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Cubs look for breathing room in NL Central

Sep 6, 2007 - 2:40 PM LA Dodgers (73-66) at Chicago Cubs (71-67) 2:20 pm EDT

CHICAGO (Ticker) - The Chicago Cubs will look for some breathing room in the National League Central Division and salvage a split of a four-game series when they take on the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday.

The Cubs lead the NL Central by one-half game over the Milwaukee Brewers (71-68) after rebounding from two straight loss to the Dodgers with an 8-2 victory on Wednesday. The Brewers were able to keep pace after routing the Houston Astros, 14-2, on Wednesday.

Aramis Ramirez and Mark DeRosa both drove in a pair of runs Wednesday for Chicago, which improved to 17-17 against teams in the NL West.

The Cubs now turn to Jason Marquis (11-8, 4.20 ERA), who is 3-1 over his last five starts.

In his last outing, Marquis allowed two runs and five hits over 6 2/3 innings en route to a 4-3 triumph over the Houston Astros on Saturday.

In seven career appearances, including six starts, against the Dodgers, Marquis is 2-1 with a 2.20 ERA.

Los Angeles, which has won seven of its last 10 games, are still in the mix for a postseason berth, sitting four games back of Arizona (77-62) in the NL West and just three games behind San Diego (76-63) in the wild card. Excluding Thursday's finale with the Cubs, the Dodgers face only division opponents for the rest of the season, including six against the Diamondbacks and three against the Padres.

Derek Lowe (11-12, 3.78 ERA) will look to rebound from a rough outing when he toes the rubber for the Dodgers. After winning three straight outings, Lowe lasted just 4 1/3 innings and surrendered seven runs - six earned - and six hits in a 7-0 loss at San Diego on Saturday.