(Sports Network) - Carlos Zambrano tries to win his eighth straight decision this afternoon when the Chicago Cubs play the third test of their four-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Zambrano has been brilliant for the Cubs this season, posting an 8-1 mark to go along with a 2.51 earned run average. His latest victory came on Monday in San Diego, as he held the Padres to three runs and five hits in five innings.

The 27-year-old right-hander is 2-2 lifetime against the Dodgers with a 3.00 ERA in 11 games, seven of which have been starts. He held them to one run over eight innings of a no-decision earlier in the season.

Los Angeles, meanwhile, will pin its hopes on right-hander Derek Lowe, who is 3-5 with a 4.17 ERA. Lowe picked up the win on Monday against Colorado, surrendering a runs and five hits in eight innings.

Over his past three starts, Lowe has allowed only three runs in 22 innings, but is just 1-1 over that span.

Lowe has faced the Cubs seven times in his career and is 1-1 against them with a 3.15 ERA. He opposed Zambrano two starts ago, holding the Cubs scoreless over seven innings of his team's 2-1 loss.

In the opener of this set on Friday, Hiroki Kuroda threw the first shutout of his major league career, as Los Angeles edged the Cubs, 3-0. Danny Ardoin had a single and finished with two RBI, while Jeff Kent had an RBI double before being ejected for Los Angeles, which won for just the fourth time in its last 15 games.

Kuroda (3-5) scattered four hits over his time on the hill, and set a career- high with 11 strikeouts.

Sean Gallagher (3-2) absorbed the loss as he was touched for two runs on three hits in five innings.

The Cubs, who suffered their second loss in 12 games, fell to 17-4 against the NL West with the defeat.

Chicago swept a three-game series from Los Angeles at Wrigley Field from May 26-28 and is now 7-4 at Chavez Ravine since the start of the 2005 campaign.