The San Diego Padres extended their winning streak by sweeping the Washington Nationals on Wednesday afternoon at Petco Park.
The 8-5 victory improved the Padres’ record to 44-41 this season, while the Nationals fell to 38-42. San Diego currently holds a wild card spot in the National League playoff race and aims to return to the postseason after missing out in 2023.
Washington managed to score five runs in the ninth inning, narrowing the gap, but the game was highlighted by Dylan Cease’s dominant performance on the mound.
Acquired in a major trade with the Chicago White Sox last offseason, Cease pitched 7.0 innings, conceding no runs on just one hit. He issued two walks and struck out nine batters. The win pushed Cease’s season record to 7-6 with a 3.84 ERA.
Cease’s outing also saw him tie a franchise record, matching the mark for most starts in a season by a Padres pitcher with 7+ innings pitched and only one hit allowed, a feat previously achieved by Blake Snell in 2021, as reported by @JayHayKid of the “Baseball is Dead” podcast.
Interestingly, Snell, who achieved this in 2021, went on to win the Cy Young Award in 2023 with San Diego, despite not replicating that level of performance in the solid 2021 season.
Dylan Cease now has 3 starts this season of 7+ IP but only 1 hit allowed.
That’s tied for the most such starts in a single season by a Padres pitcher in franchise history, with Blake Snell in 2021.
— nugget chef (@jayhaykid) June 26, 2024
In his sixth season split between the White Sox and Padres, Cease holds a career record of 50-41 with a 3.83 ERA, establishing himself as one of the premier strikeout pitchers in the league, with 125 strikeouts in 98.1 innings pitched this year.
