After having their four-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday, the Chicago Cubs will hope to conclude their 10-game road trip on a high note on Wednesday night against the Astros.
Chicago plans to send right-hander Travis Wood (5-11, 4.42 ERA) to the mound in search of his sixth victory of the season, while Houston will counter with 26-year-old lefty Fernando Abad (0-3, 5.30 ERA).
Making a start in the outfield for the Cubs on Wednesday will be a pair of reserves in both Joe Mather and Dave Sappelt, after an injury to Anthony Rizzo on Tuesday forced manager Dale Sveum to go deep into his bench for the series finale.
Here are the starting lineups for the third and final game of the series:
Cubs
1. Joe Mather - CF
2. Darwin Barney - 2B
3. Starlin Castro - SS
4. Alfonso Soriano - LF
5. Welington Castillo - C
6. Josh Vitters - 3B
7. Dave Sappelt - RF
8. Anthony Recker - 1B
9. Travis Wood - SP
Astros
1. Jose Altuve - 2B
2. Jed Lowrie - SS
3. J.D. Martinez - LF
4. Justin Maxwell - CF
5. Matt Dominguez - 3B
6. Brandon Laird - 1B
7. Chris Snyder - C
8. Brandon Barnes - RF
9. Fernando Abad - SP
Head over to Bleed Cubbie Blue for more Cubs news, and check out The Crawfish Boxes for more on the Astros. Also visit Baseball Nation for even more analysis from around the league.