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Giants eye series victory against Cubs

Jun 30, 2011 - 2:35 PM (Sports Network) - Their seven-game winning streak may be over, but the San Francisco Giants can capture a third consecutive series with a victory today over the Chicago Cubs in the finale of a four-game set at Wrigley Field.

The defending World Series champion Giants dropped a 2-1 decision on Wednesday after reliever Sergio Romo gave up the game-winning RBI single to Aramis Ramirez in the bottom of the ninth inning. Two-time NL Cy Young Award honoree Tim Lincecum struck out nine and gave up one run in seven innings.

"Today it just came down to execution," Romo said. "I didn't execute. Hitters hit bad pitches. They hit mistakes."

Emmanuel Burriss had the only RBI in the five-hit performance for the Giants, who still lead Arizona by 2 1/2 games for the National League West lead. The Diamondbacks lost to Cleveland on Wednesday.

San Francisco will try to start a new streak today and will hit the road for Detroit for three games over the weekend.

Giants starter Matt Cain looks to keep his unbeaten streak alive when he toes the rubber this afternoon. Cain is 4-0 with a 1.96 earned run average in his last five starts, with the defending champions going 4-1 in that time.

Cain recently tossed seven shutout innings and allowed four hits in a 1-0 win versus Cleveland by the Bay on Saturday. The righty struck out six and walked just one batter to improve to 7-4 in 16 starts with a 3.22 ERA. Cain, who fanned 11 in going the distance on June 8 against Washington, is 3-3 in nine road outings this season. He has made 10 career starts against the Cubs, going 5-2 with a 2.38 ERA.

Chicago won for just the fourth time in 12 games last night thanks to Ramirez's clutch pinch-hit in the ninth and recovered from Tuesday's sweep of a day-night doubleheader.

Blake DeWitt had a game-best two hits and drove in a run for the Cubs, who are 2-2 on an eight-game homestand and got eight innings of one-run ball out of starting pitcher Ryan Dempster in the no-decision. Carlos Marmol collected the win with a scoreless ninth inning.

"Just a really well-played game," Cubs manager Mike Quade said. "While it's going on, I probably don't enjoy a 2-1 win as much as a 4-0 win, but it sure is exhilarating."

Carlos Zambrano will make his 18th start of the season today for Quade's club and he's 6-4 with a 4.38 earned run average. Zambrano is 1-2 in his previous three decisions and did not factor in the outcome of a 3-2 loss at Kansas City on Saturday, as he yielded two runs over seven decent innings.

Zambrano is 1-2 in seven home starts this season and has enjoyed success in his career against San Francisco. In 11 career meetings (10 starts) with the Giants, the fiery right-hander owns a 5-1 record to go along with a 2.58 ERA.

The Giants and Cubs split a rain-shortened series back in May. San Francisco has won nine of the previous 13 meetings between the two teams.