It was an historical day for the San Diego Padres and their pitcher Dylan Cease. He walked up to the bump for his start on Thursday afternoon, fresh off one of the most electrifying and dominant two-start stretches in Padres history. Miraculously, somehow, he found a way to turn that dominance up one more level at Nationals Park.
Now, Joe Musgrove by himself and has company in the Padres’ no-hit history.
Cease was filthy for nine innings, picking up the second no-hitter in franchise history in a 3-0 victory over the Washington Nationals. The right-hander, forced to wait through a 1 hour, 16-minute rain delay before he took the mound, struck out nine and walked three.
“He kept our hitters off balance all game and never really gave us much to hit,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said.
The Padres went through an unimaginable, and agonizing 52-year drought before Musgrove turned in the franchise’s inaugural no-hitter on April 9, 2021. The time lapse before the second would not last nearly as long.
Cease, who had been mowing down lineups, had given up only one hit in each of his previous two outings, reached back in his tool box and was even better in this one. He wrapped up what he could not quite complete on September 3, 2022. While pitching for the Chicago White Sox, Cease had a no-hitter working with two outs in the ninth, before Luis Arraez, now his teammate, broke it up with a clean single.
Embed from Getty Images“I’ve been close and to finally get it done, it’s one of those things that feels so remarkable and hard to believe,” Cease said. “To be able to do it and go out and experience it, I really don’t even know how to feel. Just happy.”
Cease, acquired in a trade with the ‘South Siders’ prior to Opening Day this year, struck out nine and threw 114 pitches as the Wild Card-hopeful Padres won their fifth straight game.
The Nationals’ best chance at a knock against Cease came in the bottom of the fifth inning when Juan Yepez lofted a bloop over second base. Xander Bogaerts backtracked and got his glove on it but could not hold on to the baseball. When it flipped up in the air, Jackson Merrill was there to make the catch.
This is not his first rodeo against the Nationals. Cease one-hit the Nationals in seven innings on June 26, so Washington has manufactured just one hit in 16 innings vs. Cease. They are not looking forward to seeing anytime soon. Cease has allowed two hits in his last 22 innings, six innings with one hit on July 13 vs. the Atlanta Braves, seven innings with one hit on July 20 vs. the Cleveland Guardians, and then today.
Cease was not alone out there, receiving plenty of help from the Padres’ defense, who were outstanding throughout. In the bottom of the first, Ha-Seong Kim made a smooth tag to catch Lane Thomas, who was attempting to steal a bag with one out.
Kim was also involved in a tricky double play he turned with Donovan Solano to end the fourth, and in the eighth, Bogaerts dove to his left to make a stop, then, after bobbling the baseball, threw to first in time to beat out Keibert Ruiz.
