9 amazing facts about SD's 1st no-hitter
You never know what’s going to happen on any given night of baseball, and Friday was no exception. Fans were treated to something that nobody had ever seen before: a Padres no-hitter. Joe Musgrove, whom the Padres traded for in the offseason from the Pirates, was brilliant, striking out 10 batters and not issuing a walk in an outing that would’ve been perfect if not for a Joey Gallo hit by pitch.
Here are 9 facts to know about the first no-hitter in Padres history.
• Every active franchise is now on the board, with the Padres now having a no-hitter. The Mets and Padres had been the final two, until Johan Santana threw a no-hitter for the Mets on June 1, 2012, leaving the Padres alone ... until Friday night. The Padres had gone 8,205 games without a no-hitter, the second-longest drought in Major League history behind the 1906-64 Phillies’ 8,944-game drought without one -- but the Padres’ streak was the longest before getting a team’s first no-hitter.
• The Padres had thrown 30 one-hitters, with the first coming on July 6, 1969, and the most recent on May 15, 2018. The longest no-hit bids in Padres history had been 8 2/3 innings, by Steve Arlin on July 18, 1972, and a combined group of Padres pitchers on July 9, 2011.
• For the Rangers, it was the first time the club was no-hit since April 18, 2007, when Mark Buehrle held them hitless at now-Guaranteed Rate Field. That Rangers lineup featured Kenny Lofton, Ian Kinsler, Michael Young, Mark Teixeira, Sammy Sosa and Nelson Cruz, among others.
• Musgrove’s no-hitter came the day after the 52nd anniversary of the first regular-season game in Padres history, which took place on April 8, 1969, against the Astros at San Diego (later Jack Murphy) Stadium. The Padres went 18,995 days without a no-hitter.
• Musgrove was born 20 miles away from Petco Park, in El Cajon, Calif., on Dec. 4, 1992. He was drafted by the Blue Jays 46th overall in the 2011 MLB Draft out of Grossmont High School in El Cajon.
Musgrove is the sixth pitcher since 1990 to throw a no-hitter for a team from the state where he was born, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He joins Jered Weaver (LAA), Kevin Gross (LAD), Nolan Ryan (two for TEX), Terry Mulholland (PHI) and Dave Stewart (OAK).
• Rangers general manager Chris Young, who pitched for the Padres from 2006-10, was two outs away from throwing San Diego’s first no-hitter on Sept. 22, 2006, against the Pirates. Pittsburgh’s Joe Randa broke it up with a solo homer in the ninth.
• Musgrove has now thrown 31 consecutive scoreless innings dating back to last season, a career high. Over that span, he’s given up 10 hits, walked two and struck out 44.
• Catcher Victor Caratini guided Musgrove through his historic night and has now caught the last two no-hitters pitched in MLB, and with different clubs -- he caught Alec Mills’ no-no against the Brewers in Milwaukee on Sept. 13, 2020, while with the Cubs. Caratini is the first starting catcher in MLB history to catch consecutive no-hitters MLB-wide for different teams, according to Elias. There are 10 other instances of a starting catcher catching consecutive no-hitters MLB-wide, but all of those were for the same team.
• This was just Musgrove’s second start with the Padres, making him the eighth pitcher in the modern era (since 1900) with a no-hitter in one of his first two starts with a team, according to Elias. He’s the first pitcher to do it since Clay Buchholz on Sept. 1, 2007, in his second start for the Red Sox.