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Cubs-Padres Preview

Sep 27, 2010 - 3:07 AM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

Chicago (70-84) at San Diego (87-67), 10:05 p.m. EDT

Before closing the season with a crucial road series against the team they've been regularly switching places with atop the NL West, the San Diego Padres conclude their home schedule with four games against the Chicago Cubs.

Although the Padres have had little trouble beating the Cubs, that could change Monday night opener against the resurgent Carlos Zambrano.

San Diego (87-68) dropped one-half game behind San Francisco in the West after Sunday's 12-2 loss to Cincinnati, coupled with the Giants 4-2 win in Colorado. It was the seventh time since Sept. 16 that the Giants and Padres flip-flopped atop the division. Despite falling out of first place, San Diego moved one-half game ahead of Atlanta for the wild-card spot.

The race for the division crown will likely come down to the final weekend of the season. San Diego begins a three-game series in San Francisco on Friday.

"Anybody who's in uniform relishes this," manager Bud Black told the Padres' official website. "We continued to play great baseball throughout the course of the year, and now we're down to one week. We're excited about our chances. We feel good about them."

With San Francisco off Monday, San Diego can pull into a tie atop the division with a victory over the Cubs (70-85), who have dropped three of four including an 8-7 loss to St. Louis on Sunday.

Beating Chicago might seem likely, especially considering the Padres swept a four-game series at Wrigley Field from Aug. 16-19, and have won nine of 10 meetings dating back to last season, but they also figure to have their hands full facing Zambrano (9-6, 3.56 ERA).

Zambrano is 6-0 with a 1.42 ERA in nine starts since returning to the Cubs' rotation from the restricted list, knocking more than two full runs off his previous ERA (5.61). He pitched effectively against the Padres on Aug. 19, allowing one run in six innings, but did not receive a decision in Chicago's 5-3 loss.

Zambrano's been tough on some of San Diego's top hitters since the start of last season, as Adrian Gonzalez is 0 for 6 and Miguel Tejada is 2 for 12 off him.

Gonzalez hit his 30th home run Sunday, extending his club record with a fourth straight 30-homer season. He has seven home runs in his last 13 games against the Cubs.

Zambrano has compiled a 0.82 ERA while winning his last three road starts. He's 2-1 with a 2.28 ERA in four career starts at pitcher-friendly Petco Park.

The right-hander lowered his September ERA to 0.98 on Tuesday, throwing six scoreless innings against the Giants at Wrigley but failing to earn a decision as the Cubs fell 1-0.

"For me it's a disappointing season," Zambrano said. "But the most important thing is I have my confidence back and I will be back next year with the same attitude and with the same passion for the game and ready to do some damage."

The Padres counter with Tim Stauffer (5-4, 1.95), who gave up one run and three hits in six innings of Wednesday's 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The right-hander is 2-1 with a 2.57 ERA in four starts since moving to the rotation from the bullpen.

"I'm not doing anything differently, just trying to throw some strikes," he said

Stauffer threw a scoreless inning of relief against the Cubs on Aug. 18. He will be making his first start against them since June 2, 2005, when he permitted four runs in five innings of a 5-0 loss.