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Cubs head home hoping to avoid NLDS sweep

Oct 6, 2007 - 1:01 PM Arizona at Chicago Cubs 6:07 pm EDT National League Division Series Diamondbacks lead, 2-0

CHICAGO (Ticker) - The Chicago Cubs have gone 99 years without winning the World Series. The Arizona Diamondbacks are trying to ensure that streak reaches at least 100.

The Diamondbacks will go for a sweep of the best-of-five National League Division Series when they visit the Cubs on Saturday.

Arizona has been a surprise all season, finishing last in the NL in team batting average, but still managing to finish with the best record in the league.

After taking Game One, 3-1, behind a strong effort from reigning Cy Young Award winner Brandon Webb, the Diamondbacks found their hitting stroke in Game Two.

Chris Young belted a three-run homer and Stephen Drew drove in two runs en route to an 8-4 victory and a commanding lead in the series. "Being able to take the first two here is huge for us," Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said. "With Webby in the first game and then getting behind early and coming back, then being able to get both of them at home, obviously we know that at the very least it's coming back here. Now that we have a couple under our belt our expectations keep raising. That's the way it has been all year for us."

With their backs to the wall, Chicago trudges back home to Wrigley Field.

"I said it before the series started, we had to hit and their pitchers have been pitching well," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "Let's see what happens in our ball park. We are going home. We've got our fans and we've got a chance to get it back here with a couple of wins and that's exactly what we will try and do."

The Cubs will look to keep alive their postseason with 27-year-old Rich Hill. The lefthander is 1-1 with a 4.13 ERA in four career starts against Arizona.

He ended the regular season strong, going 3-0 over his last four starts, including a six-inning, one-hit effort last Saturday at Cincinnati.

"Well, it'll be fun," Hill said. "It'll be a lot of fun. I know that the crowd is going to be behind us 100 percent, whether we're up or down. It doesn't matter, they're going to be there for the whole nine innings."

The Diamondbacks will counter with postseason veteran Livan Hernandez (11-11, 4.93). The burly righthander is 6-2 with a 3.99 ERA in 10 career postseason games - eight starts.

He is 10-6 with a 4.02 ERA in 19 career starts against the Cubs.

"You know, Chicago is a great team," Hernandez said. "It's a team that's got power, running. We'll go in tomorrow and try to make a plan for the game with the pitching coach and try to continue - I saw the first two games and saw a couple people struggling. You know, you don't want to be too relaxed because people are struggling because you never know when those guys come back and start hitting the ball."