Greg Maddux tries to win his second straight start and move closer to the 300-win mark as he takes the mound at Wrigley Field this afternoon for the Chicago Cubs in the rubber match of a three-game set against the San Francisco Giants.

Maddux, who is coming off a win last Friday at San Diego, needs eight victories to get to the 300-mark, a level reached by only 21 pitchers in major league history. He would be the first National Leaguer to reach the mark since Steve Carlton on September 23, 1983.

Maddux was in top form last Friday, throwing his best game of the year after allowing just five hits and a run over eight innings. The 38-year-old righthander is 2-1 over his last three starts and in that time has struck out 15 batters without issuing a walk. He enters today's game with 2,800 career strikeouts, three shy of tying Cy Young for 15th place on the all-time list.

Over his career, Maddux holds a 23-14 record with a 2.91 ERA in 40 games versus the Giants.

The Cubs won last night's game in dramatic fashion. Moises Alou spoiled his father's strategy with a 10th-inning home run, lifting the Cubs to a 4-3 victory. Alou belted a 3-2 pitch from Jim Brower (1-3) over the wall in left field to give the Cubs their fifth win in six games. Chicago bounced back from a 1-0 loss in Tuesday's opener, when Jason Schmidt pitched a one-hitter for Felipe Alou's Giants. The San Francisco manager made a pitching change to Brower just for his son, but Moises Alou belted his 10th homer of the season.

San Francisco has lost five of its last six.

The Giants played without slugger Barry Bonds for the fourth time in the last five games because of a back problem. Bonds returned to the lineup on Tuesday after missing this past weekend's series against Pittsburgh, but woke up with back pain Wednesday morning and underwent an MRI exam. He is also expected to sit out today's game and could be headed to the disabled list.

The Cubs also placed their slugger on the DL Wednesday when Sammy Sosa went on the shelf with a sprained ligament in his lower back.

Dustin Hermanson will toe the rubber for the Giants today. The righthander, who is 0-2 over his last three appearances, threw 6 2/3 innings in a no- decision versus Pittsburgh last Friday. He owns a 6-5 lifetime mark with 4.09 ERA over 14 outings (9 starts) against the Cubs.

This is the first series between the teams. The Cubs won four of the six meetings last season. The teams will meet again August 6-8 in the Bay Area.