(Sports Network) - Canadian-born righty Ryan Dempster tries to make it two straight Chicago pitching gems tonight when the Cubs visit Miller Park for the middle game of a three-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Cubs won Friday's opener, 4-0, behind Carlos Zambrano's 8 2/3 scoreless innings and a strong game at the plate.
Zambrano (8-6) gave up just three hits and three walks and struck out nine for the Cubs, who had lost three of four coming in. He also went 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI and a run scored while Darwin Barney added two hits and two runs scored in the win.
Zambrano improved to 5-0 over seven outings since returning to the rotation on Aug. 9.
Prince Fielder, Jonathan Lucroy and Ryan Braun each had a single for the Brewers, who had won three of four. Dave Bush (7-12) was touched for three runs -- one earned -- on five hits with four walks and six strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings.
Dempster, a 1995 draft choice of the Texas Rangers, won four straight decisions over five starts between Aug. 4 and Aug. 25, including a 15-3 rout of the Brewers at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
He allowed three hits and three unearned runs over six innings in that win, his 10th of the season, which improved him to a superb 14-3 lifetime against the Milwaukee along with 10 saves from his days as a closer.
The 33-year-old has slumped in his two most recent outings, allowing a combined 16 hits and 14 runs in just 7 2/3 innings of losses to Pittsburgh and the New York Mets.
He is 7-4 this season in 14 road starts.
Milwaukee counters with veteran lefty Randy Wolf, who got back on the winning track with a 6-2 defeat of Philadelphia in his last start on Sept. 5.
The 34-year-old won three straight outings between Aug. 7-18 against Houston, Arizona and St. Louis, then got a loss and a no-decision in two subsequent outings against the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cincinnati.
He last faced the Cubs on June 9 in Milwaukee, where he took a 9-4 loss after allowing nine hits and eight runs in 4 2/3 innings to fall to 5-8 lifetime against them in 18 starts.
Wolf is 4-5 in 14 home starts in 2010.
The Cubs are 8-5 this season against the Brewers.