Baseball: Padres' Cashner has big opening series

It was a big start to the 2012 Major League Baseball season for former Conroe High School baseball standout pitcher Andrew Cashner.

In the first series of the season, a four-gamer with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cashner pitched in the final three games for the San Diego Padres, working one inning in each. He struck out three and walked three over three innings on the mound and did not allow a hit. He had no decision in any of the three games.

Ironically, he posted the exact same stats in all three appearances; one inning, no hits, one strikeout, one walk.

His first appearance was on Friday, April 6, pitching the final inning of a 6-0 loss. He was one of seven Padres pitchers the following night in a 6-5 11-inning loss. Cashner was the Padres’ fifth pitcher of the night, and worked the eighth inning with the score tied 5-5.

He took to the mound on Sunday for a third appearance in three days, relieving starting pitcher Clayton Richards in the eighth inning with the Padres ahead 4-2. Cashner was credited with a hold and the Padres scored four runs in their half of the eighth inning en route to an 8-4 win.

Cashner pitched in more games than any other on the Padres’ staff during that first series and gets a much-needed rest as the Padres are idle on Monday before hosting the Arizona Diamondbacks for a three-game set starting Tuesday.

The Padres visit Houston for a four-game series June 25-28 at Minute Maid Park.