2 runs, 1 earned. Welington Castillo hit his sixth homer, and Chicago-area boy Jim Adduci was 3-for-5. Adrian Cardenas extended his hitting streak alive by going 1-for-5. Class AA Tennessee was off. Daytona (A) beat Bradenton 12-7. Matt Loosen won his league-leading 10th game, pitching 5 innings and giving up 6 hits and 5 runs, 4 earned while walking one and striking out three. He's 10-3 with a 3.03 ERA. Rafael Lopez extended his hit streak to six games with his second homer. Roni Torreyes was 2-for-3. Peoria beat Beloit 10-6. Yao-Lin Wang pitched 4 innings, giving up 3 hits and 2 runs. Dustin Geiger hit his 11th homer. He was 2-for-4, including a double and 4 RBI. Pin-Chieh Chen was 3-for-3 with 2 walks. Boise beat Tri-City 1-0. Ian Dickson got the win, pitching 5 innings and giving up 3 hits while walking two and striking out four. He's 3-3 with a 4.38 ERA. Gioskar Amaya hit his fifth homer, and Rock Shoulders was 2-for-4 with a double. Arizona (Rookie) lost 7-3 to the Reds. Dillon Maples, a 14th-rounder last year, returned from an elbow injury and pitched 1 inning, giving up no hits and 1 run on 2 walks and 1 strikeout. Paul Blackburn tossed 2.1 innings of relief.