Pirates 'super happy' for Joe Musgrove after he throws 1st no-hitter in Padres history

Apr. 10—When Jacob Stallings asked his 4-year-old son if he wanted to watch Joe Musgrove pitch for the San Diego Padres on Friday night, they had no idea they were about to witness history.

Well, one of them, anyway.

"We turned it on in the first inning," Stallings said, "and he didn't stay up the whole time, but we kept the game on all nine innings."

The Pittsburgh Pirates catcher watched every pitch as his former teammate, a San Diego native, become the first player in Padres history to toss a no-hitter in a 3-0 victory over the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field.

Musgrove struck out 10 of the 28 batters he faced without allowing a hit or a walk and, if not for hitting Joey Gallo with a pitch in the fourth inning, was one pitch away from a perfect game.

"Just obviously super happy for him," Stallings said. "I've said it a lot before, but he's one of my favorite teammates of all time. To see him go out and do it was pretty cool. I was disappointed it wasn't me and with the Pirates, but for him, it's obviously an amazing accomplishment. To be the first one in Padres history, for the team he grew up watching, is really cool."

The Pirates acquired Musgrove in January 2018 as one of four players in return for sending Gerrit Cole to the Houston Astros. In three seasons with the Pirates, Musgrove was 18-26 with a 4.23 ERA in 58 starts. He went 1-5 with a 3.86 ERA in eight starts last season, leading the Pirates in strikeouts with 55.

Musgrove had 21 strikeouts in his final two starts, including 10 in a three-hitter against Cleveland on Sept. 26 that Stallings caught. Despite a six-pitch repertoire, Musgrove leaned heavily on his slider (34), cutter (28) and curveball (28) in throwing 77 strikes out of 112 pitches, mixing in his four-seam fastball, sinker and changeup.

"I didn't really see him doing a whole lot different than what he did here," Stallings said. "In those last few innings — probably seventh, eighth and ninth — I don't know that they threw very many fastballs. They started using his cutter as his fastball to get ahead in counts, but it was pretty much just slider, slider, slider for most of the game. And it was obviously working. Throughout the game, he had great control of all his pitches."

Stallings credited Padres catcher Victor Caratini for calling a good game, slowing down the tempo when it became apparent Musgrove was tiring. Typically, Stallings follows the game by watching fellow catchers. This time, he was cheering for his good friend, especially on close calls like when Jose Trevino lined out to right to end the eighth inning and David Dahl lined out to second for the first out of the ninth.

"I would say most of the time I view it from more of a strategic perspective, but honestly, with Joe last night, I was just watching as a fan and a friend," Stallings said. "I just really wanted him to get it. ... I could tell he was pretty gassed, too, just knowing him. In his postgame interview, he really didn't even look that excited. It was pretty funny. He was just so gassed, but that's just Joe. He leaves everything out there. Always has and always will."

The Pirates traded Musgrove to the Padres in January in a three-team deal involving the New York Mets that netted pitchers David Bednar and Omar Cruz, outfielder Hudson Head and catcher Endy Rodriguez.

Now, the Padres will visit the Pirates for a four-game series starting Monday, and Musgrove is in line to start again Wednesday. Not that Stallings is looking forward to facing his old friend.

"No, I'm not. But not because he's nasty. I don't really like facing any of my former teammates, just in general," Stallings said. "I really root for those guys and want them to do well, so facing them, especially in the major leagues, is not my ideal, but I'm still going to try to hit a homer off him. So it is what it is."

Pirates manager Derek Shelton echoed Stallings' sentiment, saying he "100%" was glad that Musgrove got the no-hitter out of his system before the Padres play in Pittsburgh.

Shelton's 20-year-old son, Jackson, informed him in the seventh inning that Musgrove had a no-hitter going. Shelton put the game on his laptop just in time to watch Musgrove throw a perfect ninth inning.

"It was awesome, really cool," Shelton said. "Could not happen to a better person. San Diego native. Throwing the first one for the Padres and I think like we've talked about before, we'll always cheer for Joe Musgrove. The day I got introduced, he was leaving town and waited and stayed — on his birthday — for my press conference. He's a great kid and I'm really happy for him."

Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Kevin by email at kgorman@triblive.com or via Twitter .