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.
Cease (10-8) struck out nine and walked three, throwing a career-high 114 pitches for his third complete game in 145 starts.
Joe Musgrove pitched the Padres’ first no-hitter against Texas on April 9, 2021. Houston’s Ronel Blanco threw the only other no-hitter in Major League Baseball this season, against Toronto on April 1.
Cease also 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 exactly nine years to the day after Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels, a San Diego native, no-hit the Chicago Cubs.
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 Thursday afternoon 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.
