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Following a 2-4 California road trip, the Padres are back down in San Diego to open up a seven-game homestand. First up will be the Rockies, who the Padres already faced last month in Colorado. They went 2-1 in and outscored the Rockies 32-15 in the three-game set. But this time they'll be playing in the much less offense-friendly Petco Park.
For the first game of the series they'll send James Shields to the hill to try to notch that elusive first win of the season. The veteran righty, despite some mostly solid performances, is 0-4 so far in his five starts in 2016. His most recent outing was his best of the year. He went seven innings and kept the Giants to just one run on seven hits. The Padres were unable to come through for him on offense, and so he was tagged with his fourth loss. San Diego hitters have only given Shields six total runs of support in his five starts this season.
Arguably his worst start of the season actually came in Colorado and resulted in the Padres' sole loss of the series. Shields gave up four runs on six hits - including three homers - through seven innings of work. That was only his second career loss in nine tries against the Rockies, however. He has a lifetime 6-2 record and 4.75 ERA against them.
Going up against the veteran Shields will be Rockies rookie Jon Gray, who is making just his third start of the season. Gray, who made his Major League debut last August, struggled in his first two outings this year. He's allowed a total of 11 runs (all earned) through a combined 8 2/3 innings. But if there's anything that can turn things around for Gray, it could be the Padres. He made one start against San Diego in 2015 and it remains arguably his best Major League outing so far - five scoreless innings of two-hit ball.
The Rockies haven't won a series at Petco Park since 2013, so hopefully the Padres can keep that streak intact these next few days.
Game time: 7:10 pm PT
Radio: The Mighty 1090, La Poderosa 860 (Sp.)
TV: FSSD, Fox Deportes San Diego (Sp.)