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Cubs eye Fenway sweep

Jul 2, 2014 - 2:47 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - Pitching for the first time at Fenway Park is probably exciting in its own right, but doing so with a chance to get his club a sweep should give Travis Wood an extra jolt of energy.

Wood will look to keep his focus on Wednesday night when the Chicago Cubs wrap just their fourth all-time regular season series with the Boston Red Sox.

The left-hander is coming off a no-decision versus Washington on Thursday, one that saw him allow seven hits and five walks over 6 2/3 innings. He did manage to limit the damage to just three runs and his offense took him off the hook in a 5-3 win.

"I kind of spaced out there for a bit and gave up too many walks," said Wood. "The guys really had my back tonight."

The 27-year-old walked five batters for the second time in five starts and is 7-6 with a 4.52 earned run average on the season. However, Wood is pitching to a 6.07 ERA in eight outings on the road.

Hoping to salvage the finale of this three-game set, the Red Sox turn to Brandon Workman for his first ever meeting with the Cubs.

Workman picked up a loss on Friday to the New York Yankees despite lasting a season-high seven innings. He was charged with four runs on seven hits, including two homers, while fanning five in his first loss since last Sept. 8.

The 25-year-old righty dipped to 1-1 with a 3.27 ERA in nine games (6 starts) this season and has a home ERA of 2.65.

Workman will try to keep an incredible streak by Boston pitchers at home alive tonight. Though the Red Sox lost 2-1 on Tuesday, it marked the 14th straight home game for Boston in which it held an opponent to three runs or fewer. That is the longest such streak in franchise history and best in the American League since the Chicago White Sox in 1966-67.

Dustin Pedroia had three hits and drove in Boston's only run on Tuesday. Closer Koji Uehara was unable to keep the game tied in the ninth, giving up a leadoff single to Anthony Rizzo and a double by Starlin Castro to set up Luis Valbuena's go-ahead sacrifice fly.

Hector Rondon shut down the Red Sox in the ninth to post his 11th save, while Pedro Strop earned the win with a scoreless inning of relief behind Edwin Jackson. The starter scattered six hits and four walks over six innings of one-run ball.

"We've been very fortunate in that our starting pitching has done a nice job and our relief corps has done a really good job," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said. "Guys just scratched out a run or two to give us an opportunity to win."

Clay Buchholz, in his second start since returning from the disabled list, only allowed one run on five hits over 6 1/3 innings for the Red Sox, who were shut out in Monday's opener.

"I thought he had good stuff, probably one of the better fastballs he's had the entire season," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "I thought he threw a number of really good curveballs."

The Cubs now own a slight 6-5 advantage all-time in the regular season versus the Red Sox.