San Diego @ Tampa Bay preview
Tropicana Field
Last Meeting ( Jun 22, 2010 ) San Diego 2, Tampa Bay 1
There's a good chance James Shields won't earn an easier win this season than the one he picked up Saturday night.
All the Tampa Bay Rays care about is whether Shields can lift them out of their current cold streak.
Shields and the Rays look for payback Wednesday night as they resume their interleague series with visiting San Diego. The Padres captured the opener 2-1 behind seven shutout innings from Mat Latos, who limited Tampa Bay to just three hits while striking out eight.
It was more of the same for the Rays, who fell for the fifth time in six games to drop 1½ games back of the New York Yankees for top spot in the American League East.
Tampa once led the division by as many as six games, but has won just 10 of its last 26 games to slip into a tie for second with the surging Boston Red Sox.
An erratic offense has been the biggest culprit. After pulling out a 9-8, 11-inning victory over the Florida Marlins on Saturday, the Rays have scored just two total runs in the two games since. They've managed only 12 hits over that span, drawing two walks while striking out 21 times.
Shields (6-6) was the winning pitcher in the Rays' last victory, making his first career major league relief stint in a game that saw Tampa use nine pitchers. He tossed a scoreless 10th inning, and the Rays went on to score four runs in the 11th before holding on to earn Shields his first victory since May 20.
As a starter, Shields has been far less fortunate of late. The 28-year-old right-hander has lost his last five starts, a stretch that has seen his ERA balloon from 2.99 to 4.50. The lowlight of his season came June 11 against the Marlins, when he was tagged for 10 runs in just 3 1/3 innings of a 14-9 defeat.
The Padres are one of eight teams Shields has never faced in his career.
San Diego counters with righty Kevin Correia (5-5), who has endured his own share of struggles. The 29-year-old has just one victory in his last eight outings, and that came after he surrendered six runs over six innings of an 18-6 rout of the New York Mets. He's just 1-4 with three no-decisions since May 3.
The Padres have enjoyed playing away from San Diego, and that streak of road success is a major reason why they lead the National League West by 1 1/2 games over the San Francisco Giants. They're 18-13 away from Petco Park - a solid record on its own, but made even more significant by the fact that every other team in the division is below .500 on the road.