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 However, the San Diego Padres right-hander had nothing to show for
it until Monday night at Petco Park.
Spotted a 2-0 lead before rival right-hander Jon Gray was able to
retire a batter, Shields and three relievers held the Colorado
Rockies to nine hits as the Padres won the opener of a three-game
series 2-1 for their third win in four games.
"It feels good," Shields said of earning his first victory after
four consecutive losses this season. In fact, the Padres were 0-5 in
Shields first five starts -- the result more of San Diego's offense
than Shields' pitching.
"We still didn't score him a lot of runs, but we got him a couple
runs quickly and gave him a lead," Padres manager Andy Green said.
"It feels like for the most part I've been pitching well," said
Shields, who is 1-4 despite a 3.23 ERA. "It was nice that the guys
gave me a 2-0 lead."
 The Padres scored their two runs on hits by their first three
batters.
Jon Jay opened the bottom of the first with a single and moved to
third on a single by Wil Myers. Matt Kemp then pulled a double
inside the third base bag, scoring both Jay and Myers.
After walking Brett Wallace, Gray halted the damage by striking out
Alexei Ramirez and Derek Norris before retiring Jemile Weeks on a
fly to right.
The Padres didn't get another baserunner until Kemp singled with one
out in the sixth. Their final two hits were a second set of
back-to-back singles by Jay and Myers in the ninth.
Shields, who entered the game with the second-lowest run support
average in the major leagues, allowed one run, all nine Rockies hits
and two walks with five strikeouts in six innings.
He was followed by Ryan Buchter, Brandon Maurer and closer Fernando
Rodney, who picked up his fifth save with a perfect ninth.
The left-handed Buchter struck out four against a walk in 1 1/3
innings. Maurer completed the eighth.
"I'm disappointed in us offensively tonight," Rockies manager Walt
Weiss said. "I just felt we didn't do a very good job making in-game
adjustments. Shields is not going to give in. In fastball counts, he
stays soft. He's got the great changeup, and I just thought we could
have done a much better job." The Rockies wasted an excellent
effort by Gray (0-1, 7.98 ERA), who retired 21 of the last 23
hitters he faced and finished with a career-high 11 strikeouts. He
yielded two runs on four hits and a walk.
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"Jonny was outstanding," Weiss said. "Even the runs they got in the
first were just well-placed hits. I thought he threw the ball
extremely well. It's unfortunate we couldn't get him a win."
Gray said, "In the first inning, my direction was a little off. I
was pulling pitches across the zone. We made the adjustment pretty
quick."
But not quick enough.
The Rockies got at least one hit in each of the first six innings
against Shields, the Padres turning three double plays to keep
Colorado from scoring more than one run.
"The defense came through," Shields said.
Colorado's run came in the fourth after Carlos Gonzalez beat the
shift to open the inning with a swinging bunt single. Nolan Arenado
followed with a single but was erased on a double-play grounder to
second by Gerardo Parra. Former San Diego catcher Nick Hundley
doubled home Gonzalez from third to halve the deficit to 2-1.
The Rockies had only one baserunner in three innings against the
Padres bullpen.
"The 7-8-9 combo was nice," Green said of his relievers.
NOTES: Rockies SS Trevor Story was selected the National League
Rookie of the Month for April. Story tied the major league rookie
record with 10 April homers, and his 17 extra-base hits for his
first month in the majors tied for the second-highest total ever. He
drove in 20 runs in April ... RHP Eddie Butler will make his first
start of the season for the Rockies on Tuesday night, replacing
injured LHP Jorge De La Rosa. ... The Padres recalled OF Alex
Dickerson from Triple-A El Paso, where he was hitting .352 with an
active 13-game hitting streak. To make room for Dickerson, San Diego
designated LHP Michael Kirkman for assignment. ... The Padres are
6-3 in the opening games of series this season and 0-8 in series
finales.
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