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Cubs-Reds Preview

Aug 29, 2010 - 3:37 AM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Chicago (54-75) at Cincinnati (74-54), 1:10 p.m. EDT

The only time Travis Wood pitched at home for the Cincinnati Reds, they were locked in a tight battle for first in the NL Central.

The rookie left-hander will try to help the Reds grab their largest division lead in eight years as they wrap up a three-game series Sunday against the Chicago Cubs.

Wood (4-2, 3.38 ERA) made his only home start for the Reds on July 18, and a 1-0 loss to Colorado dropped his team one-half game behind St. Louis.

Cincinnati (74-55) enters this game leading the Cardinals by four games but missed an opportunity to pad that edge Saturday night. In a 3-2 loss, the Reds failed to rally after Kosuke Fukudome's tiebreaking two-run homer in the fifth inning, but didn't lose ground as St. Louis lost at Washington.

"That's good, especially with our bench beat up," manager Dusty Baker said.

Brandon Phillips (bruised hand), Laynce Nix (sprained ankle), and Miguel Cairo (sore leg) are all questionable for this game. Orlando Cabrera and Jim Edmonds are also on the disabled list.

The Reds haven't led a division race by at least five games since May 18, 2002, and haven't been in front by more than that since winning the Central by nine games in 1995. Their largest lead this season was 4 1/2 games on Aug. 20.

Edinson Volquez was originally scheduled to start Sunday but was sent to the bullpen to work on his mechanics, clearing the way for Wood.

Wood made his major league debut July 1 versus the Cubs, giving up two runs and two hits in seven innings of a 3-2 victory. He earned his first victory at Wrigley Filed in an 11-4 rout Aug. 8 - part of his four-start win streak.

That run ended in miserable fashion Tuesday night when he was tagged for seven runs and seven hits over four innings of a 16-5 loss in San Francisco.

"It wasn't my night," Wood told the team's website.

In this start, he'll face a Cubs team that's won four of five under interim manager Mike Quade after losing 20 of predecessor Lou Piniella's final 25 games.

In his third major league start, Casey Coleman (1-1, 5.68) will try to build off his first win Monday in Washington. The right-hander gave up one run and three hits over 6 1-3 innings during a 9-1 victory in Quade's debut.

"It's been a disappointing season for a lot of guys," Coleman said. "You just want to go out and throw strikes and help the team win. Hopefully, we can finish the year strong."

Coleman gave up two runs in three innings of relief against Cincinnati on Aug. 8. Joey Votto doubled for one of the two hits off him.

Votto, who homered in Saturday's loss, is hitting .386 over his last 30 games and leads the NL with a .326 average. He's tied for second in home runs (32) - with four in the past six games - and he's recorded 32 of his 92 RBIs - also second-most in the NL - in the last 32 contests.

Votto is hitting just .259 against the Cubs this season but has five homers - his most versus one opponent - and 11 RBIs.

Cincinnati leads the season series 11-4.