(Sports Network) - Last season's top two teams in the National League Central will waste no time renewing acquaintances, as the defending division champion Chicago Cubs open their 2008 campaign with this afternoons matchup with the rival Milwaukee Brewers from Wrigley Field.

Chicago took home top honors in the Central with an 85-77 record a year ago, with the Brewers two games back in second place. Milwaukee actually led the division for a good portion of last season, but relinquished the top spot after a miserable stretch from mid-to-late August in which the club lost 12 times in 16 games.

The Cubs are considered the heavy favorite to repeat as Central champs in 2008, partly due to a deep pitching staff headlined by two-time All-Star Carlos Zambrano. The excitable right-hander, who gets the Opening Day assignment this afternoon, won a career-high 18 games during an up-and-down 2007 season and has amassed a gaudy 82-55 overall record since breaking into the big leagues in 2001.

Zambrano made four starts against the Brewers last year and went 2-1 with a 4.26 earned run average in those outings. For his career the native Venezuelan is 9-8 with a 4.21 ERA in 20 appearances (19 starts) versus Milwaukee. This will be the fourth straight year the Cubs have opened up with Zambrano on the hill. The 26-year-old has not fared well in lid-lifters, however, having amassed an ugly 8.16 ERA over those three starts, one a loss and the other two no-decisions. Zambrano also hasn't pitched beyond five innings in any of those games.

Milwaukee comes in eager to build off its first winning season since 1992 and figures to serve as the Cubs' chief competition in the Central. Whether the Brewers will be able to make further strides this year may depend on the health of ace pitcher Ben Sheets, who gets the call for Ned Yost's club this afternoon.

Sheets went 12-5 with a 3.82 ERA in 2007 but was limited to only 24 starts due to a myriad of ailments. The hard-throwing righty made just 17 starts the previous season because of shoulder problems.

The 29-year-old had good success when pitching at Wrigley Field last season. In three starts against the Cubs in Chicago, Sheets posted a 2-0 record and a 2.65 ERA in 17 innings. He is 9-7 with a 3.87 ERA in 22 lifetime starts versus the Cubs.

Sheets most dominant outing of 2007 came on Opening Day, when he spun a complete-game two-hitter to lead the Brewers to a 7-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Miller Park.

The Cubs won nine of their 15 meetings with Milwaukee last season, including five of the nine matchups held at Wrigley Field.