34 Andrew Cashner, RP

Padres pitcher Andrew Cashner struck out six and turned in an effective outing as he picked up his third win of the season Sunday afternoon against the Nationals.

Cashner (3-2), who made his sixth start of the season, served up a two-run home run to Ryan Zimmerman in the fourth. The right-hander was charged with three runs and seven hits over 6 2/3 innings of work. He walked one and threw 97 pitches. It was his fourth straight start with 90-plus pitches.

Cashner has allowed just five runs over his last three starts (21 1/3 innings). He is scheduled to make his next start Saturday at Arizona. He went 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in four appearances (two starts) against the Diamondbacks last season.

With a 2.51 ERA since joining the rotation, it is hard to complain about what Padres starter Andrew Cashner has been doing recently. He has gone at least six innings in three of his five starts, and has yet to top 100 pitches despite reaching the eighth inning in his last two.

Despite his solid run, I'm not entirely sold on the fireballer's success. We were initially excited about Cashner joining the rotation because his big fastball was likely to lead to big strikeout numbers, but that has not been the case; he has just 18 strikeouts in 28 2/3 innings of work. Cashner has done a good job improving his control as a starter and he has maintained a solid groundball ratio, but without strikeouts, it is hard to say this is sustainable.

Cashner has been fortunate to have a .247 batting average on balls in play since joining the rotation. Once that comes back to Earth, his numbers are going to look much worse.

One of two things is likely to happen before long; Cashner's electric stuff is going to start generating more whiffs or his ERA is going to rise. Just know that his current success does not look sustainable. 

Padres starting pitcher Andrew Cashner made it through 7 1/3 innings for a second straight start Tuesday at Baltimore and needed only 77 pitches to make it through seven innings. Cashner has worked at least six innings in three of his last four starts.

"I think a big thing for me this year is not trying to air it out," Cashner said, per MLB.com. "I'm not trying to throw 100 mph."

Cashner is averaging 95 mph on his fastball after averaging 98 mph last season. He's also been able to decrease the velocity in his changeup from 87.4 mph to 85.7 mph.

"When you back off a pitch, [that] doesn't mean you're going to have better control with it," Padres pitching coach Darren Balsley said. "But a workload for a starter, if you're going to throw 100 pitches every five days, your velocity is probably going to go down a couple miles an hour."

Padres pitcher Andrew Cashner turned in his second straight quality start on Tuesday night against the Orioles. He allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits over 7 1/3 innings of work.

The right-hander surrendered a solo homer to Ryan Flaherty in the third for the only damage over his first seven frames. Then in the eighth, he issued a one-out walk and a single before an error allowed the run to score.

Cashner was done after throwing 91 pitches, 56 for strikes, and left in line for the loss but his teammates were able to battle back to tie the game. He also struck out three and walked one in the no-decision.

His next start is scheduled for Sunday against the Nationals.