San Diego Padres ace pitcher Andrew Cashner is having the start to a season that begins people whispering, "Cy Young candidate." After coming off a near no-hitter in Detroit his last start, Cashner held the Colorado Rockies (7-9) to two runs (one earned) over 7 1/3 innings in the Padres' (7-8) 4-2 victory Wednesday night at Petco Park.
Cashner (2-1,1,27) threw 97 pitches, 73 for strikes, as his sinker ball dominated the Rockies hitters. The Rockies had runners in scoring position eight times in the game and Cashner was able to wriggle out of trouble by going to his sinker pitch. Cashner was able to get 11 ground-ball outs busting the Rockies inside with the pitch.
"He's a competitor, man, and he is not afraid to come at you," Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado said. "He is always competing. His fastball moves a lot and it moves late. It looks good and it runs in on you and you get jammed."
Cashner gave up nine hits while striking out five and walking one. The only damage the Rockies were able to mount against him was by the bat of first baseman Justin Morneau. Morneau, who went 3-for-3, homered (2) in the second and hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth to score Carlos Gonzales.
The Rockies did put together a sizable threat in the sixth inning that threatened to knock Cashner out of the game. Down 3-1 with just one out, the Rockies loaded the bases. As he did throughout the game, Cashner was able to induce a ground-ball from catcher Jordan Pacheco with a sinker that was turned into a 6-4-3 double-play.
"You don't get a lot of opportunities against a guy like that," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "You hope somebody gets a big hit or you get one to drop when you do get some baserunners.
"He's got a real hard sinker and it's easy to beat that thing into the ground. That's what he did. He got a double-play ball in that situation."
In 10 straight starts now Cashner has held his opponent to two runs or less with a .99 ERA and opposition batting average of .175.
Huston Street earned his fifth save while striking out two in the ninth.
The Rockies starter Jorge De La Rosa, after a horrible start to the season, was able to improve against the Padres. But as has been the case on this road trip, the Rockies hitters were unable to provide run support. The Rockies went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
"The thing was, I was pitching better, " De La Rosa said. "But I make mistakes. You can't do that, and I feel bad."
De La Rosa (0-3, 7.58) threw 90 pitches in a season high six innings of work, giving up three runs (two earned) on seven hits, striking out four and walking one in the loss. He threw a poorly placed fastball to Tommy Medica that he was able to lift out of Petco Park for his first home run of the year and a tie ballgame.
"When Cash is on the mound, you know he's only going to give up a few runs at most," Medica said. "So it was good we got some runs for him."
De La Rosa had dominated the Padres at Petco Park his last four games against them. He was 3-0 in San Diego and hadn't lost to the Padres at home or away in four years.
"De La Rosa has been tough on us over the years," Black said. "He's a solid pitcher. I think that home run by Tommy swung the momentum back toward us."
The Padres took the lead for good in the fifth inning. With two outs and runners on first and third, Pacheco allowed a De La Rosa fastball to get past him, scoring Alexi Amarista from third. Chris Denorfia followed with a double (2) to right field, scoring Everth Cabrera from second.
Denorfia tacked on one more run for the Padres in the seventh off of reliever Tommy Kahnle. Denorfia singled to center, scoring Amarista.
The Padres improve to 5-2 in their last seven games while the Rockies fall to 3-7 on this road trip.
Coming Up:
Series Finale on Thursday, 3:40 PM PDT, Rockies LHP Franklin Morales (0-1, 6.39) - San Diego RHP Ian Kennedy (1-2, 4.24).