Video: Dylan Cease Says He Lobbied Padres to Stay in vs. Nationals Before No-Hitter

After throwing a no-hitter on Thursday, San Diego Padres pitcher Dylan Cease said he had to lobby for his coaching staff to keep him in the game after the seventh inning.

"He [manager Mike Shildt] said, 'Nice job,' and I looked up and it was like 94 pitches and I just said I feel great," Cease said. "If we get through the next one at like 105, I've thrown 113 pitches this year. Thankfully they let me talk him into it, and here we are."

Cease was electric in the Padres' 3-0 win over the Washington Nationals, mowing down batters one after the other to finish with nine strikeouts and three walks on a career-high 114 pitches. As he said, Cease is no stranger to working with a high-pitch count, going well over 100 pitches multiple times this season.

Cease's performance on Thursday marked just the second no-hitter of the season, the first coming in April when Ronel Blanco pitched a no-no against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Cease is also just the second Padres pitcher to ever throw a no-hitter, the other being Joe Musgrove in 2021. Cease almost had a no-hitter while playing for the Chicago White Sox in 2022, but Luis Arraez, now his teammate on the Padres, hit a single to spoil his bid.

With Thursday's effort, Cease now has 168 strikeouts, a 3.50 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP on his way to a 10-8 record. His performance also helped San Diego continue a strong start to the second half of the season, giving the Padres their fifth win in a row.

The Padres are 55-50 on the year, sitting in second place in the NL West and looking to continue their momentum following Cease's big day.