(Best E Casino) - Carlos Zambrano put himself in the history books last time out by throwing the Chicago Cubs' first no-hitter in 36 years. Now he'll try to lock down the team's second straight National League Central crown when he pitches the opener of a three-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals today at Wrigley Field.

On Sunday versus Houston at Milwaukee's Miller Park, Zambrano became the first Cub pitcher to throw a no-hitter since Milt Pappas did so versus San Diego on September 2, 1972. Zambrano allowed just two base runners -- one on a walk and one on a hit batter -- and fanned 10 while improving to 14-5 with a 3.41 earned run average on the season.

The game was moved to Milwaukee because of the effects of Hurricane Ike on the Gulf Coast and Houston area.

Zambrano had pitched to a 6.82 ERA in five previous outings before his no-no, and had actually had his previous start skipped due to right rotator cuff tendinitis.

The 27-year-old is 9-5 with a 2.77 ERA in 21 career starts versus the Cardinals, but was tagged for nine runs over 4 1/3 innings of a home loss to them on August 9.

Zambrano is in position to help Chicago capture back-to-back division titles for the first time in team history. The Cubs reduced their magic number for clinching the division to two with a come-from-behind win over the second- place Brewers on Thursday.

Chicago trailed 6-2 with two outs and nobody on in the ninth inning on yesterday, but saw Jim Edmonds follow Aramis Ramirez's double with a run- scoring single to center. After a Mark DeRosa base hit, Geovany Soto forced extra innings with a three-run homer and Derrek Lee made Chicago a winner late on with an RBI-single in the 12th.

That means with a win this afternoon along with a Brewers loss to the Reds, the Cubs -- who are aiming for their first World Series title since 1908 -- will clinch the division. a feat they didn't accomplish until September 28 of last year.

Standing in their way is a St. Louis club that halted a back-breaking seven- game losing streak on Thursday versus Cincinnati. Albert Pujols connected on a three-run homer of his own in the Cardinals' 5-4 victory.

The NL MVP candidate is hitting .354 on the season, second to only Atlanta's Chipper Jones (.365) in the majors, and has 34 homers and 104 RBI on the year. Pujols is hitting .378 (17-for-45) with four homers and 11 RBI in 12 games versus the Cubs this year, but is just a lifetime .250 batter (13- for-52) versus Zambrano with five homers and nine RBI.

Adam Kennedy and Felipe Lopez each contributed an RBI for the Cardinals, who are just 5-10 in September and trail the Mets by six games in the NL Wild Card race with 10 tests left to play.

Adam Wainwright will try to rebound from his worst outing of the season today for the Cardinals.

The 27-year-old righty was 4-0 with a 2.08 ERA in five starts before getting hammered in Pittsburgh on Saturday. He allowed a season-high tying six runs over four innings in his shortest outing of the year, but still escaped with a no-decision.

Wainwright is 9-3 with a 3.20 ERA this year and 0-3 with a 6.44 ERA in 14 games (5 starts) lifetime versus Chicago. He got a no-decision against the Cubs on May 2 despite 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball.

Chicago has won three of its last four versus the Cardinals and leads the season series by a 7-5 margin.