In a town known for gridlock, Dylan Cease filibustered opposing hitters all game long.
The San Diego starter became the second Padres pitcher to throw a no-hitter in a 3-0 victory over the Washington Nationals on Thursday at Nationals Park.
Cease (10-8, 3.50 ERA) finished with nine strikeouts and three walks, throwing a career-high 114 pitches.
"I tried not to think about it too much," Cease said. "I would go in between and talk to Joe (Musgrove) and (Michael) King about sequencing, and good things happened."
Joe Musgrove threw the first San Diego no-hitter on April 9, 2021, against the Texas Rangers, also a 3-0 road win. King held the Cleveland Guardians without a hit through six innings on July 21.
Ha-Seong Kim drove in all three runs with a two-out single in the first inning as the Padres (55-50) swept the series and earned their fifth straight win.
Kim's hit came on a full count following a 76-minute rain delay after San Diego had loaded the bases in the first. Donovan Solano reached with a one-out single followed by a Xander Bogaerts walk, then with two outs Jake Cronenworth drew a free pass when the game was delayed.
It was all Cease needed.
There were moments of hairiness in the field as Juan Yepez led off the Nationals' fifth with a shallow pop to short right center. Bogaerts tried to make the play looking back over his right shoulder, but bobbled the ball right into the glove of hard charging Jackson Merrill.
In the eighth, Bogaerts made a sliding backhand stop on the right-field fringe and, despite a bobbled transition, was able to throw from his knees to get out Keibert Ruiz at first.
"In every no-hitter there are a couple of plays that save it, but man, (they) made it happen," Cease said.
Manager Mike Schildt appeared to be ready to pull Cease after the seventh inning, but the righty lobbied successfully to remain.
"I looked up and it was 94 pitches, and I said 'I feel great and if we get through the next (inning) in 105, then I've thrown 113 this year.'" Cease said. "Thankfully he let me talk him into it and here we are."
Cease had previously come within one out of a no-hitter while with the Chicago White Sox, allowing a hit to current teammate Luis Arraez in 2022.
"I think I had a little flashback, made sure to get the slider a little lower," Cease said. "Off the bat, it kind of looked like a bloop hit and then I just saw it stay up and I was just screaming at yelling. That was awesome."
Since being acquired from the White Sox in March, Cease is tied with San Francisco's Logan Webb and Seattle's Luis Castillo for the MLB lead with 22 starts and is tied for fourth in the National League with 13 quality starts. He has allowed two hits over his last three starts, going 3-0 in 22 innings of work with 30 strikeouts and seven walks.
The Padres finished with six hits, with Kim and Solano each knocking a pair. Kim also had one of San Diego's two extra base hits as he and Jurickson Profar each had doubles.
Nationals starter Patrick Corbin threw seven innings, allowing four hits and the three earned runs alongside seven strikouts.
At 4:05 p.m. Friday the Padres open a three-game set at the AL East leading Baltimore Orioles (61-41), who survived a ninth inning rally at Miami to beat the Marlins 7-6 in 10 innings. Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez (12-4, 3.83 ERA) is expected to start for the Orioles, while San Diego's starter is to be determined.