Cashner Pitches Padres To 5-4 Win Over Angels
ANAHEIM (AP) — Justin Upton and Matt Kemp hit two-out RBI singles in the seventh inning and Will Middlebrooks had a two-run homer to help give run-starved Andrew Cashner all the support he would need as the San Diego Padres beat the Angels, 5-4, on Wednesday night.
Cashner (2-7) allowed three runs and eight hits in seven innings and struck out six in the rubber game of the interleague series. The right-hander, making his Angel Stadium debut, had received only three total runs of support in his previous six starts since beating the Chicago Cubs 5-2 on April 19.
Cashner handed a 5-3 lead to Brandon Maurer, who gave up a sacrifice fly to Kole Calhoun in the eighth before Craig Kimbrel got three outs for his 12th save in 13 attempts. Pinch-hitter Johnny Giavotella singled with two outs in the inning and tried to stretch it into a double, but Matt Kemp threw him out from right field.
Garrett Richards (4-3) was charged with five runs and eight hits over 6 2-3 innings on his 27th birthday. Both San Diego runs in the seventh were unearned, after the right-hander committed his second fielding error of the game when he mishandled a sacrifice bunt to the left of the mound by Austin Hedges after a leadoff walk to Alexi Amarista.
Richards came in with a 3-0 record and 0.80 ERA against National League clubs, spanning 14 appearances and seven starts.
Rookie Chris Perez drove in the Angels' first two runs with single in the second inning and a double in the fourth. Matt Joyce hit a solo homer that briefly tied the game in the sixth.
Twenty of the last 23 home runs Cashner has allowed have been solo shots. In fact, only one of the 42 homers he has surrendered in his big league career came with more than one man on base -- a grand slam by Houston's Lance Berkman on July 27, 2010.
Padres center fielder Will Venable made a diving catch in left-center on Erick Aybar for the third out in the seventh, one night after robbing Mike Trout of a home run.
Richards, who has yet to allow a first-inning run in eight starts, fell behind 1-0 in the second when Derek Norris doubled and scored from third on Middlebrooks' double into the left field corner. That ended a string of 25 consecutive scoreless innings by the right-hander during interleague play -- the longest in Angels history.
After Perez's infield hit tied the score in the bottom half, San Diego regained the lead in the fourth when Norris got an infield hit and Middlebrooks drove his sixth homer into the bullpen in left on the first pitch. It was only the third home run given up by Richards in 52 innings this season, after he gave up five in 168 2-3 innings last year.
BAD NEIGHBORHOOD TO BE IN
Richards, whose 2014 season ended prematurely with a knee injury that occurred in August while he was covering first base at Fenway Park, dropped a short toss from 1B Albert Pujols after a grounder by Yangervis Solarte in the third inning, but it didn't result in any runs.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Angels: RHP Cory Rasmus, recovering from abdominal surgery, is in the process of throwing simulated games in Arizona at the team's spring training facility. He might be able to begin a minor league rehab assignment within the next week. ... Manager Mike Scioscia said RHP Mike Morin's return from a left oblique strain will be a matter of weeks and not days. ... OF Collin Cowgill wasn't in the starting lineup for the fourth straight game because of an injured right hand.
UP NEXT
Padres: RHP Ian Kennedy (2-4) will start the opener of a four-game series against Pittsburgh at Petco Park, as San Diego continues a stretch of 20 consecutive games in Southern California.
Angels: LHP C.J. Wilson (2-3) opposes Buck Farmer in the opener of a four-game series against Detroit at the "Big A." The Tigers have lost 13 of their last 16 games against the Angels.
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