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Padres' Andrew Cashner has historic start he'll want to forget

Big League Stew

So far 2015 has provided more questions than answers for San Diego Padres right-hander Andrew Cashner and his outing Monday night was no exception.

In most cases a pitching line of 12 strikeouts and no walks means a starter has thrown one heck of a game. Well, Cashner had the 12 K's and didn't allow a free pass but that did not equate to great success. The New York Mets pounded him for 11 hits and six runs, five of them earned, and he was out of the game after 4 2/3 innings, having thrown 104 pitches.

It was such a bizarre start that it doesn't come as a total surprise that it was the first of its kind:

The modern era goes all the way back to 1900, which is to say a long time.

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Monday night's game, which ended as a 7-0 Mets win, was just the latest puzzling result in what's been a real hard-luck season for Cashner. In 11 starts this year for the Padres, he's 2-8 despite owning a solid 3.46 ERA and 3.64 FIP. In seven of those 11 starts, San Diego has scored one or zero runs.

(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

The eight losses are the most by any pitcher in baseball and frustration must be mounting for Cashner as he tries to figure out what's happening to him on the mound.

From the San Diego Union-Tribune:

"It was a weird one," Cashner said. "I thought I had some of the best stuff I’ve had this season. Some balls just fell in. I think the main mistake was the home run on a hanging slider. ... I just couldn’t stop it after that."

To their credit, the Mets were squaring up Cashner pretty good. According to the batted ball data over at FanGraphs, 61.5% of New York's balls in play were hit at medium speed while 38.5% qualified as hard hit, leaving 0% for soft hit balls. That helps explain how the Mets managed to register hits on 83% off the balls they put in play against Cashner.

Even so, giving up 11 hits and striking out 12 doesn't happen very often. The way Cashner's season is going though, it seems fitting that it would happen to him.

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Israel Fehr is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at israelfehr@yahoo.ca or follow him on Twitter.