Dylan Cease dominated the Washington Nationals for nine innings, recording the second no-hitter in San Diego Padres history during a 3-0 victory on Thursday, which completed a three-game sweep.
Two years prior, Cease was one out away from a no-hitter when he allowed a single to current teammate Luis Arráez. This time, he retired Ildemaro Vargas and Jacob Young on groundouts for the first two outs of the ninth inning, then induced CJ Abrams to fly out to right on a 1-0 slider.
Cease (10-8) struck out nine batters and issued three walks in the 28-year-old right-hander’s third complete game out of 145 major league starts. He threw a career-high 114 pitches, despite a 1-hour, 16-minute rain delay in the first inning.
Joe Musgrove had previously thrown the Padres’ first no-hitter against Texas on April 9, 2021. The only other no-hitter this season was achieved by Houston’s Ronel Blanco against Toronto on April 1.
Cease was also one out away from a no-hitter with the Chicago White Sox against Minnesota in 2022 when Arráez hit a single to right-center on a 1-1 slider that caught too much of the plate.
“I think I had a bit of a flashback there: Just needed to get the slider a little bit lower,” Cease said. “Off the bat, it looked like a bloop hit. I watched it stay up. I was just screaming and yelling. That was amazing.”
Following the seventh inning, Cease’s pitch count was at 94, and he convinced manager Mike Shildt to keep him in the game.
“He said I did a nice job. I looked up and saw I was at 94 pitches, and I said, ‘I feel great.’ If I can get through the next one in like 105, I’ve thrown 113 this year,” Cease recounted. “Thankfully, they let me talk him into it. And now here we are.”
The closest Washington came to getting a hit was in the fifth inning when Juan Yepez hit a fly ball to shallow center. The ball slipped out of second baseman Xander Bogaerts’ glove, but center fielder Jackson Merrill was quick enough to snag it before it hit the ground.
Bogaerts also mishandled a ball after diving to stop a grounder from Keibert Ruiz with one out in the eighth but managed to recover quickly enough to throw out the slow-moving catcher at first base.
Cease utilized 60 sliders against the Nationals, along with 39 fastballs averaging 98.3 mph—1.4 mph above his season average—and 10 knuckle-curves.
His previous complete games were also shutouts: a seven-inning three-hitter against Detroit on April 29, 2021, and the win over the Twins.
San Diego has now won five consecutive games, achieving its third series sweep of the season and the first on the road. The Padres previously swept Oakland and Washington at home last month.
Washington experienced its sixth series sweep this season and finished with a 0-6 record against San Diego. It marked the inaugural time the Padres went undefeated against the Nationals/Montreal Expos franchise since both teams joined the National League in 1969.
San Diego loaded the bases in the first inning with a single and two walks against Patrick Corbin (2-10) before the rain delay while Ha-Seong Kim was at bat. Once play resumed, Kim worked the count full and then hit a single to left-center that drove in all three runners.
