- Pitcher struck out nine in 3-0 win over Nationals
- Cease fell one out short of no-hitter two years ago
Dylan Cease overpowered the Washington Nationals for nine innings, pitching the second no-hitter in San Diego Padres history in a 3-0 win on Thursday that completed a three-game sweep.
After falling one out short of a no-hitter two years ago when he gave up a single to current teammate Luis Arráez, Cease retired Ildemaro Vargas and Jacob Young on a groundouts for the first two outs of the ninth, then got CJ Abrams to hit a flyout to right on a 1-0 slider.
Cease (10-8) struck out nine and walked three in the 28-year-old right-hander’s third complete game in 145 big league starts. He threw a career-high 114 pitches in a game that included a 1-hour, 16-minute rain delay in the first inning.
Joe Musgrove pitched the Padres’ first no-hitter against Texas on 9 April 2021. Houston’s Ronel Blanco has thrown the only other no-hitter this season, against Toronto on 1 April.
Cease was within one out from a no-hitter for the Chicago White Sox against Minnesota in 2022 when Arráez lined a single to right-center on a 1-1 slider over the middle of the strike zone.
“Think I had a little flashback right there: Make sure I get the slider a little bit lower,” Cease said. “Man off the bat right there, it looked kind of like a bloop hit. I saw it stay up. Just screaming and yelling. That was awesome.”
Cease’s pitch count was 94 after the seventh inning. He lobbied manager Mike Shildt to keep him in the game.
“He said nice job. And I looked up and it was like 94 pitches. I just said ‘I feel great.’ And if we get through the next one in like 105. I’ve have thrown 113 this year,” Cease recalled. “Thankfully, they let me talk him into it. And then, he we are.”
The closest Washington came to a hit was when Juan Yepez lofted a fly to shallow center in the fifth inning. The ball popped out of second baseman Xander Bogaerts’ glove, but center fielder Jackson Merrill was there to snare the ball before it hit the ground.
