'Magnificent' Cease spins 2nd no-hitter in Padres history

WASHINGTON -- After he’d watched CJ Abrams’ line drive settle into the glove of right fielder Bryce Johnson, after he’d been mobbed by teammates behind the Nationals Park mound, Dylan Cease finally emerged from the mess of bodies, hair disheveled, beaming.

Cease had just authored the second no-hitter in Padres history, a dominant performance in a 3-0 victory on Thursday afternoon. There to greet him with a bear hug on the infield grass was Joe Musgrove.

Musgrove now has company.

The Padres, of course, endured an agonizing 52-year wait before Musgrove turned in the franchise's first no-hitter on April 9, 2021. The drought before the second wouldn't last nearly as long.

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Cease entered his start on Thursday amid one of the most dominant stretches in Padres history -- then turned that dominance up a notch. Forced to wait through a 76-minute rain delay before he took the mound, Cease struck out nine, walked three and -- most importantly -- allowed no hits.

“It was a magnificent performance,” manager Mike Shildt said.

“Obviously,” Cease said as he looked around the visiting clubhouse in Washington, “sharing it with these guys was really special.”

Two years ago, Cease had carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning while pitching for the White Sox against the Twins. It was Luis Arraez, his current teammate, who broke up that no-no with a two-out single. When Johnson’s catch ended Thursday’s game, Arraez asked Johnson for the ball, so he could present it to Cease.

“I think it'll set in even more as time goes,” said Cease, who was acquired by San Diego in a March trade with the White Sox. “I've been close. And to finally get it done, it's one of those things that just feels so remarkable and hard to believe. To be able to do it -- to go out and experience it -- I really don't even know how to feel. I'm just happy.”

The Nationals’ best chance at a hit -- and perhaps the game’s defining play -- came in the fifth inning, when Juan Yepez lofted a blooper over second base. Xander Bogaerts backtracked and got his glove on it, but couldn't corral the ball. When it flipped up in the air, Jackson Merrill was there to make the catch.

Two innings later, with Cease sitting on 94 pitches after seven, he was greeted by Shildt and pitching coach Ruben Niebla at the bottom step of the dugout. On a muggy day, after a long delay, Cease’s pitch count was rising, and Shildt informed Cease of his plan to remove him. Cease countered.

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“Give me a shot, at least,” said Cease, who finished at 114 pitches. “Thankfully, we worked it out. … My stuff felt good. My body felt good. I just wanted to keep going.”

At some point during the dialogue, Musgrove emerged at their side. He chimed in, noting repeatedly that Cease’s stuff looked good.

“Well, he’s thrown one,” Shildt said. “He knows.”

Ultimately, Shildt relented, though he stressed the importance of efficiency. If not for Cease’s nine-pitch eighth, there may have been another discussion -- and it might not have ended the same way.

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“To his credit, he went back out in straight attack-mode,” Shildt said. “Defense made their plays. That was a magnificent, historical day for Dylan Cease.”

That eighth inning came with perhaps the game’s nerviest moment. Bogaerts again found himself involved. He ranged to his left and made a diving stop on a Keibert Ruiz grounder. But as Bogaerts came up to throw, the ball squirted out of his hand. Somehow, he managed to recover in time to nab Ruiz.

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“It feels like every no-hitter, there’s a couple plays like that that are just remarkable,” Cease said.

The ninth was clean enough. Ildemaro Vargas and Jacob Young grounded out, bringing up Abrams -- the former Padre dealt to Washington in the Juan Soto trade. Cease threw a slider on the outer half of the plate. Abrams laced it to right -- the only ball the Nationals hit all day with a hit probability higher than 50 percent.

“I didn't like it off the bat,” Cease said. “He looked very hitterish. But fortunately, fate's on my side today.”

Fate. And an utterly dominant array of pitches.

“As far as no-hit stuff?” Niebla said. “He’s had it for a couple outings.”

Indeed, Cease had allowed only one hit in each of his previous two starts. He’d also held the Nats to just one hit when he faced them last month. With the no-hitter, Cease became the first pitcher on record since at least 1901 to record a three-outing stretch with at least 30 strikeouts and two hits or fewer. He hasn’t allowed a run since July 7.

“He’s been in the zone, and his stuff’s been working,” said Luis Campusano, who backstopped his first no-hitter. “He’s been attacking hitters. Nothing really changed.”

Except that zero in the hits column. Campusano was the first to embrace Cease in front of the mound, followed by the rest of the Padres’ dugout. Cease received a Gatorade shower up the third-base line. By the time he emerged into a raucous clubhouse after the game, he hadn’t had a proper chance to put the moment into perspective.

Cease was asked how he’d remember the day -- how he might describe it decades from now.

“The rain-delay start and how unassuming it felt at first,” Cease said. “Then, you just keep going out there and putting up zeros. All of a sudden, you look up, and you’re one out away.

“Then, all of a sudden, you’re no outs away. And you’re celebrating.”