The 29-year-old, 6-foot-7 Marshall was 6-6 with a 2.26 ERA last season. He had five saves. The Reds have been in talks to try to re-sign closer Francisco Cordero, who became a free agent after last season.

“Sean has been one of the best and most durable relievers in baseball the last couple of seasons,” Reds general manager Walt Jocketty said in a statement.

The 24-year-old Wood made 35 starts for the Reds over two seasons. He finished 6-6 with a 4.84 ERA in 2011, with a stint in Triple-A after struggling early in the year.

The Cubs also get 24-year-old outfielder Dave Sappelt, who batted .243 in 38 games with the Reds, and 19-year-old infield prospect Ronald Torreyes, who batted .356 in 67 games for Class A Dayton.

“Twenty-four-year old left-handed starters who have already had success in the big leagues don’t grow on trees,” Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said. “We had to give up a great relief pitcher in Sean Marshall and someone we were proud to call a Cub, but we think to acquire Wood and the two young guys, it was worth doing.”

Wood made 17 starts for the Reds in 2010, going 5-4 with a 3.51 earned run average. He took a perfect game into the ninth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies before giving up a double to Carlos Ruiz, and left after finishing the 9th with the score tied at 0.

He began last season in the Reds’ starting rotation, made 10 starts for Louisville, then returned to Cincinnati. He also had four relief appearances for the Reds last season.

“He had a little bit of a down year last year, a little bit of a sophomore slump, but we still think all the ingredients are there to make him an excellent starting pitcher in the big leagues and you tend to not be able to get guys like that after their strong rookie years,” Epstein said. “But sometimes you have a chance to get them after they take a little bit of their lumps on the learning curve.”

Wood said he relied too heavily on his cutter last season and “lost the ability to really stick that four-seam (fastball) in there.” His control was off, but he also sees a shot at redemption in Chicago.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for me,” he said. “The Reds do have a lot of depth in their rotation. … Hopefully, I can get to Chicago and make a difference.”

Besides the addition of Latos, the Reds return starting pitchers Johnny Cueto, Mike Leake, Homer Bailey and Bronson Arroyo. Aroldis Chapman, a left-handed reliever in his first two seasons, is also a possible starting pitcher next season.

Epstein said the Cubs could still use some more starting pitchers in their farm system and at the major league level. He also said they’re weighing ace Matt Garza’s trade value versus locking him into a long-term deal. The right-hander was tendered a contract last week and is eligible for arbitration.

“It’s hard to find top-of-the-rotation-type guys, so if you have them and there’s a way to keep them around, I think that’s always compelling for the club,” Epstein said. “Now, that said, we’re in a mode where we have to listen on everybody. If there’s a way to improve the long-term outlook for this club in a significant manner, then we just can’t look past opportunities like that. We’re not in a situation where we have to do anything with Garza, but generally, we’re in the business right now of taking our short-term assets and turning them into long-term assets.”

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AP sports writer Andrew Seligman in Chicago contributed to this report.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

CINCINNATI _ The Cincinnati Reds acquired left-handed reliever Sean Marshall from the Chicago Cubs today for young lefty starter Travis Wood and two other players.

It was the second time in a week that the Reds gave up several prospects for pitching help. They earlier sent four players, including Edinson Volquez, to San Diego for starter Mat Latos.

The 29-year-old, 6-foot-7 Marshall, from Richmond, Va., and a former standout at Virginia Commonwealth University, was 6-6 with a 2.26 ERA last season. He had five saves. The Reds have been in talks to try to re-sign closer Francisco Cordero, who became a free agent after last season.

“Sean has been one of the best and most durable relievers in baseball the last couple of seasons,” Reds general manager Walt Jocketty said in a statement.

The 24-year-old Wood made 35 starts for the Reds over two seasons. He finished 6-6 with a 4.84 ERA in 2011, with a stint in Triple-A after struggling early in the year.

The Cubs also get 24-year-old outfielder Dave Sappelt, who batted .243 in 38 games with the Reds, and 19-year-old infield prospect Ronald Torreyes, who batted .356 in 67 games for Class A Dayton.

Wood made 17 starts for the Reds in 2010, going 5-4 with a 3.51 earned run average. He took a perfect game into the ninth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies before giving up a double to Carlos Ruiz, and left after finishing the 9th with the score tied at 0.

He began last season in the Reds’ starting rotation, made 10 starts for Louisville, then returned to Cincinnati. He also had four relief appearances for the Reds last season.

Besides the addition of Latos, the Reds return starting pitchers Johnny Cueto, Mike Leake, Homer Bailey and Bronson Arroyo. Aroldis Chapman, a left-handed reliever in his first two seasons, is also a possible starting pitcher next season.

CINCINNATI (AP) – Joey Votto led off the 14th inning with his
second home run of the game, lifting the Cincinnati Reds over the
Washington Nationals 5-4 Sunday.

Votto hit a full-count pitch from Collin Balester (1-3) into the
left-field bleachers to push the Reds over .500 for the first time
since July 3.

His second career game-ending homer sent the Nationals to a
sixth straight loss, tying their season high.

Johnny Cueto and five Reds relievers combined for 19 strikeouts,
tying the team record. Cueto fanned 11 in seven innings.

