Cease throws into the ninth inning, while Machado blasts two of the San Diego Padres’ four home runs in a 4-0 victory over the Houston Astros
PublishedSeptember 19, 2024
By Ritik
Categorized asMLB
No Commentson Cease throws into the ninth inning, while Machado blasts two of the San Diego Padres’ four home runs in a 4-0 victory over the Houston Astros
Manny Machado tosses his bat after hitting a home run in the 6th inning
Dylan Cease pitched impressively into the ninth inning, and Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Donovan Solano all hit back-to-back home runs in the eighth for the San Diego Padres, who defeated the AL West-leading Houston Astros 4-0 on Wednesday.
Machado hit two home runs for the Padres, who won two out of three games against the Astros and remained 2 1/2 games ahead of the Diamondbacks and Mets for the first NL wild card spot. The Astros entered the game with a five-game lead in their division over Seattle, which was set to play the New York Yankees later.Cease (14-11), who achieved his first career no-hitter on July 25 at Washington, had only allowed one hit going into the ninth inning.
However, Mauricio Dubón managed to hit an infield single to shortstop. Cease then struck out Jake Meyers, but shortstop Xander Bogaerts made an error on Jose Altuve’s grounder, which allowed Dubón to reach third base.
That marked the end of Cease’s outing after 103 pitches. Cease retired the first 15 batters from the Astros before allowing a single to Jason Heyward that opened the sixth inning. He then retired the side once again.Cease mentioned that this was probably the third-best start of his career, following his no-hitter and a near no-hitter against Minnesota in 2022 with the Chicago White Sox, which was broken up with two outs in the ninth inning by Luis Arraez, who is now his teammate on the Padres.Kaleb Ort reacts in the 8th inning
“I remember looking up through six or seven and the pitch count was reasonable, and I went up to Rueben (Niebla, the pitching coach) and said, ‘Hey, I’m going to get through the eighth and ninth today,’” Cease said.
“He said, ‘Hey, just take it one at a time,’ and I said, ‘OK.’ When you get through six with a low pitch count, it’s very easy to dream about going further.”
Cease struck out five batters and walked none. Tanner Scott recorded two outs for his 21st save, finishing the game with only two hits allowed. “Just attacking the strike zone, mixing it up, and relying on my defense, really,” Cease said.
Padres manager Mike Shildt praised Cease, calling him “dominant. He was outstanding. Controlled counts, just a ton of life with everything. The ball was jumping. … He was in control the whole way.”
“Dylan Cease is a special talent,” Shildt added. Machado, who has hit 29 home runs this season, launched a leadoff shot to left-center against Framber Valdez in the sixth inning.
Tatis, who struck out in his first three at-bats, sent the first pitch from reliever Kaleb Ort into the first row in left-center to start the eighth. This was his 19th home run.
