SAN DIEGO — Nearly two years since his last Major League Baseball appearance, Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove made his long-awaited return to the mound, the San Diego native getting a hero's welcome at Petco Park in the NL wild card series.
Musgrove took the mount for the ninth inning with the Padres leading 8-0 and got into trouble, giving up two singles and a walk to load the bases, but escaped unscathed to secure the San Diego win in Game 1 of the best-of-three series.
Musgrove last pitched on since Oct. 2, 2024 – a playoff game against the Atlanta Braves – and missed the entire 2025 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, experiencing setbacks in his rehab in 2026 that kept him sidelined. The Padres became optimistic he could return when he pitched in an instructional
league game last Tuesday and then batting practice three days later.
Musgrove, now 33, threw the only no-hitter in franchise history in 2021. He was an All-Star in 2022 and has a 3.20 ERA in 97 starts with San Diego after coming over in a trade from the Pittsburgh Pirates before the 2021 season. Musgrove won a World Series title in 2017 with the Houston Astros and entered this series with a 4.03 ERA in 29 career postseason innings.
A standing ovation for Joe Musgrove as he comes in to pitch for the first time since the NL Wild Card Series against Atlanta on October 2, 2024 pic.twitter.com/Bc6Tw8wlKE
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) September 30, 2026
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Padres' hometown hero Joe Musgrove pitches first game in two years
