Cashner becomes Padres' ace

MIAMI, Fl. – Conroe High School graduate Andrew Cashner has become the ace of the San Diego Padres pitching staff. It took the 28-year-old former Tigers flame-thrower five Major League seasons to develop into the premier pitcher he always thought he could be.

Now, the 6-foot-6, 220-pound Conroe-born righty, coming off a stellar 2013 season with 10 wins and a 3.09 ERA over 175 innings of work over 26 starts, would like to have a little help from his offense.

In two starts to open the 2014 season as the Padres’ top pitcher, Cashner has struck out 11 in 12 innings while posting an impressive 2.25 ERA. Those are numbers that should put a pitcher in the win column, at least once.

But so far Cashner’s teammates haven’t been up to the challenge. The Padres were shut out (5-0) on Saturday, April 5, by the Marlins - sticking Cashner with the loss.

That comes on the heels of an Opening Day performance where Cashner was even better, yielding just four hits and one run. But as in his latest outing, Cashner got nothing from the bats.

San Diego was shut out over the six innings of work from Cashner, who got no decision despite the Padres’ three-run eighth inning in a 3-1 win over the Dodgers.