TORONTO -- Andrew Cashner is throwing harder, which is nice. What's nicer: He's still throwing strikes.

On Sunday, Cashner's two-seam fastball velocity averaged 93 mph for the second straight start. It is the two best average two-seam velocities he's had this year. Most important, he threw it for strikes. Of the 45 he threw, 32 (71 percent) were in the strike zone, according to brooksbaseball.net.

Perhaps it is no coincidence, then, that Cashner matched his season high with seven innings of work Sunday in a 3-1 win over Toronto.

"He's getting stronger, and the pitches are getting sharper," manager Jeff Banister said. "Tremendous job. When he gets up to 94-95 mph with the fastball, they have to honor it and it makes the other pitches that much more dynamic."

It doesn't lead to strikeouts -- Cashner is second-to-last in the AL in strikeouts per nine innings -- but it does lead to ground balls.

In a jam Tuesday in Boston, he got a ground ball from Xander Bogaerts, but it got through the hole. On Sunday, he got 10 ground balls in seven innings, including a nifty double-play ball from Kendrys Morales with the infield shifted. Morales hit the ball to shortstop Elvis Andrus behind second base. He flipped to third baseman Joey Gallo, who pivoted and turned the double play.

Cashner, who missed the first two weeks of the season while recovering from some biceps tendinitis, entered the game averaging 91.7 mph with his sinking fastball, a career low. He has made the most of ground balls, since he has just 23 strikeouts this year, including two Sunday. His goal: Get hitters to beat the ball in to the ground.

"Early in the season, I was still looking for strength," Cashner said. "Today, the velo was there in big spots. I want them to put the ball in play. For me, you have to live and die by the ground ball."

Briefly

-- RHP Matt Bush threw a 95.9 mph slider to Troy Tulowitzki on the first pitch of the game's final at-bat, according to the MLB.com Statcast system. It is the hardest slider thrown this year, ahead of two 95.6 mph pitches by Washington's Koda Glover.

-- RHP Tyson Ross is scheduled to throw about 90 pitches or six innings in his rehab outing for Round Rock on Monday. The Rangers will make a determination on his potential return after that.