San Diego Padres right-hander Dylan Cease entered MLB’s history books on Thursday, becoming the most recent hurler to pitch a no-hitter.
He did it against the Washington Nationals in one of the most dominant outings of his career.
“Dylan Cease has no-hit the Washington Nationals. A 114-pitch, three-walk, nine-strikeout gem in which his fastball hit 100 mph in the ninth on his 110th pitch. On Sept. 3, 2022, he gave up a hit with two outs in the ninth. Today, he throws the second no-hitter of the 2024 season,” MLB insider Jeff Passan tweeted.
Dylan Cease has no-hit the Washington Nationals. A 114-pitch, three-walk, nine-strikeout gem in which his fastball hit 100 mph in the ninth on his 110th pitch. On Sept. 3, 2022, he gave up a hit with two outs in the ninth. Today, he throws the second no-hitter of the 2024 season.
Houston Astros’ Ronel Blanco pitched the first no-hitter of the 2024 campaign on April 1 against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Despite the fact it has been done 324 times, pitching a no-hitter is extremely hard and requires a top effort by the hurler and often by the defensive players, too.
Cease, as Passan explains, had flirted with a no-no before, but he finally put it all together on Thursday and became the most recent Padre to pitch one since Joe Musgrove did it in 2021.
Despite the elevated pitch count, Cease was in complete control of the game on Thursday afternoon.
He overpowered the opposition with his incredible fastball velocity and his fantastic slider.
With the gem, Cease takes his ERA to a phenomenal 3.50, and his WHIP went all the way down to 0.98.
He has 168 strikeouts in 131 innings pitched, and has been a resounding success ever since landing in San Diego in an offseason trade with the Chicago White Sox.
Despite trading Juan Soto and losing other players before the start of the season, the 55-50 Padres remain in contention for a Wild Card spot and that’s in large part thanks to Cease.