(Sports Network) - The San Francisco Giants are back at home and will try to move closer to a playoff berth tonight, when they open a four-game series versus the Chicago Cubs at AT&T Park.

The Giants are toed with Atlanta at four games behind Colorado in the race for the Wild Card spot in the National League. They just won two of three matchups at Arizona, including a 5-2 victory in Wednesday's series finale. Juan Uribe homered and drove in three runs and Pablo Sandoval added an RBI for San Francisco, which hasn't been consistent lately, posting a 3-4 mark over its last seven contests.

"I feel good, I saw the ball good," said Uribe of his homer. "That's all I was thinking, I don't want to change. I want to (keep feeling good) to help the team win the game."

Jonathan Sanchez got the win and allowed two runs with nine strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. Brian Wilson fanned three batters in the ninth for his 36th save.

San Francisco, which will also host the Diamondbacks for three games, will send Brad Penny to the hill Thursday. Penny suffered his first loss in a Giants uniform Saturday versus Los Angeles and was rocked for seven runs in only 2 2/3 innings of work.

Penny fell to 3-1 with a 4.01 ERA in four starts since coming over from Boston and owns a 3-3 mark in nine career appearances against the Cubs.

Chicago sits 7 1/2 games off the NL Wild Card lead and had its three-game winning streak stopped in Wednesday's 3-2 loss at Milwaukee. Starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija homered and Bobby Scales delivered an RBI pinch-hit double for the Cubs, who got a team high two hits out of Jeff Baker.

Samardzija was dealt the loss for giving up three runs and five hits over five innings in his second career start.

"It felt good, my arm felt good and I made some good pitches," Samardzija said. "I have a lot of respect for the front office, for those guys giving me a few shots this year. I haven't pitched that great and for them to give me a start this late in the year was a great opportunity I didn't want to slip away."

Ryan Dempster is 4-1 in his last five decisions and will take the mound for Chicago Thursday by the Bay. Dempster did not factor in the outcome of a 2-1 loss to St. Louis on Saturday, as he surrendered a run and eight hits in eight innings of work.

The right-hander, who is 10-8 with a 3.72 ERA in 28 starts, will square off with the Giants for the second time this season after beating them on May 4 at Wrigley Field. Dempster fired seven innings of two-run ball that day, but is just 3-7 with a 4.26 ERA in 20 career games (10 starts) against San Francisco.

Chicago and San Francisco split a two-game set in early May. The Cubs have won three of the last five meetings between the teams.



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