Mandatory Credit: Jim Cowsert-USA TODAY Sports

Joe Musgrove “Moose” was born and raised in El Cajon, California in 1992. El Cajon is a small suburb in the San Diego area. He’s a kid from San Diego who grew up rooting for the Padres. On Friday night Musgrove made MLB and Padres history by throwing the first no-hitter in San Diego’s franchise history as the Padres defeated the Texas Rangers 3-0 at Globe Life Field in Texas.

Musgrove was near perfect on Friday night, throwing nine hitless innings with no walks and striking out 10. His only mistake of the night was hitting Gallo with a pitch in the fourth inning. He would be the Rangers’ only baserunner of the game.

“I’m freaking exhausted man,” Musgrove said in a TV interview after the game. “That was like the maximum level of focus I’ve ever had. That’s as deep as I’ve gone into a game this year so far, going from six innings to nine, it’s quite the jump, but I’m gonna say there’s no way I was coming out of that game,” said Musgrove, who was still in shock and processing the achievement he had just accomplished.

Prior to Musgrove’s no-hitter, the Padres were the only team without a no-hitter in team history. As of Friday night, each team in the league officially has at least one no-hitter.

Musgrove attended Grossmont High School in El Cajon, CA and regularly attended Padres games at Petco Park. In his second start as a member of the Padres organization, he was near perfect and gave up no hits or runs. He has a 31-inning scoreless innings streak that goes back to the 2020 season with the Pirates.

Musgrove described throwing a no-hitter on Friday night as a dream come true.

“Everyone dreams of getting the chance to throw a no-hitter,” Musgrove said with a big smile on his face. “I’ve never even thrown a no-hitter in my life, so my first one came today on this field. It’s awesome to have it be in a Padres uniform and for it to be the first one for the franchise. That’s incredible.”

The Padres and Rangers will continue their series on Saturday at 4:05 p.m. PDT.