Recently retired announcer Ted Leitner can now live out his tenure as San Diego Padres ambassador in peace. Local El Cajon product Joe Musgrove pitched the franchises first no-hitter in its 53-year history, blanking the Texas Rangers in Arlington 3-0. Assembling a staff including Dinelson Lemet, Blake Snell and Yu Darvish had the Padres set up for long-elusive history. The honor instead landed on the 28-year old Musgrove who came the season with a career 29-38 record in previous stints with Houston and Pittsburgh. Wearing Jake Peavy's old No. 44, Musgrove featured a repertoire of off-speed pitches that kept Rangers hitters guessing all night, Musgrove's lone blemish was a first pitch HBP to Joey Gallo with two outs in the fourth. But the Texas offense never got the skunk out of the box as 'Java Joe' threw 112 pitches on the night. In his two starts on the infant season, Musgrove has allowed three hits in 15 innings. Musgrove grew up following the Padres, his father Mark has attended games since the team's 1969 inception. The no-hitter was unique as catcher Victor Caratini also called MLB's last no-hitter when the Chicago Cubs Alec Mills shut down Milwaukee on September 14, 2020. Caratini is the first to catch consecutive MLB no-hitters with different teams. There have been previous close-calls in Padres history, Chris Young carried a perfect game for 7 2/3 innings in 2008, broken up by a Gabe Kapler home run. It was one of several no-hit bids by Young in his career. On April 30, 1986 Mark Thurmond flirted with perfection against the St. Louis Cardinals in a game that finished under two hours. You can see current Padres radio voice Jesse Agler in the booth calling the last out here. Besides what played out on the field, the most impressive sight was 27,575 mostly mask-less fans attended the game at Globe Life Field, including many Padres supporters who have been anxious to see their team play anywhere over the past year-plus. The Milwaukee Brewers now go on the clock, also coming into existence in 1969 that franchise only has one-hitter which occurred April 15, 1987. But the brown and gold mobbing the pitcher and celebrating a day many in Padres Nation wondered would ever come, it was a beautiful thing.
Oh Doctor.
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