Pitcher Joe Musgrove tossed the first no-hitter in Padres franchise history on Friday night, as San Diego defeated the Texas Rangers 3-0 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
The Padres, who started playing in 1969, were the only team in Major League Baseball to have never thrown a no-hitter.
Musgrove struck out 10 and only allowed one base runner when he hit Joey Gallo, which prevented a perfect game.
Afterward, Musgrove told reporters he was aware he had no hits late in the game but figured his pitch count was too high to continue.
“I was kind of at peace with the idea that I’d go six, seven shutout innings hitless and then hand it over to the pen and see if they could finish it off,” he said. “I looked up at the scoreboard to see what (the) pitch count was, and I was at, like, 67, and I was like, we’ve got some room to work with.”
Musgrove added, “It feels really good to be in a Padres uniform when I did it. That was my first no-hitter I’ve ever thrown in my life. Pretty crazy it comes on a big league stage and in a Padres uniform.”
Musgrove grew up in El Cajon, a suburb of San Diego, and attended games at the Padres’ Petco Park, according to the team.
“It’s incredible. It’s cool to know that I’ll always be recognized as the first one to do it. I think a no-hitter regardless of where you’re playing is really special, but it almost seems like this was meant to be,” Musgrove said.
“What do you say? It’s just a special night,” Padres manager Jayce Tingler said. “The greatest moment for me at the end was…just seeing the joy in his teammates and how happy they were for him.”