'Special Talent' Dylan Sparks Off, Padres Hit 3 Homers To Capture Series Win vs. Astros
Dylan Seaz's no-hitter on July 25 is enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The Padres presented him with a copy of the Union-Tribune sports section and a large framed collage with that day's scorecards. The highlight video that plays before each game at Petco Park features the radio call from the end of the game.
But what Seaz did in Wednesday's 4-0 win over the Astros — with another team's ace in the middle of a playoff race — was arguably his masterpiece.
“It's pretty high up there,” Sage said. “I mean, no-hitter and almost no-hitter and that's probably top three.”
Well, all right. But Wednesday almost certainly would have been considered as good if not for two grounders that shortstop Xander Bogaerts couldn't manage in the ninth inning.
“I think it's fair,” manager Mike Schildt said of the notion that Cease was as good as Wednesday when he held the Nationals hitless two months ago. “I mean, it's hard to say, isn't it? I mean, he threw a no-hitter and he was better, so to speak — but, you know, Dylan Seaz is a very special talent.”
Seaz allowed two hits in 8⅓ innings and Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Donovan Solano ensured that Seaz and the Padres hit three consecutive home runs in the eighth inning to come out on top.
The series win over the American League West leaders moved the Padres to a 2½-game lead over the Diamondbacks in the race for the National League's top wild-card spot.
The Padres needed just one home run.
Machado's blast leading off the sixth against Framber Valdez, who entered the game with the American League's third-lowest ERA (2.91) and seventh-lowest allowed batting average (.215) among designated starting pitchers, put the Padres up 1-0.
That was all the Padres scored against Valdez in his seven innings before he bombed back-to-back bombs into the left field seats against reliever Caleb Ort to start the eighth.
Many in the sellout crowd at Petco Park gave Cease a standing ovation as he walked off the field after the top of the eighth. They picked up again when he took the mound to start the ninth, and when he finally walked following a Bogaerts error it looked like it would be a game-ending double play.
It would have been the fourth career shutout for Seaz, who had one no-hitter in September 2022 while with the White Sox. He walked two in that game and three in his no-hitter.
Mauricio Dubon reached base early in Wednesday's ninth inning on an infield single that Bogaerts ran into for a throw. Jose Altuve stopped Jake Meyers by striking out before hitting a grounder that caromed off Bogaerts' glove.
That led to Shields replacing Seage with Tanner Scott, who retired the next two batters.
“I really wanted to finish it,” Sage said. “It's just part of the game. I wish I had pitched better at Duban.
Games in which a pitcher comes between two outs of a shutout do not have their own Wikipedia entry. But the thing about Wednesday was that the streak eliminated the Astros, the AL's best-hitting team. They entered the game with a .261 team average and three of their first four hitters batting .297 or better.
“He was well mixed, everything to the point,” said Dubón. “It was his night. He is a good pitcher. We battled and Framber gave us a chance to win and it's a tough matchup.”
The Seas didn't allow a hit until Jason Hayward's grounder through the right side led off the sixth inning. Walked no batters while striking out five.
The 28-year-old right-hander threw more than 11 pitches in just three innings and never threw more than 15.
He was at 92 pitches after eight innings, and nobody was warming up as the Padres' long half of the eighth unfolded.
When a pitcher goes deep into the game his bullpen gives a nod to save.
This time, Siege's effort deserves more than a nod.
Especially on a day when the lead was so thin heading into the final inning, the Padres needed a starting pitcher to go deep.
The Padres' high-leverage relievers are doing a lot of work. Two of them — Jason Adam and Robert Suarez, who had pitched the previous three days — were not available Wednesday.
It all adds up, if not his best start, then one of them.
“In terms of the death penalty,” Sage said, “it was arguably better.”
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