(SportsNetwork.com) – Travis Wood aims to pick up a victory over his former
club on Wednesday night when the Chicago Cubs host the Cincinnati Reds in the
rubber match of a three-game series.
Wood spent his first two major league seasons with the Reds, who made him a
second-round pick in 2005. He won 11 games during his tenure with Cincinnati
before getting dealt to Chicago in December of 2011.
The left-hander is 2-5 with a 2.98 earned run average in 10 starts versus his
old team.
Wood is coming off a 5-1 loss to the Colorado Rockies on Friday, yielding
three runs on seven hits and two walks over 4 2/3 innings. He also struck out
five.
The Reds go with right-hander Jason Marquis, who last Friday made his first
major league start since July 19, 2013. It was a decent outing, with Marquis
not getting a decision in a 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Marquis retired 12 straight at one point following a slow start and ended up
being charged with three runs on five hits and two walks over six frames with
seven strikeouts.
The 36-year-old is 4-7 with a 4.13 ERA in 14 games (13 starts) versus the
Cubs.
The Reds evened this series with a 3-2 victory last night as Antony DeSclafani
got the win after pitching seven strong innings of two-hit ball.
“I felt pretty good all game and I had everything working,” said DeSclafani.
“The defense behind me was awesome tonight and really helped out a lot.”
Joey Votto, Jay Bruce and Marlon Byrd each drove in a run during the fourth
inning for the Reds, who snapped a three-game slide.
Cincinnati did see second baseman Brandon Philips exit the game in the fifth
inning. He began feeling light headed after a collision with Chicago’s Starlin
Castro an inning early, but did pass concussion tests and could play tonight.
Welington Castillo’s two-run homer in the eighth inning accounted for the
offense for the Cubs, who had a three-game winning streak broken. Jake Arrieta
took the loss after allowing three runs on seven hits with a walk and five
strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.
“I think there was three or four balls that squeaked through,” said Arrieta.
“They were able to put some runs up on those. Aside from that I was able to
limit the damage.”
The Reds have taken the last five season series against the Cubs, including an
11-8 record in 2014.
