The Giants are priced too high here against James Shields, who is more than capable of keeping San Diego in this game. Shields is 2-1 with a 2.88 ERA in four career-regular season starts versus the Giants.

The Padres lost Shields' last start, 11-1, to Pittsburgh. But Shields pitched better than his three earned runs allowed in six innings looked against the Pirates. He was hurt by a pair of bloop singles and a wild pitch. Four key San Francisco hitters - Buster Posey, Hunter Pence, Denard Span and Matt Duffy - are a combined 7-for-67 against Shields.

I respect Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto. I think he's still very good at 30, but he's not as dominant as he was with the Reds. He has a 3.91 ERA in eight career starts against the Padres. He's going to have to deal with streaky Matt Kemp, who is hot going 7-for-14 in his last three games, including five doubles.

The Giants aren't playing that well either going 4-9 in their last 13 games. They're dealing with a thin bullpen as their top setup man, Sergio Romo, is on the DL.