Chicago, IL (My Sportsbook) - A pair of former teammates square off at Wrigley Field this evening, when Matt Clement and the Chicago Cubs tangle with Ryan Dempster and the Cincinnati Reds in the middle contest of a three- game series.

Clement and Dempster were teammates with the Florida Marlins until Clement was sent to the Cubs, along with reliever Antonio Alfonseca, just before the start of this year. Dempster, on the other hand, was shipped to Cincinnati in July.

In his last trip to the slate, Clement did not factor into the decision after permitting one run on five hits over seven innings against the New York Mets. He was actually in line to earn his 13th win, but Alfonseca allowed a run in the ninth inning as the Mets tied the game and forced extra frames.

The righthander, who walked two and fanned nine against the Mets, was tagged with the loss in his previous start, when he surrendered two runs on five hits in five innings against the Reds. That setback snapped his personal three-game winning streak. In six of his last seven start, Clement has permitted two runs or less.

For his career, the 28-year-old hurler is 4-5 versus Cincinnati. Clement has faced the Reds three times in 2002 and is 1-2 with a 3.71 earned run average. This will be his 17th outing of the year at home, where he is 6-5 with a 4.09 ERA and one complete game.

Dempster, meanwhile, surrendered three runs on 11 hits over seven innings in his last trip to the mound, a no-decision against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He walked three and struck out four.

In his previous start, the righthander upended Clement and the Cubs with seven frames of three-hit, one-run ball. Although Dempster has surrendered less than three runs only once in his last five starts, he is 2-0 during that time. This will be his 15th outing since coming over from the Marlins. As a Red, the 25- year-old hurler is 4-5 with a 6.67 earned run average.

Lifetime, Dempster is 1-5 versus Chicago. In a pair of appearances against the Cubs this season, he is 1-1 with a 2.77 ERA.

Cincinnati won the opener of this set by a 1-0 score behind a solo homer from Aaron Boone. Jimmy Haynes allowed just three hits in six scoreless innings for the Reds, who stopped a three-game slide. Boone has homered in two consecutive games.

Haynes struck out seven and walked five before giving way to the bullpen. John Riedling threw two shutout frames, allowing just one hit, and Scott Williamson preserved the victory with a 1-2-3 ninth for his seventh save.

Sammy Sosa, bidding to become the 18th major leaguer with 500 homers, went 0- for-4 and struck out three times. Sosa, who has 498 career home runs, is also sitting on 48 round-trippers for the season and needs two more to become the first player to ever reach 50 in five straight seasons.

Kerry Wood was the hard-luck loser for the Cubs, who have dropped two in a row and six of their last seven. Wood threw seven frames of one-run ball, allowing six hits and striking out eight with a pair of walks. Chicago has scored just 21 runs in Wood's 11 losses this season.

The Cubs are just 34-42 on the year as the host, while the Reds bring a 38-38 road mark into this game. Cincinnati leads the season series, 10-5, including six victories in eight tries in the Windy City.