Scouting report

Cubs vs. Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field

TV: Channel 9 Friday and Sunday; Comcast SportsNet Saturday

Radio: WGN 720-AM

Pitching matchups: The Cubs’ Ryan Dempster (15-12 in 2010) vs. Kevin Correia (10-10) Friday at 1:20 p.m.; Carlos Zambrano (11-6) vs. Paul Maholm (9-15) Saturday at 12:05 p.m.; Matt Garza (15-10) vs. Ross Ohlendorf (1-11) Sunday at 1:20 p.m.

At a glance: The Pirates put a major hurt on the Cubs last year, winning 10 of 15 games against the North Siders. The Bucs have a new manager in Clint Hurdle, who led the Colorado Rockies to the World Series in 2007. Not much is expected from the Pirates again this year, but the Cubs haven’t been the darlings of the experts, either. This will be Dempster’s third career opening-day start and his first with the Cubs. Ex-Cub Ronnie Cedeno is 5-for-10 vs. Dempster. Ryan Doumit is 8-for-18 vs. Zambrano. The Cubs’ Jeff Baker is 6-for-11 vs. lefty Maholm. Alfonso Soriano has 4 homers vs. Maholm. This marks the Cubs’ 96th Wrigley Field opener. In 135 openers all time, the Cubs are 74-59-2.

Next: Arizona Diamondbacks at Wrigley Field, Monday-Wednesday

— Bruce Miles