The San Diego Padres wanted to give their pitching staff a major boost when they acquired Dylan Cease in a trade from the Chicago White Sox. On Thursday, Cease proved the Padres right in their all-out pursuit.
Cease pitched the second no-hitter in Padres history, taking down the Washington Nationals 3-0. Throwing 114 pitches, Cease struck out nine and walked three. He joins Joe Musgrove as the only pitchers with no-hitters in San Diego history.
Cease had 94 pitches thrown after the seventh inning, but convinced manager Mike Shildt to keep him in the game. A nine-pitch inning in the eighth gave the right-hander an opportunity to throw a complete game. After two straight ground outs, Cease got CJ Abrams to line out to right field on the second pitch he saw, securing the no-hitter.
The Padres star admitted that he began thinking of the achievement after the sixth inning. After the seventh was when he truly had to plead his case to stay in. But Shildt's belief paid off as Cease has made history, via Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
“And here we are,” Cease said simply after the victory.
Dylan Cease had been close to a no-hitter before. He lasted 8.2 innings against the Miami Marlins back on Sept. 3, 2022, via Nightengale. However, Luis Arraez broke it up. When Cease finally accomplished his no-hit feat, Arraez was there to celebrate with him as Padres teammates.
Cease has been electric through his entire first season in San Diego. After his no-hitter, he now holds a 10-8 record with a 3.50 ERA and a 168/40 K/BB ratio. He has been everything the Padres hoped for post-trade.
San Diego will now celebrate Cease's historic outing and use it as motivation for the rest of the season. While he won't throw a no-hitter every time he's on the mound, the right-hander has become an ace with the Padres.
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