Dylan Cease No-Hitter: Padres' Opponent Was Upset Before History Was Made

Maren Angus-Coombs | Jul 25, 2024

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

The San Diego Padres loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the first inning against Washington Nationals starting pitcher Patrick Corbin on Thursday afternoon.

Then everything stopped.

Nine minutes into the game, the umpires announced the game was in a rain delay. The tarp was rolled out, and Corbin was visibly unhappy. His demeanor was understandable. Why start the game on time with the weather moving in so close to start time?

He clearly wanted to finish the inning.

The Nats-Padres game went into a rain delay in the top of the first inning and Patrick Corbin wasn't happy pic.twitter.com/4rABrkn3VN

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) July 25, 2024

The delay lasted 76 minutes, but Corbin returned to the game and gave up a bloop double to Ha-Seong Kim, allowing the bases to clear. Those were the only runs scored by either team in the entire game. San Diego went out to win the game 3-0.

Corbin threw seven innings and went head-to-head with Padres starter Dylan Cease, who decided to make franchise history by throwing a no-hitter. It was San Diego's second no-hitter ever, and the second complete game no-hitter by a pitcher in 2024.

The series finale had a little bit of everything, but for both pitchers to wait out the delay and return after the weather deserves a tip of the cap.

Really awesome outing for Patrick Corbin today.

Corbin threw 108 pitches and went 7 innings despite an hour rain delay in the middle of his first inning. Many young arms wouldn’t have even come back out. But ‘pen was super depleted after Parker’s early exit last night. This is…

— Grant Paulsen (@granthpaulsen) July 25, 2024

The Nationals’ best chance to break up the no-no came in the bottom of the fifth inning when Juan Yepez lofted a bloop over second base. Xander Bogaerts backtracked, the ball tipped off his glove, but Jackson Merrill was there as a backup and made the catch.

Corbin fell to 2-10 with an earned run average of 5.26. He struck out seven and allowed four hits and three walks in addition to the three runs.