Who knew a murky Thursday afternoon in Washington D.C., which included a 75-minute first-inning rain delay, would etch itself in Padres history?

One thousand two hundred three days after Joe Musgrove threw the first no-hitter in San Diego Padres history early in the 2021 season, Dylan Cease‘s 114-pitch effort with nine punch outs in the nation’s capitol resulted in the second no-no in franchise history.

After the long delay, Ha-Seong Kim gave San Diego the lead in the top of the first with a 3-run single. From this point on, Cease took the spotlight and dominated Nationals hitters the entire afternoon. The right-hander only allowed three baserunners, all on walks: Lane Thomas drew the first two walks, and CJ Abrams reached on the third free pass in the seventh.

Every no-hitter has “the play,” where the defense momentarily takes the spotlight and saves the effort. This afternoon was no exception.

This past Sunday (7/21), Michael King‘s no-hit bid ended on a bloop hit, which fell in front of rookie centerfielder Jackson Merrill in Cleveland. Despite the end of King’s no-no effort concluding on a ball too far out of the speedster’s reach and not in any way his fault, Merrill was ready for redemption.

To open the bottom of the fifth, Juan Yepez, who had been riding a 15-game hitting streak, popped a weak fly ball 69-MPH off the bat into shallow centerfield.

Second basemen Xander Bogaerts had a read on it right away and back-pedaled in the outfield grass to the right of the base, where he made the catch.

No.

Teamwork at its finest from Xander Bogaerts and Jackson Merrill! pic.twitter.com/9SagxX1byq

— MLB (@MLB) July 25, 2024

The ball popped out of his glove, but Merrill came to the rescue and caught it after exiting Bogaerts’ glove for the average no-hitter-saving 4-8 put out.

Another overlooked play in Cease’s masterpiece manifested in the eighth frame on a grounder, which Bogaerts dove for and stopped in the outfield grass between first and second base. After a quick bobble, he nabbed the slow runner Keibert Ruiz to keep the no-hitter alive.

Cease set down the Nationals in order in the final frame. After an eight-pitch plate appearance, which concluded in a groundout to second, Jacob Young grounded out to Kim at shortstop. Then, the former Padre Abrams lined out to Bryce Johnson in right field, and Cease made Padres and MLB history.

After 94 pitches and tossing seven no-hit frames, Padres skipper Mike Shildt planned to go to the bullpen. However, Cease told his manager he wanted to finish what he started.

“He said, ‘Nice job,’” Cease told Padres broadcasters Don Orsillo and Mark Grant post-game, “and I looked up, and it was like 94 pitches, and I just said, ‘I feel great, and if we get through the next one in like 105…’ I’ve thrown 113 this year, so thankfully, they let me talk them into it.”

In September 2022, the year in which the right-hander finished second in American League Cy Young voting, Cease had tossed 8.2 no-hit frames against the Minnesota Twins before now-teammate Luis Arráez ending his effort with a single down to the final out.

Now, Arráez, Cease, and the entire Padres fan base celebrate the second no-hitter in franchise history on July 25, 2024. 

Max Schwartzberg

A San Diegan born and raised, Max Schwartzberg is a diehard Padres fan who created and hosts the YouTube channel Padres Previews, a hub where he passionately delivers Padres news, updates, reactions, and hype videos. At Northeastern, Max broadcasts and writes for baseball, basketball, and hockey. Max dreams of following in the steps of Padres broadcaster and Northeastern alumnus Don Orsillo to become a Major League Baseball announcer.