Cincinnati Reds pitcher Nick Martinez (28) throws a pitch in the eighth inning of a MLB game between the Cincinnati Reds and San Diego Padres, Friday, June 27, 2025, at Great American Ball Park in Downtown Cincinnati. Reds won 8-1.
Cincinnati, Ohio – Sometimes a ballplayer just has a night where everything clicks, and Friday belonged to Nick Martinez. The former Padres right-hander came within three outs of throwing a no-hitter, leading the Cincinnati Reds to an 8-1 victory over the Padres — the team that once helped revive his career.
Martinez was brilliant from the first pitch, retiring 22 consecutive hitters between walks and carrying a no-hit bid into the ninth inning. He ended the eighth with his sixth strikeout of the night, freezing Jake Cronenworth on a fastball that touched 94 mph. Reds manager Terry Francona wasn’t going to deny Martinez the shot at history, even after his pitch count climbed to 105.
But the dream finally slipped away in the ninth. Martinez walked rookie Trenton Brooks to open the inning, then watched pinch-hitter Elias Díaz rip a changeup off the left-center wall for a double, breaking up the no-hitter on pitch number 112 — matching Martinez’s career high. The Great American Ballpark crowd rewarded him with a well-deserved standing ovation as Francona came to get him.
Ironically, Martinez had the Padres to thank for giving him a second shot in the majors. After a few seasons bouncing between the Rangers and Japan, San Diego brought him back in 2022 and leaned on him as a key swingman during their run to the NLCS. The Reds signed him before this season with a promise of a steady rotation role, and he rewarded them with his best start as a big leaguer — against the club that believed in him first.
San Diego, meanwhile, saw its own rotation ace stumble. Dylan Cease, who threw a no-hitter for the White Sox in 2022, simply never settled in. He surrendered solo homers to Spencer Steer in both the second and fourth innings, then gave up a two-run shot to Steer in the fifth off reliever Yuki Matsui. Steer’s first career three-homer night buried the Padres in a hole they couldn’t escape.
The Padres finally scratched across a run in the ninth on a bases-loaded walk issued by Taylor Rogers, but it was far too little, far too late.
The Padres will try to bounce back Saturday, sending Randy Vasquez to the mound to even up the series against Cincinnati left-hander Andrew Abbott. But for fans watching Friday’s frustrating defeat, it was hard to ignore the sting of seeing a pitcher the Padres once resurrected come within three outs of a no-hitter — this time, against them.
