(Sports Network) - The most talked-about interleague series rematch of 2008 begins today when a pair of first-place teams -- the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox -- get together for a three-game weekend series at U.S. Cellular Field.

The host White Sox enter the weekend with a tenuous grasp on the top spot in the American League's Central Division, where they lead the second-place Minnesota Twins by just one-half game.

Meanwhile, the Cubs are slightly more comfortable with their place ahead of the pack in the National League Central, where they possess a 4 1/2-game lead on the second place St. Louis Cardinals in spite of having lost five of their last nine.

One of 2008's biggest surprises, reliever-turned-starter Ryan Dempster will take the mound for the Cubs in search of his 10th victory, a level he's not reached since his initial run as a starter with the Florida Marlins in 2001.

Dempster became a reliever with the Cincinnati Reds in 2004, and had made all but six of his 226 appearances out of the bullpen between 2004 and 2007, recording 87 saves.

He went back to starting this season and has thrived, allowing just 76 hits and 30 earned runs in 102 2/3 innings, while walking 38 batters, striking out 85 and holding foes to a career-best .203 batting average.

He defeated the White Sox, 7-1, with eight innings of 10-hit, one-run ball on June 22, and is 1-1 with three saves against them in eight career appearances.

Meanwhile, Cuban export Jose Contreras will try to snap a three-start skid for the White Sox that included a loss to the Cubs on June 21.

In that game, an 11-7 loss, Contreras allowed 10 hits and nine runs in just 3 1/3 innings, his shortest outing of the 2008 season and one that dropped him to 1-3 in five lifetime games against the Cubs.

His last win came against Kansas City on June 5, when he allowed four hits and a run over seven innings of a 6-2 victory.

In the three losses since, he's given up 30 hits and 18 earned runs in 16 innings.

On Thursday in Chicago, Aubrey Huff went 4-for-5, knocking in two runs and scoring three as the Orioles trounced the Cubs in the deciding game of their three-game series at Wrigley Field, 11-4.

Jason Marquis (6-4) had his worst outing of the year, throwing only four innings and giving up seven runs on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

Eric Patterson knocked in two runs and Daryle Ward went 2-for-2 with an RBI in a losing cause for the Cubs, who have dropped five of nine and had won seven consecutive home series' before dropping two of the three games against the Orioles.

In Los Angeles, John Danks combined with four pitchers in a five-hit shutout as the White Sox downed the Dodgers, 2-0, in the finale of a three-game interleague set at Dodger Stadium.

Danks (5-4) gave up four hits and four walks with three strikeouts in six innings of work for the White Sox, who had dropped four of five coming into the game.

Alexei Ramirez had a pair of hits and drove in a run while Carlos Quentin had the other RBI for Chicago, which won on the road for just the second time in its past 12 games.

The Cubs swept the White Sox last weekend and have won nine of the last 10 meetings.