Former Padres pitcher Nick Martinez takes no-hitter into ninth in Reds' rout

Kevin Acee, The San Diego Union-Tribune on Jun 27, 2025

Published in Baseball

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CINCINNATI — Nick Martinez instigated a move to the bullpen a couple weeks back.

He was seeking to get right mechanically after a couple poor outings.

He clearly fixed what was plaguing him, and he went up against a willingly meek opponent in his first turn back in the Reds rotation.

Martinez finished the night disappointed only in that he fell three outs shy of his first career no-hitter.

While Martinez hung his head, the Padres celebrated as defensive replacement Elias Díaz reached second base following his double off the wall in center field in the ninth inning.

They would also get to celebrate a runner crossing the plate, as Taylor Rodgers, another former Padres pitcher, walked in a run before finishing off an 8-1 Reds victory.

Facing his former team on a mild Midwestern night, Martinez had through eight innings been separated from a perfect game only by a two-out walk to Jackson Merrill in the first inning.

He began the ninth by walking Trenton Brooks before Diaz launched an 0-1 change-up too far for center fielder TJ Friedl to run down.

Martinez, who played for the Padres in 2022 and ‘23, struck out six and did not really have to much to sweat about aside from it being a Midwestern summer evening.

Reds outfielders made two lunging catches. But Gavin Sheets’ line drive to right field in the fifth inning, with a 65% hit probability, was the only ball the Padres put in play in the first eighth innings that had better than a 35% chance of being a hit.

No Padres batter saw more than six pitches from Martinez until Sheets flied out on the eighth pitch of his at-bat in the eighth.

That pushed Martinez to 98 pitches. Xander Bogaerts grounded out on the second pitch he saw before Jake Cronenworth struck out.

Martinez hopped off the mound, screaming and pumping his fists low in front of his waist in a way familiar to the Padres after the eighth.

He was at 105 pitches, seven off his career high. But there was no way he wasn’t going to be sent back out to try for his first no-hitter.