A few weeks ago the Padres took two of three against the Cubs in Chicago. The two teams meet again for another three-game series in San Diego, and tonight's series opener will pit James Shields against Jason Hammel once again.
Shields is undefeated in his first eight games, becoming the first Padres pitcher to open their season with a 5-0 record since Justin Germano in 2007. He threw at least six innings in seven of his eight starts. However, it hasn't been a smooth ride lately for the right-hander. His latest outing was classic Shields - six innings, one earned run, nine strikeouts. But in his two starts prior to that he gave up ten earned runs on 15 hits, seven of which were homers, over…
