San Diego Padres ace Dylan Cease made history on Thursday with a no-hitter against the Washington Nationals, leading his team to a 3-0 victory. His performance marks only the second no-hitter in Padres franchise history. Cease's dominance included nine strikeouts and three walks.
When asked about his mindset entering the 8th inning, Cease responded, “I feel great. At that point, it was just testing if it would be on my side or not, but I feel like I was in a very good position to do it.”
Dylan Cease weathering the rain delay
The 28-year old Cease took the mound on Thursday during one of the most impressive stretches in Padres history, and he elevated his performance even further. He had to wait through a 76-minute rain delay before starting.
“I just tried to focus on how my body felt. Making sure I was moving every so once in a while and not going 20 or 30 minutes where I was just being sedentary,” Cease said via an interview on 97.3 The Fan.
“My main focus turned to basically either stretching or bike or light toss and then once we found out when the tarp was gonna be moved, I was able to formulate a plan as to when I wanted to get off the indoor mound and throw maybe 20 pitches or so and just get everything ramped up to high speed again,” he continued.
Dylan Cease's historic no-no for the Padres
Since 2021, Cease has achieved an impressive 11 starts of at least six innings with only one hit allowed, the most by any pitcher in baseball during that period.
Only five pitchers in MLB history have recorded more such starts in their careers: Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Justin Verlander, Bob Feller, and Blake Snell. The first four have multiple no-hitters, while Snell is still looking for his first.
This is the second no-hitter of the 2024 season and only the second in Padres history, following Joe Musgrove's no-no in 2021. Earlier this year, Ronel Blanco of the Astros threw the first no-hitter of the season in early April.
Near misses between the Padres and the Nationals
The Nationals’ best opportunity for a hit occurred in the fifth inning when Juan Yepez hit a blooper over second base. Xander Bogaerts initially got his glove on the ball but couldn’t secure it, causing it to pop into the air. Fortunately, Jackson Merrill was positioned perfectly and made the catch to end the inning.
Cease threw just eight pitches in the eighth inning before closing out with a flawless ninth. He finished the game by getting CJ Abrams to fly out to right fielder Bryce Johnson for the final out.
The eighth inning featured a tense moment when Bogaerts played a crucial role once more. He made a diving stop on a grounder from Keibert Ruiz, but as he prepared to throw, the ball slipped from his grip. Despite the mishap, Bogaerts quickly regained control and managed to get Ruiz out.
A vital part of the San Diego Padres
Two years ago, while still with the Chicago White Sox, Cease was on the verge of a no-hitter against the Twins but had it broken up by a two-out single from Luis Arraez, who is now his teammate. After Thursday's game, Arraez asked Johnson for the final out ball to give to Cease.
A few weeks before the season began, the 28-year-old Cease was acquired by the Padres from the White Sox. Entering Thursday's game, Cease had posted a 9-8 record with a 3.59 ERA over 128 innings for a San Diego team that's 7.5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West and currently holds the third NL wild card spot.
San Diego will rely on Dylan Cease to maintain his high level of performance if they hope to extend their season into October. Currently, the Padres are just half a game ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals for the final National League wild-card spot in a tight race.
If they make the playoffs, Cease will likely be a key pitcher for them, taking the mound as often as needed.
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