Ryan Dempster wanted to stay in the game. He had only thrown 83 pitches, given up three hits, was ahead 1-0 in the ninth inning and had retired 20 straight hitters at one point.Dempster was pitching his best game of the season while winning a duel with two-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants.Cubs manager Mike Quade still made the move for closer Carlos Marmol in the top of the ninth after Dempster gave up a leadoff double to pinch-hitter Pat Burrell. Marmol yielded a game-tying single to Emmanuel Burriss but then pitched out of a bases-loaded jam.The Cubs scored in the bottom half of the ninth on Aramis Ramirez’s pinch-hit single for a 2-1 victory Wednesday night that ended the Giants’ seven-game winning streak. Quade said he wanted Dempster to get the win and go the distance, if possible.In the bottom of the ninth, Sergio Romo (3-1) gave up an infield single to leadoff batter Tony Campana, who moved to second on Reed Johnson’s sacrifice. After a groundout moved him to third, Ramirez hit an 0-2 pitch to left to win it.After Burrell led off the ninth against Dempster with a double, Marmol relieved and struck out Andres Torres, but Burriss singled to center to score pinch-runner Bill Hall with Burriss taking second.Pablo Sandoval was walked intentionally before Aubrey Huff blooped a ball to center that Campana couldn’t catch and it fell for a single. Waiting to see if the ball would be caught, Burriss held and had to stop at third, loading the bases. Cody Ross then grounded into an inning-ending double play.Marmol got the win despite his fifth blown save in 21 chances.After Carlos Pena doubled in the seventh, Blake DeWitt hit an RBI single to put the Cubs ahead against Lincecum, who gave up five hits in seven innings.Dempster gave up a double to Sandoval in the first and another to Nate Schierholtz in the second. He then kept the Giants off base until Burrell doubled.Lincecum walked two and struck out nine. Dempster had no walks with six strikeouts.

NOTES—Jim Hendry says the Cubs won’t be holding a fire sale at the trading deadline despite the team’s dismal performance. Some of the team’s younger talent, he said, isn’t going anywhere. “Everybody thinks there is this automatic you have to be a buyer or a seller…..We’re certainly going to hold on to the people that we feel will be major contributors down the road.” Acknowledging how disappointed everyone in the organization is by the Cubs’ poor performance, Hendry vowed the team would not cash it in over the final three months. “We’re not going to roll over and we’re not going to pretend like it’s, `Oh poor us and wait until next year.’ We’re going to get after it and play good baseball the last 90 games.” ….Game-time temperature was 65 and with a wind blowing in from right at 10 mph the ball didn’t carry…..The Giants were still undecided on their starting pitchers for Saturday and Sunday in interleague games at Detroit. Madison Bumgarner will start Friday…..The division-leading Giants finished the halfway point of the season 46-35. A year ago, when they went on to win the World Series, they were 41-40 and in fourth place in the NL West, 7 1/2 games out of first.