• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Padres hope to break the brooms out on Royals

Jun 29, 2011 - 3:00 PM (Sports Network) - The San Diego Padres are guaranteed a third straight series victory, but have their sights set on a three-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals when the two clubs clash today at Petco Park.

The Padres improved to 5-0 all-time against the Royals at Petco Park thanks to Tuesday's 4-2 win behind seven stellar innings from Clayton Richard. The lefty held Kansas City to two runs and five hits with five strikeouts.

"We couldn't get much going with him," Royals manager Ned Yost said of Richard's performance. "He worked quick and threw strikes. He threw a lot of cutters in on our hands that we just couldn't handle."

San Diego starters have yielded only seven earned runs over the past 24 outings. Mike Adams and Heath Bell each tossed a scoreless innings of relief to preserve the win. Bell notched his 22nd save in the process and has converted his previous 15 save opportunities, 22 of the past 23 and 56 of 57 chances dating back to last May.

Cameron Maybin finished 3-for-3 and scored twice, Kyle Phillips posted an RBI double and both Will Venable and Ryan Ludwick drove in a run for the Padres, who have won three straight and six of seven games. The Friars are tied with Los Angeles for last place in the NL West at 10 1/2 games off the pace and will begin a 10-game road trip Friday against the Mariners, Giants and Dodgers. They are aiming for their first sweep of the 2011 campaign.

The Padres will send Tim Stauffer to the mound this afternoon, hoping he can duplicate his last performance when he tossed seven innings of two-run ball in an 11-2 bashing of Atlanta on Friday. He is now 2-1 with a 0.93 ERA in his previous four trips to the rubber.

Stauffer struck out a career-high nine batters and has alternated wins and losses over his previous six decisions. The righty is 3-5 with a 3.09 earned run average in 16 starts and has never faced Kansas City. Stauffer owns a 2-3 record in nine home starts this season and has allowed two runs or fewer in four straight and five of six outings. At the plate, Stauffer has hit safely in four of his last eight starts, batting .375 (6-for-16) in that span.

Kansas City is 0-2 so far on a nine-game road trip and didn't receive much help from starter Felipe Paulino, who suffered the loss for giving up four runs -- three earned -- and 11 hits in seven innings of work. He did strike out seven and issued just one walk.

Jeff Francoeur homered and scored twice and Chris Getz ended with a team-high two hits in the loss -- the Royals' 10th in the past 13 contests. Kansas City will also visit Colorado and the Chicago White Sox on this excursion.

"Things are going to change soon. I don't know when but I'll just keep going forward and keep the game close, and hopefully, someday I'm going to change that," Paulino said.

Alex Gordon went 0-for-3 and his 14-game hitting streak ended. The Royals lead the majors with 31 outfield assists and saw Francoeur throw out San Diego's Anthony Rizzo at home plate last night.

Bruce Chen draws the assignment Wednesday for the Royals and is 4-1 with a 3.88 earned run average in eight starts. Chen did not record a decision his last time out in a 6-4 loss versus the Chicago Cubs on Friday, as he yielded four runs and eight hits in six innings.

The left-hander, who spent time on the disabled list with a left lat strain, will face San Diego for the ninth time in his career and is 2-1 with a 1.99 ERA in the first eight appearances, three of which were starts. He is 1-1 in two road outings this season.

The Padres took all three games from the Royals in 2004 at San Diego after the Royals won two of three at home two seasons earlier.