San Diego Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove made MLB history Tuesday night, returning to the mound after nearly two years away to help his team defeat the Chicago Cubs 8-0 in Game 1 of the National League Wild Card Series. Talk about a comeback for the ages!
More Than 700 Days Later, Musgrove Delivers Immediate Impact
Seriously, picture this: Musgrove steps onto the bump in the ninth inning. Two strikeouts later, he locks down the shutout victory, giving San Diego a 1-0 lead in that best-of-three Wild Card Series. This wasn’t some routine relief appearance, though. It was historic.
Dude hadn’t thrown a major league pitch since October 2, 2024. That’s over 700 days! He was out in Game 2 of the 2024 Wild Card Series against the Atlanta Braves, pitched 3⅔ innings, gave up a run, then had to leave in the fourth inning because of an elbow injury. That injury shelved him for almost two full years. And then, boom, he’s back, straight into the postseason, no regular season tune-up in between. Nobody’s ever done that before: appear in sequential postseason games in different seasons without a single regular-season appearance between them. What a moment, right? A memorable comeback to seal a totally dominant opening-game victory for the Friars.
Joining a Club of One (Almost) with an Unforgettable Return
And get this: Musgrove’s return is even more bonkers. He’s only the second player ever in MLB history to show up in a postseason game after missing two entire regular seasons before it. The only other guy who ever pulled that off was Clyde McCullough back in 1945, and he was out serving in the military for the 1944 and 1945 regular seasons before his postseason return.
So, yeah, Musgrove’s name is now etched into that super rare piece of baseball history. And his performance, coming in cold and shutting it down, gives the Padres a real shot in this Wild Card Series.
The Padres and Cubs are set for Game 2 Wednesday. San Diego needs just one more win to eliminate Chicago and move on to the National League Division Series. After nearly two years out of the majors, Musgrove’s return is already an unforgettable story. What a start to the postseason!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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