WASHINGTON — Soon after he settled into a new apartment in San Diego this spring, Dylan Cease found the living environment to be unpleasantly noisy. Then a teammate learned of the Padres newcomer’s predicament.
Joe Musgrove responded by offering a solution. Several weeks ago, Cease moved into the previously unoccupied guesthouse on Musgrove’s Point Loma-area property. With the move, Cease found the relative serenity he had sought. Musgrove, meanwhile, gained deeper insight into what makes his friend and tenant tick.
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“He has a very good mix of, like, order and chaos,” Musgrove said. “He’s very regimented in certain areas. But he knows how to kick back and be one of the guys and have some fun, get some drinks, you know, shoot the s— a little bit. Which you don’t see very often. Guys usually are leaning very heavy on one side or the other. He’s got a very good mix of both.”
Thursday at Nationals Park, Musgrove watched from the visiting dugout as Cease struck an unforgettable balance.
The former began the day as the lone author of a Padres no-hitter. The latter would leave it in rare company: Three years after Musgrove made historyin his second start for his hometown team, Cease became the franchise’s second pitcher to throw a no-hitter.
“We got a strong household now,” Musgrove said with a smile after a 3-0 shutout that included three walks and zero hits for the Washington Nationals. “Pretty dominant household right now.”
Meant to be. pic.twitter.com/JUJsuvYmaF
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) July 25, 2024
A half-hour had passed since Cease, with a career-high 114th pitch, induced a lineout to right field. That set off a wild celebration on the infield and, later, a somewhat orderly procession of embraces. Musgrove found Cease amid the scrum. They wrapped their arms around each other. Cease pumped his fist. He had not been quite perfect, but the picture was.
The chaos that marked the early part of the afternoon threatened to derail everything that led up to it. Twenty-three pitches into the first inning for Washington starter Patrick Corbin, an unexpected rainstorm descended upon Nationals Park. A 76-minute delay commenced. Soon, it started to pour.
Padres catcher Luis Campusano passed part of the time, he later recalled, by staring blankly toward the outfield.
Nearby, Cease did what he could to stay ready. He threw off an indoor mound. He rode a stationary bike to keep his legs moving and his heart rate up. But mostly, like Campusano, he simply waited. So it was understandable, after the game resumed, that he did not believe he was sharp.
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Said Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla: “He kept coming in between innings and saying, like, ‘Man, I’m not feeling it. God, my breaking ball’s getting away from me.’”
The results belied his experience. In each of his previous two outings, Cease had spun a one-hitter. An adjustment he recently made with Niebla has produced immediate dividends; by keeping his hands closer to his body during his wind-up, Cease has discovered greater consistency and more effortless power.
Thursday, Cease threw what is considered one of the sport’s best sliders with impunity. The Nationals saw 60 and swung-and-missed at 11. He mixed in 44 fastballs to great and ultimately compelling effect: In the bottom of the seventh, Cease threw a 100.1 mph four-seamer to CJ Abrams.
Then, after another hitless inning was over, after Cease’s 94th pitch of the afternoon, he attempted to convince Niebla and Padres manager Mike Shildt he should stay in the game.
Shildt was wary. Cease had already sat through a lengthy delay. His career high in pitches was 113. The Padres forked over considerable talent in March to acquire Cease, and now, as the front office seeks much-needed pitching additions before the trade deadline, the team’s No. 1 starter is more valuable — and precious — than ever.
Still, Shildt had seen Cease hit triple-digits deep into his start. He recognized unwavering conviction as the pitcher lobbied his case. The manager also heard from a relevant authority: Musgrove was standing nearby.
“Look over and Joe’s like, ‘Stuff’s pretty good,’” Shildt recalled. “Well, he’s thrown one. He knows what this looks like. So, anyway, we let him ride.”
A nine-pitch eighth inning convinced Shildt to keep Cease in for a final frame, even as closer Robert Suarez began to warm up. An 11-pitch ninth sealed a piece of history. Of course, there had been earlier events and interactions that also proved critical.
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There was the over-the-shoulder fly ball that second baseman Xander Bogaerts, hearing footsteps and feeling some hesitancy because of his once-fractured shoulder, failed to catch cleanly — only for rookie center fielder Jackson Merrill to alertly corral the ball and secure the out.
There was the throw Bogaerts made, after a slight juggle, to just beat out a runner at first base.
“It feels like every no-hitter, there’s a couple plays like that that are just remarkable,” Cease said.
Then there was the running back-and-forth Cease maintained with a couple of fellow starters as the unlikely became the eminently possible. Starting around the middle of the game, Musgrove began sitting with Cease between every inning. Michael King, who has flirted with a couple of no-hitters this season, huddled with them more than once.
At one point, noticing Cease was sweating profusely in humid conditions, Musgrove brought over a fan from the clubhouse tunnel.
“Brought it over every inning after that,” Musgrove said. “It was just more superstitious at that point.”
The messaging to Cease was similarly steady.
“He’s sitting there talking about, ‘Maybe I should start throwing some fastballs in to these righties. I feel like they’ve seen a lot of my (slider),’” Musgrove said. “We’re in the f——g ninth inning, dude. Like, just do what you’ve been doing. Don’t change a thing.”
Musgrove flashed back to April 9, 2021.
“I remember sitting with (then-pitching coach Larry) Rothschild and (catcher Victor) Caratini, and they were like, ‘Don’t try to chase swing-and-miss. Don’t start changing your approach. Just keep attacking how you’ve been attacking.’”
Thursday, more than one teammate who had not played in the game could speak from personal experience in expressing unbridled joy. Less than two years ago, Cease came within one out of a no-hitter while pitching for the Chicago White Sox. Luis Arraez then with the Minnesota Twins, singled to right field to avert a wild celebration.
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Now, they are both Padres. After Bryce Johnson gloved the final out in the ninth, Arraez beelined to the right fielder and asked him for the ball. He then gave it to Cease, who plans to put the souvenir in his trophy case.
“I was nervous,” said Arraez, who sat out the game to rest a troublesome thumb. “I said, ‘Please, God, make this (happen), and he did it. He’s amazing, man. He deserves it.”
Meanwhile, Musgrove spent a 49th consecutive game as a spectator. He has not pitched since late May because of elbow inflammation. (Musgrove threw a bullpen before Thursday’s game and hopes to soon begin a rehab assignment.) He has sought to make himself useful by being more involved than usual in pitchers’ meetings.
Then, with history on the line, Cease’s landlord made himself heard. The Padres, who went 52 seasons without a no-hitter, now have two from the same household.“
The accomplishment itself is incredible,” Musgrove said. “Whether I’m involved or not, it’s extremely hard to do. A lot of things got to go right. A lot of opportunities got to occur. I mean, they were talking about getting him out of there after the seventh and he kind of fought his way back.
“I’m super happy for him.”
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(Photo: Lauren Leigh Bacho / Getty Images)
Dennis Lin is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the San Diego Padres. He previously covered the Padres for the San Diego Union-Tribune. He is a graduate of USC. Follow Dennis on Twitter @dennistlin
