Coming off no-no, Musgrove battles vs. Bucs

Joe Musgrove said he felt like he was “underwater” in the second inning of the Padres’ 5-1 loss to the Pirates at PNC Park on Wednesday night.

One could forgive Musgrove for having a heavy arm that felt like it was moving in slow motion. After all, only five days earlier, the San Diego area native threw the first no-hitter in the 52-year history of the Padres.

“It’s a cool accomplishment to say … you threw a no-hitter and whatnot, but that stuff’s short-lived, man,” Musgrove said. “I’m only as valuable to the team as my last outing.”

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If that’s true, Musgrove may not have been as valuable Wednesday as he was in the immediate aftermath of Friday’s no-hitter at Texas. But he was valuable. And Wednesday’s start in Pittsburgh was valuable for him.

Musgrove gutted through 81 pitches over four innings against a light-hitting Pirates lineup, giving up one run on four hits, including a Gregory Polanco solo homer in the second that snapped Musgrove’s 32-inning scoreless streak dating back to last September. He walked two and struck out six.

During that streak, Musgrove was tremendous, giving up 11 hits, walking two and striking out 45. It began with him wearing a Pirates uniform and ended with him pitching against the Bucs at PNC Park. In between, we saw what Musgrove could be when things click for him -- a dominant starter in the National League. For a guy who owned a 4.33 career ERA entering 2021, it was quite a display of brilliance.

It’s been a whirlwind for Musgrove, now a household name after his historic feat from Friday -- he had to push his routine between starts back a day after the sheer physical toll the 112 pressure-packed pitches of the no-hitter took on his body.

Given how hard Pittsburgh’s hitters made him work to get his outs Wednesday, particularly by fouling off well-executed pitches (an 11-pitch battle with Colin Moran in the first inning was the chief example), Musgrove put the Padres in a position to contend for the win. San Diego's bats, however, couldn’t rise to the occasion, mustering only one run on six hits.

While his second start of the 2021 season went down in history, don’t sleep on the third one, even if Musgrove’s line was average by his standards. After learning what he was really capable of Friday night, he expanded that knowledge base by finding out what he could do without his best stuff and coming off a draining outing that ended in pure jubilance.

“Something I worked on this offseason as well is breaking down my starts in sets of 12,” Musgrove said. “You’re going to have three or four starts where you feel pretty good, and three or four starts where you feel terrible, and three or four starts where you’re going to have to grind it through with one or two pitches that are working for you. I feel like tonight was one of those starts where I had a handful of pitches that I felt good with and I could make work.”

Musgrove’s slider was sharp, as was his cut fastball when he deployed it. But he was nowhere near as locked in as he was Friday, and that was a good test for his resolve.

“It is big for me,” Musgrove said. “I didn’t feel my best, and I was trying not to ... fall back on that excuse of, ‘Oh, it was a long outing and I didn’t have the rest that I would’ve liked to have had.' … It’s definitely a positive for me to feel the way I did and still be able to get outs and find a way to get it done.”

Before the season began, it was Blake Snell and Yu Darvish that made headlines for their insertion into the Padres’ starting rotation, signifying how serious this team is in its quest to win its first World Series championship.

But so far in 2021, it’s Musgrove who has emerged as the club’s best starter in a process that has tested his mettle and prepared him for what’s to come as the season goes on.

“I don’t hang on to those good or bad outings for too long,” Musgrove said. “… There was a lot of emotion for me coming off [the no-hitter] and coming back to Pittsburgh and playing my old team. … I’m excited to get my work in [Thursday] and get back on my normal five-day [routine], and hopefully, bounce back a little better than my last one.”