I'm really starting to feel sorry for Andrew Cashner. Not only do the Padres not play good defense behind him, they aren't scoring any runs for him.
The latest setback was a 4-1 loss to the Nationals on Saturday night at Petco Park. In his eight starts, the Friars have let in 11 unearned runs. That leads the National League in a stat no pitcher wants to lead the National League in.
In his seven losses, San Diego has scored a grand total of 12 runs. It's hard to put many digits in the "W" column when your offense contributes less than two runs a game, something the Padres did once again against Max Scherzer.
The Nationals ace was as good as his $210 million contract says he should be. Scherzer threw 7.0 shutout innings, allowing only four hits and striking out 11 San Diego batters. The Padres offense is in another one of its long funks.
They pushed across a run in the 9th inning when Alexi Amarista slapped a single to left field off reliever Aaron Barrett to score Justin Upton. It was their first run since the 4th inning of Thursday night's 8-3 win over Washington, a scoreless span of 21 straight innings.
The Padres can still salvage a series split, and avoid falling under the .500 mark, on Sunday afternoon when they send Ian Kennedy to the mound against San Diego native Stephen Strasburg.
