James Shields Pitches Great in Padres Loss

Another night, another Padres shut-out. Yet dig a little deeper and this was no ordinary shut-out. James Shields pitched seven innings, allowing just three hits and one measly run. That run was enough for the Giants Johnny Cueto, who went the distance and kept the Padres scoreless despite several scoring chances.

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Shields has now gone at least six innings in all five of his starts, but the Padres have scored a combined total of six runs in those starts. The veteran right hander though isn’t going around blaming his team, as reported by MLB.com’s Marty Cassavel, “I try to throw quality starts and get deep in the game. Our bullpen’s been kind of taking the brunt of it the last few games, and it was nice to just go deep in the game and give them a rest. So did my job tonight.”

Buster Posey threw out two base-runners (Melvin Upton Jr.and pinch-runner Travis Jankowski) to halt Padres scoring threats as three times they got runners to third with less than two outs and failed to score. Shields admitted some frustration after seeing another good outing go to waste, “…the bottom line is we didn’t win the game. We’ve got to get better at that. We’ve got to get better at winning those games right there.”

After a slow start, Alexei Ramirez continues to hit well, collecting a single and double while Jon Jay provided the only other Padres extra base hit with a double of his own in four at-bats. Cueto only walked one while striking out 11 which helped him to work around the 7 Padres hits allowed.

Manager Andy Green spoke for Shields and himself as he acknowledged the frustration at losing these close games that if won would make a huge difference for the team. “I think everybody’s frustrated, and rightfully so after a game like that,” said Green. “There’s no doubt he’s giving absolutely everything he has on the mound and he’s competing to win every day. I’m sure there’s frustration for him now, but he knows he did absolutely everything he could possibly do.”

Next: Melvin Upton Jr Defensive Highlights So Far

Andrew Cashner looks to continue his own recent hot streak as the Padres play at 12:45 Wednesday afternoon. Toeing he rubber for the Giants is Jeff Samardzija, who after a bad season in the South Side of Chicago has started off well for his new team. He takes a 2-1 record with an ERA right at 3 against Cashner’s 1-1 record and 4.29 ERA. The Padres look to break their current 4 game losing streak before a day off Thursday and then heading down to Los Angeles who currently sit atop the NL West Standings.