First pitch: Wednesday, 7:10 p.m. ET
Line: Boston -160, Chicago +150, Total: 9

The Cubs look to finish off a sweep of the defending World Series champion Red Sox at Fenway Park on Wednesday night.

Chicago knew that it wasn't going to win much this year, but has been playing well lately against some tough opponents, coming away victorious in five of the past eight games. After splitting a four-game set against the Nationals, the Cubs pitching has dominated the Boston lineup over the first two games; allowing just one run and 10 hits in the pair of wins. After Jake Arrieta took a no-hitter into the eighth inning of a 2-0 victory on Monday, Chicago prevailed by a score of 2-1 on Tuesday by holding its opponent to 1-for-7 hitting with runners in scoring position. The Cubs offense has been terrible this season with their 307 runs ranking second-worst in the majors, but they have seen a solid bounce-back campaign from SS Starlin Castro (.286 BA), who has gone 5-for-11 with two doubles over his past three contests. The Red Sox have fallen from the best offense in 2013 to ranking near the bottom of the league this year with 312 runs scored (26th in majors). They are 3-5 in their past eight games and saw closer Koji Uehara earn a loss as he give up a rare run in his attempt to keep the game tied in the ninth on Tuesday. 3B Xander Bogaerts (.245 BA) has really struggled of late, going 2-for-38 (.053) with 13 strikeouts over his past 10 games. Looking to help Chicago get a rare sweep will be LHP Travis Wood (7-6, 4.52 ERA) as he goes up against Boston 25-year-old RHP Brandon Workman (1-1, 3.27 ERA). The road has not been kind to the Cubs this year, as they have posted a 17-26 record in away games, while the Red Sox are 20-21 when playing at Fenway Park. With their victory on Tuesday, Chicago gained a 3-2 edge over Boston in the past three seasons and has allowed just one run over the three victories. Some trends that bettors may want to keep an eye on include Boston going 16-30 (.348) in home games with an on-base percentage of .300 or worse over its previous 10 games in the past three seasons. Meanwhile, the Cubs are just 72-115 (.385) against right-handed starters over the past two years. Chicago will continue to be without 2B Emilio Bonifacio (oblique) for this game, while the Red Sox still have 3B Will Middlebrooks (finger) and OF Shane Victorino (hamstring) on the 15-day DL.

Travis Wood has not quite been able to follow up his great 2013 season when he had a 3.11 ERA over 32 starts, but he has posted a quality start in five of his past eight outings despite a career-high 3.7 BB/9. He earned a no-decision his last time out, going 6.2 innings while allowing three runs on seven hits and five walks with four strikeouts against the Nationals. Wood has never faced the Red Sox in his career, but will of course need to be careful when facing DH David Ortiz (.248 BA) who leads the team with 19 home runs and 52 RBI. Also, 2B Dustin Pedroia (.277 BA) leads the club with 92 hits and 23 doubles, while on the other hand, OF Jackie Bradley Jr. is hitting just .208 while striking out in 28.7% of his at-bats on the year. The Chicago bullpen has gone 9-15, but has compiled an excellent 3.08 ERA and 1.18 WHIP this season, and has successfully converted 18-of-28 (64%) saves. These numbers are even more extraordinary on the road (2.14 ERA, 1.03 WHIP). Hector Rondon (3.62 ERA, 11 saves) is 11-for-13 in his save chances this year while allowing just one home run in 32.1 innings.

Brandon Workman spent a majority of last season as a reliever, and once again started this year out of the bullpen before being called into the rotation. He has a 3.60 ERA over his six starts in 2014, while holding opponents to a .202 average in that time. He has been lucky though, with batters hitting just .226 BABIP this year while he is walking 3.1 batters per nine innings. Workman earned a loss in his last start on Friday as he gave up four runs on seven hits (2 HR) and two walks while striking out five against the Yankees. Previous to that, he had allowed three or fewer runs in each of his first five starts. With just nine MLB starts under his belt, Workman has never faced the Cubs and will need to tread lightly when facing 1B Anthony Rizzo (.279 BA) who has hit a club-leading 17 homers this season while adding 44 RBI. One player that has been struggling on Chicago is OF Junior Lake (.228 BA), who is hitless in his past six games played, while striking out nine times in 15 at-bats. Boston’s bullpen has put together an 11-16 record, but has tallied a tremendous 2.93 ERA and 1.22 WHIP while saving 21-of-28 (75%) games. These numbers are even better at Fenway Park (2.60 ERA, 1.16 WHIP). Closer Koji Uehara (1.40 ERA, 18 saves) earned his second loss on Tuesday night, but has an amazing 49:5 K/BB ratio in 38.2 innings of work this year.