(Best E Casino) - Despite struggling on the road this season, the
Chicago Cubs had no problem with the
Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park to begin this week. Now, the National League's top home club returns to Chicago this afternoon to begin a nine-game homestand with the first of three straight meetings against the new-look
Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field.
Chicago headed to Milwaukee on Monday with a slim one-game lead over the Brewers for supremacy in the NL Central. A four-game sweep later and the Cubs have upped their edge over the Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals to five games, while improving to 21 games over .500 at 65-44. Chicago has not been 21 games above .500 since September 24, 2004.
The Cubs, who own the best home mark in the NL at 39-14, outscored Milwaukee 31-11 in the series and won Thursday's finale by an 11-4 count. The club posted four home runs on the day to back Rich Harden's first win as a Cub, getting a grand slam and solo shot from Jim Edmonds. Kosuke Fukudome added a two-run homer, while Alfonso Soriano added a solo blast in Chicago's fifth straight win.
Soriano has a hit in eight of the nine games he has played in since returning from a hand injury that had sidelined him since June 11. He is hitting .333 (13-for-39) since coming off the disabled list with three homers, seven RBI and three stolen bases. He is a career .381 batter versus the Pirates with 16 homers and 33 RBI in 33 games.
The Cubs have the fourth-best team earned run average in the NL at 3.69, but today's starter, Jason Marquis, has done little to help that number. The right-hander is 3-3 with a 5.81 ERA in 10 home starts this year, and 6-6 overall with a 4.69 ERA in 19 starts this season.
Marquis is 0-3 with a 5.40 ERA in his last five outings, having not won since beating the White Sox on June 21. Marquis got a no-decision in his last start, giving up six runs on nine hits over six innings on Sunday versus Florida.
The 30-year-old has topped Pittsburgh twice in three starts this season, however, including a win on April 19 that saw him throw six innings of one-run ball. Lifetime, Marquis is 7-5 with a 4.03 ERA in 17 starts and four relief outings versus Pittsburgh.
The Pirates, once again sellers at the non-waiver trade deadline, will start Jeff Karstens today. Karstens was one of four players acquired from the Yankees last week for outfielder Xavier Nady and reliever Damaso Marte, and will pitch against an NL club for the first time in his career.
The 25-year-old right-hander, who is also making his 2008 debut, was 2-1 with a 3.80 ERA in eight games (6 starts) in 2006, but went just 1-4 with an 11.05 ERA in three starts and four relief outings last year.
After falling to Colorado on Wednesday to snap a two-game winning streak, the Pirates stayed in the headlines on Thursday, as they were one of the three teams involved in the Manny Ramirez-to-Los Angeles trade.
The Pirates shipped Ramirez's replacement to Boston in the form of Jason Bay, while getting four players in return. From the Red Sox, the Pirates received reliever Craig Hansen and outfielder Brandon Moss, while also getting third baseman Andy LaRoche and pitcher Bryan Morris from the Dodgers.
Hansen, Moss and LaRoche will all be on the roster for today's game, while Morris will report to Class-A Hickory.
Bay, who drove in two runs in what turned out to be his final game with Pittsburgh on Wednesday, hit .282 with 22 homers and 64 RBI in 106 games with the Pirates this season. The two-time All-Star is a career .281 hitter with 140 home runs and 454 RBI over parts of six big league seasons, all with Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh begins a 10-game, four-city road trip this afternoon after wrapping a seven-game homestand at 3-4. Second baseman Freddy Sanchez missed the entire Colorado series due to back spasms and is questionable tonight.
Chicago is 9-3 against Pittsburgh this year and has won 12 of its last 15 versus the Pirates. The Cubs have also won nine of their last 12 versus the Bucs at home.
