The Cubs (49-33) are coming off a three-game road sweep at the hands of the Chicago White Sox, including Sunday's 5-1 loss. The three defeats came one week after the Cubs swept the White Sox in a three-game set at Wrigley Field.

The Cubs haven't lost four in a row since Aug. 11-15 last season and haven't dropped five straight since a six-game slide May 27-June 2, 2007. They have dropped eight of 12 overall.

Chicago owns the best overall record in the NL and the best home record in baseball at 33-10. However, the Cubs have suffered three-game sweeps in their last two road series, including a set at Tampa Bay from June 17-19.

The Cubs score an NL-best 5.4 runs per game, but have scored just 18 during this six-game road skid - their longest since dropping nine straight from Aug. 25-Sept. 10, 2006.

Including a weekend series in St. Louis, Chicago plays its next seven games on the road.

"I can't figure out what it is. We got to correct it if we want to go far," Mark DeRosa said. "We've got to win on the road, got to be able to go into other people's backyards and get 'Ws.' We haven't been able to do it."

Manager Lou Piniella certainly appears to be getting frustrated - he was ejected Sunday for the first time this season after arguing an appeal call on a checked swing in the second inning.

However, the Cubs might be able to take advantage of a San Francisco team struggling at home. The Giants (36-46) are 14-24 at AT&T, the worst home record in baseball.

San Francisco has dropped seven of eight on its own field.

"We just have to play the way we've been doing on the road," manager Bruce Bochy told the Giants' official Web site. "It'll get turned around. These things are streaky."

The Giants are coming off a 4-2 road trip, including Sunday's 11-1 win in Oakland. Rich Aurilia homered and matched his career high with five RBIs.

Now, they are handing the ball to starter Barry Zito (3-11, 5.91 ERA), who will be trying to build on his strongest outing of the season. The left-hander gave up one run in 6 2-3 innings of Wednesday's 4-1 win in Cleveland, bouncing back nicely after lasting just two innings in a loss to Detroit seven days earlier.

"That's the Zito we know," Bochy said. "He had great rhythm, pounded the strike zone and threw all his pitches very well."

Zito, who signed a $126 million, seven-year contract before last season, is tied with Oakland's Joe Blanton for the most losses in the majors and entered Wednesday's start with a 9.00 ERA in June. The 2002 AL Cy Young Award winner is 0-7 with a 7.34 ERA in eight home starts this season.

Zito is 1-1 with a 3.15 ERA in three career starts against the Cubs, including 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA in two starts against them last season.

The Cubs counter with Ted Lilly (8-5, 4.74), who is 3-0 with a 3.42 ERA over his last four starts. The left-hander gave up four runs in seven innings of Wednesday's 7-4 win over Baltimore.

"I made some mistakes again," he said. "Fortunately I'm getting away with it because we score a lot of runs."

Lilly is 2-1 with a 6.08 ERA in four career starts against the Giants.