Kansas City @ San Diego preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 27, 2011 ) Kansas City 3, San Diego 4

THE STORY: The last-place San Diego Padres are finally gathering some momentum and Clayton Richard hopes their strong play continues at least one more game. The snake-bitten lefthander, who has one of the lowest home ERA’s in baseball, hasn’t won at Petco Park in nearly a year. He will try to end that streak on Tuesday against the slumping Kansas City Royals. San Diego has won five of seven, including four straight at home. The Padres, however, have lost each of Richard’s last 11 home starts, tying the franchise record.

TV: 10:05 pm. ET, Ch4 (San Diego), Fox Sports Kansas City

PITCHING MATCHUP: Padres LH Clayton Richard (3-9, 4.21 ERA) vs. Royals RH Felipe Paulino (0-1, 3.09).

Richard may have the worst luck of any starter in baseball. He is 0-5 in seven starts at Petco Park, despite an outstanding 2.25 ERA there (10th best in baseball). The 27-year-old was 0-5 with a 3.79 ERA in six starts before ending the career-worst skid with a rain-shortened win in Boston on Wednesday. He returned after two delays and allowed one run and eight hits in five innings in a 5-1 victory – his first win since May 16. Richard is in search of his first home win since August 24, 2010.

Paulino has made five starts since being acquired from Colorado for cash considerations on May 27. He allowed five runs and nine hits in eight innings of a 5-3 loss to Arizona on Thursday. The converted reliever allowed all of the runs in the first four innings before retiring the last 13 batters. He is 0-1 with a 2.08 ERA in two games – one start – vs. San Diego.

ABOUT THE PADRES (35-45): The Padres, winners of four of their last five, are on the verge of capturing a third straight series. San Diego took two of three from both Boston and Atlanta prior to beating Kansas City in Monday’s opener. Bud Black’s team hasn’t won three straight series since May 27- June 5. San Diego may be offensively challenged, but once the Padres get a lead they rarely let it slip away. Heath Bell has converted 14 straight saves while anchoring the second-best bullpen in baseball (2.92 ERA). Still, despite the win on Monday, San Diego has not fared well at home. The Padres are just 17-27 at home and only Houston (13-28) has a worse home record.

ABOUT THE ROYALS (33-46): The Royals, who are percentage points ahead of last-place Minnesota, have lost seven of nine and are averaging just 3.4 runs in that span. Monday’s series opening loss against San Diego dropped them to 0-4 all-time at Petco Park – the only stadium in which they have yet to register a win. The Royals left the tying run on second base Monday when rookie Eric Hosmer grounded out to second. Alex Gordon extended his hitting streak to 14 games in the loss.

FINAL PITCH: San Diego lost its first seven games against the American League and was the last team in the majors to win an interleague game this season.