Walker (3-1) covered eight innings and struck out 11 batters while giving up two runs on four hits and no walks in Thursday's 6-2 win over the Padres.
It was the best outing of the season for Walker, who overcame a difficult first inning to make life difficult for the San Diego bats the rest of the evening. He retired 12 of the subsequent 13 Padres hitters before surrendering a solo homer to Ryan Schmipf in the seventh inning, and finished the start out on a high note. Walker owns a pedestrian 3.94 ERA over five starts this season, but a 33:7 K:BB and 2.97 FIP over his 29.2 innings suggests that some improvement should be in store for him.