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Dylan Cease pitched the second no-hitter in San Diego Padres history Thursday, a 3-0 victory over the Washington Nationals that completed a three-game series sweep.
After falling one out short of a no-hitter two years ago when he gave up a single to current teammate Luis Arraez, Cease accomplished the feat when he retired CJ Abrams on a game-ending flyout to right.
“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 (10-8) struck out nine and walked three, throwing a career-high 114 pitches for his third complete game in 145 starts. Cease’s pitch count was 94 after the seventh inning, but 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 thrown 113 this year,” Cease recalled. “Thankfully, they let me talk him into it. And then, here we are.”
Joe Musgrove pitched the Padres’ first no-hitter on April 9, 2021 against Texas. Houston’s Ronel Blanco threw the only other no-hitter in Major League Baseball this season, against Toronto on April 1.
Cease nearly had a no-hitter on Sept. 3, 2022, while pitching for the White Sox. But his bid was spoiled by Arráez, whose two-out single in the ninth inning helped the Twins avoid being no-hit that day.
Cease’s no-hitter came nine years to the day after Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels, a San Diego native, no-hit the Chicago Cubs.
“I think it’ll set in even more as time goes,” Cease said. “But I’ve been close, and to finally get it done, it’s one of those things that’s just — it feels so remarkable and hard to believe. To be able to do it and go out and experience it, I really don’t even know how to feel, I’m just happy.”
The no-hitter shortened the betting odds for Cease to win the NL Cy Young Award at ESPN BET, where he moved from 100-1 to 40-1. Cease is tied with Logan Webb for fifth-shortest odds for the award at ESPN BET, behind Atlanta’s Chris Sale (+135), Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler (+185) and Pittsburgh rookie Paul Skenes (+275).
Cease allowed only three baserunners Thursday: Lane Thomas walked with one out in the first inning and was caught stealing, then reached on another walk in the fourth but was erased on Jesse Winker’s double-play grounder. Abrams walked leading off the seventh and was stranded at second base.
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.
Bogaerts also bobbled a ball after making a diving stop of Keibert Ruiz’s grounder with one out in the eighth but recovered in time to throw out the slow-footed catcher at first.
Cease threw 60 sliders against the Nationals along with 44 fastballs averaging 98.3 mph — 1.4 mph above his season average — and 10 knuckle-curves.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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