Many Padres pitchers had come close to a no-hitter. Andrew Cashner had a one-hit complete-game shutout in consecutive seasons. Andy Benes threw a 13-strikeout masterpiece while only allowing one hit against the Mets in 1994. Kevin Brown, Dave Dravecky and Randy Jones were among the other one-hitter pitchers in franchise history.
But on Friday night, Joe Musgrove made history, becoming the very first Padres pitcher to throw a no-hitter with an incredible outing against the Texas Rangers. Prior to this game, the Padres were the only franchise without a no-hitter in the bigs.
How's that for a guy making just his second start in a Padres uniform? And did we mention the fact that he's from El Cajon, California, which is a city in San Diego County? How poetic is that?
"I don't even know what to say right now, it hadn't really set in," Musgrove said after the game. "I'm freakin' exhausted right now. That was like the maximum level of focus I've ever had...
"I didn't feel very good in warmups at all, I think I slept kind of weird last night, I felt kind of tight... next thing I know, I look up, I'm in the sixth and I've got no hits. And that's when it really starts setting in. You're coming up on the 100-pitch mark and your body is starting to feel it but the fact that you haven't given up a hit kind of gives you that added adrenaline to get through those last three innings."
Musgrove recorded 10 strikeouts against Texas, with his only blip being a HBP against Joey Gallo in the bottom of the fourth inning. Other than that, it was pure perfection, and a memorable first no-no of the 2021 season. Another fun factoid about his dominant outing was that it marked only the second regular season interleague no-walk no-hitter ever, according to Jeremy Frank.
Musgrove previously spent time with the Astros and Pirates before he was traded to San Diego in the offseason leading up to his 2021 campaign.
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