Padres' Dylan Cease Reaches 2 Incredible Milestones

Sep 13, 2025; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Dylan Cease (84) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Colorado Rockies at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: David Frerker-Imagn Images | David Frerker-Imagn Images

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Dylan Cease reached two impressive milestones in his stellar start against the Colorado Rockies on Saturday.

In addition to pitching six innings of one-run baseball, Cease reached the 200 strikeouts mark for the fifth consecutive season and eclipsed 1,000 career innings pitched.

“It’s cool,” Cease said. “If you’re striking guys out, that’s a good sign. It hasn’t exactly been a year I’m super happy with, but we’re still in it. All I really care about it is winning at the end of the day. So as long as I keep contributing to winning, I’m pretty happy.”

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Despite having his struggles this season, Cease has maintained a high-strikeout rate and has provided some solid starts when the Padres needed it. While Cease has a 4.59 ERA this season and his 11 losses tie his career-high, his 29.8 percent strikeout percentage ranks in the top 10 percent in MLB and his eight wins rank second among Padres starters, sitting behind only Nick Pivetta.

Saturday's outing was especially important, as the Padres desperately needed a win to maintain their position behind the Los Angeles Dodgers after a loss on Friday. Cease has been especially critical of his own performances this year, and will hope his strong outing will begin a late-season turnaround for him.

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"I’ve been inconsistent this year, unfortunately,” Cease said after a disappointing start against the Dodgers in August. “When it’s good, I’m commanding all my pitches. When it’s bad, it seems like it’s not finding the zone. … It’s disappointing, but I gotta flush it and get ready for the next one.”

The Padres are chasing the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West as the regular season winds down, and will look to gain a little more ground with each win.

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The Padres were without two major players for the series finale against the Rockies, as Luis Arraez suffered an obscure head injury in Saturday's win and Manny Machado desperately needed a rest day.

The hope is that both Arraez and Machado return to the lineup for San Diego's next series, which begins Tuesday.

For more Padres news, head over to Padres on SI.