(Best E Casino) - Much like Chicago as a team, Carlos Zambrano has been dominating opponents at home this year. Zambrano puts his perfect home mark on the line, as the Cubs conclude a three-game set with the Pittsburgh Pirates this afternoon at Wrigley Field.

Zambrano is 6-0 with a 2.28 earned run average in 11 home starts this year. Visiting clubs are hitting just .230 versus Zambrano this year at Wrigley, where he hasn't lost since September of last year.

The right-hander was won two straight starts and four of his last five outings, pitching to a 1.78 ERA in that time. His last victory came on the road, as he defeated Milwaukee on Tuesday with eight shutout innings. Zambrano allowed five hits while striking out a season-high nine. That victory improved the 27-year-old to 12-4 on the season with a 2.80 ERA.

Zambrano is 10-6 with a 3.93 ERA in 22 career games against the Pirates, all but two of those starts. He faced Pittsburgh in back-to-back starts in May, getting a no-decision on May 17 before picking up a win six days later.

The Cubs hope that Zambrano can pitch them to a series win today. Chicago dropped the opener of this set on Friday to end a five-game winning streak, but rebounded quickly with yesterday's 5-1 victory, pushing the club's National League-best home record to 40-15.

Geovany Soto drove in two runs, while Derrek Lee and Ronny Cedeno had an RBI each to back Ted Lilly's one-run effort over 6 1/3 innings. The victory allowed Chicago to maintain its four-game lead over Milwaukee for first place in the NL Central.

Alfonso Soriano added a double to stretch his hitting streak to seven games. Soriano is batting .414 (12-for-29) over his run with three homers, six RBI and nine runs scored.

Soriano seems likely to extend his burst today, as he is a career .500 hitter (6-for-12) with three homers and five RBI against Pirates starter Ian Snell, who toes the rubber today.

Snell halted a six-start winless drought on Monday versus Colorado. After pitching to an ERA of 8.41 during his skid, Snell allowed four runs on eight hits over seven innings versus the Rockies, striking out eight with just one walk in his first win since June 11.

The 26-year-old right-hander is 4-8 with a 6.04 ERA in 21 starts and just 1-5 with a 5.26 ERA in nine games (7 starts) lifetime versus the Cubs. That includes a loss to them on April 18, when he gave up three runs on nine hits over six innings.

Snell will need more than the one run of support the Pirates gave Paul Maholm yesterday. Ryan Doumit was 3-for-4 with a run scored for Pittsburgh, which fell to 1-1 on its current 10-game, four-city road trip. The Bucs are a mere 19-33 on the road this season.

Chicago is 10-4 against Pittsburgh this year and has won 13 of its last 17 versus the Pirates. The Cubs have also won 10 of their last 14 versus the Bucs at home.