WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Hoping for a chance to stay in the game and pitch the second no-hitter in San Diego Padres history, Dylan Cease received some help from the man who threw the first.
Cease was at 94 pitches through seven innings when Padres manager Mike Shildt glanced at Joe Musgrove.
鈥淛oe is like, `His stuff is pretty good,鈥欌�� Shildt recalled. "Well, he鈥檚 thrown one. He knows what this looks like. We let him ride.鈥�
Cease needed only nine pitches in the eighth and 11 in the ninth in a 3-0 victory over the Washington Nationals on Thursday that completed a three-game sweep.
After falling one out short of a no-hitter two years ago when he gave up a single to current teammate Luis Arr谩ez, Cease retired Ildemaro Vargas and Jacob Young on a groundouts for the first two outs of the ninth, then got .
鈥淢y thought was I鈥檓 going to throw a slider and I鈥檓 going to get it down, and if it鈥檚 down he鈥檚 either hopefully going to beat it into the ground or he can鈥檛 put in play,鈥� Cease said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 like it off the bat. It looked very hitterish, but fortunately fate鈥檚 on my side today.鈥�
Cease (10-8) struck out nine and walked three in the 28-year-old right-hander鈥檚 third complete game in 145 big league starts. He threw a career-high 114 pitches in a game that included a 1-hour, 16-minute rain delay in the first.
鈥淭he first inning, he comes in and says 鈥業鈥檓 not quite there,鈥欌�� Shildt recalled. 鈥淭he second inning, 鈥楪etting there.鈥� Then the third inning, he just hit his stride.鈥�
against Texas on April 9, 2021. , against Toronto on April 1.
Cease was within one out of a no-hitter for the Chicago White Sox against Minnesota on Sept. 3, 2022, when on a 1-1 slider over the middle of the strike zone.
鈥淚鈥檝e been close and to finally get it done, it鈥檚 one of those things that feels so remarkable and hard to believe,鈥� Cease said. 鈥淭o be able to do it and go out and experience it, I really don鈥檛 even know how to feel. Just happy.鈥�
He worried about the pitch count causing an early end to his outing.
鈥淭hankfully, we were able to talk it out,鈥� Cease said. 鈥淚 just said 鈥業 feel really good right now. Next inning, if I鈥檓 kind of erratic or use up too many pitches, pull me then. But give me a shot, at least.鈥� Thankfully, we worked it out.鈥�
Shildt said he wasn鈥檛 going to allow Cease鈥檚 pitch count to rise into the high 120s. He said there was no further conversation after Cease breezed through the eighth.
鈥淚 just love the conviction,鈥� Shildt said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important in my chair to be able to be open-minded and listen to your athletes. He felt good. He felt convicted. He made a really strong case. I want him to go out, too, but looking at the big picture and the factor (of the rain delay) before, and once I cleared that with him, he was good.鈥�
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鈥� glove, but center fielder before it hit the ground.
鈥淚 was just playing keepy-ups, making sure it didn鈥檛 hit the ground," Merrill said. "As soon as he calls me off, I鈥檓 there and I鈥檓 ready for anything that happened --- if it bounces off him, goes the other way, I鈥檓 ready for anything.鈥�
Bogaerts also bobbled a ball after making a diving stop of Keibert Ruiz鈥檚 grounder with one out in the eighth but recovered in time to throw out the slow-footed catcher at first.
鈥淚t feels like every no-hitter, there鈥檚 a couple plays like that are just remarkable,鈥� Cease said.
Cease threw 60 sliders against the Nationals along with 39 fastballs averaging 98.3 mph 鈥� 1.4 mph above his season average 鈥� and 10 knuckle-curves. Cease induced 12 groundouts. The Nationals swung and missed 18 times, including six on strikeouts.
His previous complete games also were shutouts: a seven-inning three-hitter against Detroit on April 29, 2021, and the win over the Twins.
Cease allowed only three baserunners. 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鈥檚 double-play grounder. Abrams walked leading off the seventh and was stranded at second base.
Cease has pitched 22 shutout innings over his last three starts, and earlier threw seven innings of one-hit, shutout ball against Washington on June 26.
鈥淗e kept our hitters off balance all game and never really gave us much to hit,鈥� Nationals manager Dave Martinez said.
Washington was no-hit for the second straight season. last Aug. 9.
San Diego has won five in a row and earned its third series sweep of the season and first on the road. The Padres swept Oakland and Washington at home last month.
Washington was swept for the sixth time this season and finished 0-6 against San Diego. It was the first time the Padres went undefeated against the Nationals/Montreal Expos franchise since both teams joined the National League in 1969.
San Diego loaded the bases in the first with a single and two walks against Patrick Corbin (2-10) before the delay after the first pitch to Ha-Seong Kim. When the game resumed, Kim worked a full count before poking a single to left-center .
UP NEXT
Padres: Open a series Friday at Baltimore and RHP Grayson Rodriguez (12-4, 3.83).
Nationals: LHP MacKenzie Gore (6-8, 4.20 ERA), whose two-inning outing Saturday against Cincinnati was his shortest start of the season, starts in the opener of a three-game series at St. Louis.
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AP MLB:
Patrick Stevens, The Associated Press
