San Diego Padres Ace Dylan Cease Tosses 2nd No-Hitter in Franchise History

Dylan Cease made San Diego Padres history on Thursday, shutting down the entire Washington Nationals lineup with a historic no-hitter.

Jul 25, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Dylan Cease (84) pitches against the Washington Nationals during the third inning at Nationals Park. /

Dylan Cease, fresh off back-to-back one-hitters, found a way to one-up himself.

The San Diego Padres ace tossed a no-hitter against the Washington Nationals on Thursday, lifting his team to a 3-0 win. It marked just the second no-no in Padres history, and the first since Joe Musgrove's on April 9, 2021.

San Diego is no longer tied for the fewest no-hitters by a team in MLB history, leaving the Colorado Rockies, Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays in the dust with one apiece.

HISTORY!

The final out from Dylan Cease’s no-hitter. pic.twitter.com/FwZsNoTS6S

— MLB (@MLB) July 25, 2024

Cease, who racked up nine strikeouts on Thursday, was three walks away from a perfect game.

There have now been 324 no-hitters in MLB history. Cease's was the second in MLB this season, and the first since Ronel Blanco tossed one for the Houston Astros back on April 1.

Cease is now 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA, 0.318 WHIP and 30 strikeouts over his last three outings.

According to MLB.com's Sarah Langs, Cease is the first pitcher since at least 1901 to go 6.0-plus innings and allow one or fewer hits in three consecutive starts. Thursday marked Cease's sixth start of that kind in 2024, which Langs noted is two more than any other player has had in a single season since at least 1901.

Dylan Cease is the first pitcher since at least 1901 to go 6+ innings and allow 0 or 1 hit in 3 straight outings

he allowed 1 hit in each of the first two…today? NONE https://t.co/7mb9h4gaQP

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) July 25, 2024

Cease is now 10-8 with a 3.50 ERA, 0.985 WHIP and 168 strikeouts through 22 starts this year.

The Padres acquired the 28-year-old back in March, sending three prospects and workhorse reliever Steven Wilson to the Chicago White Sox to complete the blockbuster trade. San Diego has Cease under team control through the end of the 2025 season, but he is set to become a free agent in 2026.

For his career, Cease is 53-43 with a 3.78 ERA, 1.252 WHIP, 11.0 strikeouts per nine innings and a 13.7 WAR. He finished second in AL Cy Young voting in 2022, as well as 22nd in AL MVP voting.

Cease had a no-hit bid alive through 8.2 innings late in that 2022 campaign, until Minnesota Twins second baseman Luis Arraez broke it up. Two years later, Arraez is Cease's teammate in San Diego, and the reigning NL batting champion watched the righty make history from the dugout on Thursday.

In 2022 Luis Arraez faced Dylan Cease and ended his no-hit bid with 2 outs in the 9th!

Today, Arraez watched his teammate Cease finish the job. pic.twitter.com/vidB2fcuF2

— MLB (@MLB) July 25, 2024

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