Dylan Cease snapping ridiculous streak vs. Dodgers could be perfect timing for Padres

If the San Diego Padres ever needed Dylan Cease to pitch his best game possible, it was on Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers. In the second game of a three-game series at Petco Park, the Padres lost in a heartbreaker to their rivals in the opening contest. The Friars lost in extra innings in their first game against the Dodgers this season, and before LA fans could start growing even more confident, Cease needed to put a lid on that - and he actually came through.

The Padres embarrassed the Dodgers in 11-1 fashion, and it all started with Cease. For the first time in 2025, Cease tossed a scoreless masterpiece, lasting seven innings with a season-high 11 strikeouts. It took him 14 starts to record a scoreless outing, but he picked as good of a time as any to lock it down. The Dodgers simply could not hit him.

It was Cease's best appearance since May 7 when he carried a no-hit bid late in the game at Yankee Stadium, but this time, he thankfully did not exit with an injury scare. It's just the second time this year that Cease compiled double-digit strikeouts, and the third time he held the opposition to three or less hits. He entered Tuesday night having allowed three runs in each of his previous four starts, which ballooned his ERA to 4.72. That mark dropped almost a half-run after Tuesday's gem (4.28).

Cease's last outing against the Dodgers resulted in a Padres' loss. It was his final start of the 2024 regular season, allowing three runs in five innings on September 25. He quickly dampened the narrative that he can't pitch against Los Angeles, and after a start like last night's, hopefully it catapults Cease back into his consistent stardom.

Disrespectfully, the Dodgers pretended like they didn't care too much about getting walloped by their NL West rival. LA brought in Kiké Hernández to pitch in the bottom of the sixth inning. A bit early? That was definitely a strange move as he recorded seven outs to try and discredit the Padres' impressive win to tie the series up at 1-1.

The Padres will look to take the series on Thursday at 1:10 PST before they see the Dodgers again for a four game slate in Los Angeles from June 16-19. Randy Vásquez will toss in the rubber match for San Diego on Thursday, opposing 24-year-old left-hander Justin Wrobleski.