Bill Bray (4-2) allowed one hit in the 14th to get the win.

Washington manager Davey Johnson and bench coach Pat Corrales
and Reds manager Dusty Baker all were ejected.

AP Photo/David Kohl

Cincinnati Reds’ Joey Votto (19) is congratulated by third base coach Mark Berry (41) after hitting a solo home run off Washington Nationals pitcher Jordan Zimmermann in the first inning of a baseball game on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011, in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Joey Votto led off the 14th inning with his second home run of the game, lifting the Cincinnati Reds over the Washington Nationals 5-4 Sunday.

Votto hit a full-count pitch from Collin Balester (1-3) into the left-field bleachers to push the Reds over .500 for the first time since July 3.

His second career game-ending homer sent the Nationals to a sixth straight loss, tying their season high.

Johnny Cueto and five Reds relievers combined for 19 strikeouts, tying the team record. Cueto fanned 11 in seven innings.

Bill Bray (4-2) allowed one hit in the 14th to get the win.

Washington manager Davey Johnson and bench coach Pat Corrales and Reds manager Dusty Baker all were ejected.

WASHINGTON — Johnny Cueto and the Cincinnati Reds completely shut down the Washington Nationals for eight innings. In the ninth, they used a little luck to close out the win.Cueto pitched eight scoreless innings and Francisco Cordero got a double play to get out of a bases-loaded jam and end the 2-1 victory Wednesday night.”We were fortunate to get that one,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “We squeaked that one out big time.”Cincinnati took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth, as Cueto (9-5) aimed for his second shutout of the season. Instead, Ryan Zimmerman homered on his first pitch of the inning and Baker turned to Cordero.After a groundout, Jayson Werth walked, Danny Espinosa singled and Jonny Gomes reached on shortstop Paul Janish’s error to load the bases.Wilson Ramos then grounded to second baseman Brandon Phillips, who started the 4-6-3 double play.”That was the play that saved the game,” said Cordero, who earned his 24th save. “Any other stuff happens there, the game is tied. It was the best thing that could happen tonight, and it happened.”The Nationals’ rally nearly erased Cueto’s tremendous performance. The right-hander allowed six hits, struck out five and did not walk a batter.Cueto showed right away he had good stuff, striking out the first three batters. He lowered his ERA to 1.89, which leads the majors after the outing gave him enough innings to officially qualify.Baker even kept him in to bat in the eighth inning with the bases loaded and two outs.”Johnny Cueto threw a heck of a ballgame,” Baker said. “We were hoping that possibly he could shut them out and go the distance, but that home run by Zimmerman kind of negated that.”Washington had runners reach third base in the second and fourth innings, but each time Cueto easily got out of the jam.”In the bullpen warming up, I felt really, really good today,” Cueto said. “My main thing was location. I was locating the pitches where I wanted, except the one (Zimmerman) hit out. The ball was supposed to go outside, and it landed in the middle.”Ross Detwiler (1-3) pitched six innings, his longest outing of the season. He allowed one run and seven hits while striking out a career-high seven and walking two.The only blemish for Detwiler was Joey Votto’s 20th home run with two outs in the first inning on a fastball that stayed up.”Looking at it now, throw anything but what I threw there, and hopefully he doesn’t hit it out,” Detwiler said.Cincinnati posed a scoring threat in the third when the Reds loaded the bases with one out before Detwiler struck out Jay Bruce and Miguel Cairo hit a fly ball to shallow right field to end the inning.The Reds picked up an insurance run in the eighth. They had a chance to score more but left the bases loaded.Consecutive singles by Votto and Bruce against reliever Sean Burnett put runners on the corners with no outs. Cairo grounded sharply up the middle, and Burnett snagged it and threw to third to catch Votto, who had started for home on the play. Another walk by Burnett loaded the bases.Ryan Mattheus replaced Burnett, and Ramon Hernandez hit a grounder up the middle that was fielded by shortstop Ian Desmond. A slight slip when Desmond fielded the ball left him unable to turn a double play, but he did throw out Hernandez while Bruce scored.Another walk by Mattheus loaded the bases for Cueto, who grounded to second to end the inning.

CHICAGO, Aug. 6 (UPI) — Starlin Castro drove in four runs and Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano homered in Chicago’s seventh straight win Saturday, an 11-4 rout of the Cincinnati Reds.

Castro drove in a run with a force-out during the Cubs’ go-ahead, three-run fourth inning and added a two-run double as Chicago scored five times in the fifth to put the game away.

Carlos Pena went 2-for-3 with three RBI and Alfonso Soriano added an RBI double among his two hits for the Cubs, who clinched their three-game series against Cincinnati.

Zambrano (9-6) belted his 23rd career homer — a solo shot in the third — and limited the Reds to three runs on six hits over six innings, overcoming four walks while striking out six.

Reds starter Johnny Cueto (7-5) was touched for five runs on seven hits, lasting only 3 2/3 innings.

Yonder Alsonso socked a solo homer and added an RBI single for Cincinnati.

Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips left the game with a sprained right ankle suffered during a fourth-inning collision with center fielder Drew Stubbs while tracking a pop-up.