San Diego Padres @ Chicago Cubs – Series Preview

The Cubs return to the Friendly Confines tonight where they will open a six-game homestand with the first of three games against the Fathers of San Diego. Chicago, coming off a 3-2 road trip, continues to battle the injury bug.

Derrek Lee is day-to-day, Aramis Ramirez will be out 6-8 weeks, Carlos Zambrano will miss two more starts and Chad Fox may have saw his career come to an end in Saturday night’s game.

The Padres are healthy, but not very good, see evidence below:

And on to the pitching matchups:

Game 1 – 8:05 pm EST, TV – CSN+

Rich Harden (3-1, 4.83 ERA) vs. Jake Peavy (2-4, 4.27 ERA)

This is a classic pitcher’s duel, however both Peavy and Harden’s ERA is not what you would expect to see. Peavy is rolling right now though, and has looked solid despite going 0-1 in his last two outings and losing three strait decisions. He’s allowed just two runs in 15 innings in his last two starts, striking out a total of 20. The Padres have scored a total of four runs in the last four starts for Jake.

Harden on the other hand has won three strait decisions but has yet to put it all together and look like a dominant force on the mound. Harden, who spent the first 5 1/2 years of his career in the Majors with Oakland, has never faced San Diego and will attempt to appear dominant against a weak and feeble Padre lineup.

Game 2 – 8:05 pm EST, TV – CSN

Ted Lilly (4-2, 3.11 ERA) vs. Chris Young (2-1, 4.76 ERA)

Lilly’s been the team’s most consistent and effective starter by far this season. In his last start Ted mowed down the Marlins on Saturday, striking out 10 in eight innings. He allowed just five hits, and he contributed a hit himself, a two-run double in the third inning. Lilly is 4-1 with a 1.96 ERA in five career starts against San Diego.

Chris Young is 0-1 with a 6.41 ERA in his last five starts, but the past two of those starts have been quality ones. Young is 1-0 with a 2.28 ERA in four career starts against the Cubs. In his previous trip to Wrigley Field, Young got into a fight with D-Lee and was suspended five games. His home/road splits this year are heavily in favor of Chicago: He has allowed just five earned runs over 19 innings at Petco this season, while allowing 16 runs over 20.2 innings on the road.

Game 3 – 2:20 pm EST, TV – CSN

Randy Wells (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Chad Gaudin (0-2, 4.08 ERA)

Former Cub Chad Gaudin will start his fourth game for the Padres, all coming away from San Diego. In his last start, Gaudin allowed two runs over seven innings against the Astros at Minute Maid Park. His fastball reached 94 mph at times and he showed considerable late movement on his slider. Gaudin walked three batters, the third time he’s walked at least three; but overall, his command was good. Guy predicted good things from Chad before the season started, and it looks like he is putting some pieces together.

Randy Wells shutout the Brewers for five innings this past Friday, and was in position to get the win in his Major League debut until Ryan Braun’s two run bomb in the eighth inning gave the Brewers the 3-2 win. Wells recently got a shot of confidence from skipper Lou Piniella: ”When we get Zambrano back, now we’ve got Wells and we’ve got Marshall to look at, and then we’ll have to make a decision. I like the way Wells throws the ball, so he’ll be staying. So it’s just a matter of where.”