CHICAGO(AP) -- Ryan Dempster isn't ready to shut it down.

Dempster pitched a five-hitter for his third career shutout,
Jeff Baker had a two-run double and the Chicago Cubs beat the
Pittsburgh Pirates 6-0 on Tuesday night.

Derrek Lee added a two-run single for the Cubs, who have won
seven of nine but were eliminated from the playoff race when the
Colorado Rockies beat Milwaukee later Tuesday.

The Cubs (82-74) guaranteed a winning record for the third
straight season. It's only the second time in the last 70 years
the Cubs have had three or more consecutive winning seasons.

Dempster struck out six and walked two. He retired the ninth
inning in order to record his first shutout since July 3, 2001,
against the Montreal Expos, when he was a member of the Florida
Marlins.

"It's unfortunate the season is coming to an end because I feel
stronger than I did earlier in the year," Dempster said.

With the victory, Dempster (11-8) became the second active
pitcher with at least 87 wins and 87 saves. John Smoltz has 213
wins and 154 saves.

Dempster is 5-1 in his last six decisions and makes his last
start Sunday against the Diamondbacks. Cubs manager Lou Piniella
believes Dempster is benefiting from the time he spent on the
disabled list in July with a broken toe.

"He's gotten better and better as the year worn down. He really
has," Piniella said. "He's pitching basically like the way he
did last year. I thought he would have a nice strong finish
because when he hurt his toe he (the disabled list time) really
freshen up his arm."

Dempster has not allowed an earned run in his last 26 innings at
Wrigley Field and his recent performance resembles his 17-6
season in 2008.

"Tonight, Dempster had all his pitches working. A good
split-finger, a good slider and good life on his fastball. He
went the distance," Pineilla said.

Pirates starter Kevin Hart (4-9) made his second start against
his former team since being acquired from the Cubs in a
five-player deal July 30. The troubles continued from the first
inning for Hart, who is 1-8 in 10 starts since being acquired
from the Cubs.

The Pirates, who were shutout for the 17th time this season,
have dropped 17 of their last 18 road games.

Ryan Theriot led off the first inning with a walk off Hart, then
went to third on Kosuke Fukudome's double. One out later, Micah
Hoffpauir hit a bouncer to first baseman Garrett Jones. Jones
made a low a flip to Hart, who was running to first to cover the
base but Hart dropped the ball and was charged with an error as
Theriot scored. Baker followed with a two-run double to give the
Cubs an early 3-0 lead.

After Pirates second baseman Delwyn Young committed the Pirates'
third error of the game to load the bases in the fourth inning,
Lee hit a two-run single and Hoffpauir drove in a run on a
fielder's choice.

"We played terrible behind him. He was misfiring, but he
battled. We make some plays, it's a lot different line score for
him," Pirates manager John Russell said. "He made some
adjustments. I thought that after the first inning he settled in
and started throwing better. Again, we played so bad behind him
it's a tough read."

Hart allowed six runs, three earned, on six hits in four innings
after the Pirates came off a series of winning three of four
from the Dodgers.

"It was one of those freak nights. It's tough," Hart said. "We
played a really good series against L.A. and we wanted to carry
it over and finish this season really strong. It's tough to come
in and do what we did tonight."

NOTES: Before the game, Piniella took exception to a column
questioning his passion as a manager. "We work exceedingly hard
here as a staff and if you want to stick around and be here 'til
1 O'clock, 1:30 in the morning, when the parking lot is closed
when we're having meetings on how to get our team better you
will see that we're very interested and take a lot of pride in
what we do," he said. ... Cubs reliever Kevin Gregg is out of
for the season with cracked rib cartilage. ... Cubs 3B Aramis
Ramirez missed the game with a sore shoulder. ... The Pirates
claimed right-handed reliever Anthony Claggett off waivers from
the New York Yankees. ... The Cubs last had six consecutive
winning seasons between 1967-72. ... According to the Pirates
Web site, the club will retain pitching coach Joe Kerrigan for
the 2010 season and will relieve Rich Donnelly from his duties
of baseball operations adviser.