Perhaps a return to Petco Park is what James Shields needs to end his first losing stretch with the San Diego Padres.
Home or away, Taijuan Walker has looked strong for the Seattle Mariners over the last month.
As Shields tries to avoid losing a third consecutive start and remain undefeated at home, Walker hopes to win his fifth consecutive start in Wednesday's finale of this two-game set.
Shields (7-2, 4.24 ERA) went 7-0 with a 3.59 ERA in 14 starts before giving up four runs, eight hits and a season-high four walks in six innings of a 4-2 loss at Arizona on June 19. The right-hander then had his worst outing as a Padre on Thursday, allowing seven runs and nine hits over four-plus innings of a 13-8 defeat at San Francisco.
"You wish some of those balls could be hit right at people," interim manager Pat Murphy said.
Shields has a 6.45 ERA while San Diego (37-42) has dropped his last four starts and scored three runs with him on the mound in the three most recent.
Three of those four outings came on the road, where he's 4-2 despite a 5.50 ERA in nine outings. At Petco, he's 3-0 with a 2.78 ERA and has allowed more than two earned runs once in his seven starts.
Shields faced Seattle (35-42) on the road May 13, giving up a Brad Miller solo homer, striking out nine and throwing a season-high 115 pitches in six innings of a 4-2 victory.
"That team put together some really good at-bats all day long from the very first at-bat on," said Shields, who is 2-0 with a 3.38 ERA in his last four against the Mariners. "It was a grind."
He bested Walker (6-6, 4.64), who gave up two runs in the third inning of the six he lasted in that contest. The right-hander went 1-5 with a 7.33 ERA in his first nine starts but since is 5-1 with a 1.91 ERA while splitting those home and away.
Walker allowed a first-inning homer and lasted seven during Friday's 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on the road, where he's yielded a run each to win three straight. It also marked his third consecutive start without a walk.
"I think there's just been a growth period for Taijuan," Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said. "A young pitcher like Walker was going to have some ups and downs and there were going to be some struggles along the way. But we knew that eventually, he would get it and make us all proud."
Mike Montgomery allowed his only hit in the seventh inning of his second straight shutout and Miller belted a two-run homer in Seattle's 5-0 victory Tuesday.
"We're still a work in progress," said McClendon, whose club went 11-16 in June. "We'll see how we do (Wednesday)."
Miller has hit .438 (7 for 16) while the Mariners have split the first four of their nine-game trip.
Robinson Cano is 0 for 10 with four strikeouts in the last three contests but is batting .402 with four homers, nine doubles and two triples versus Shields.
Will Middlebrooks homered off Walker this season but is dealing with an ankle injury that limited him to a pinch-hitting role Tuesday. He's batting .145 with a homer and two RBIs in his last 19 games.
The Padres have been shut out a major league-leading 12 times.
