SAN DIEGO (AP) — Michael King allowed his first hit with one out in the seventh inning of the San Diego Padres ' Wild Card Series opener against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night.
Nico Hoerner hit a grounder down the third base line, and Manny Machado stopped it but couldn't transfer the ball in time to make a throw. Petco Park gave a loud ovation to King after the end of his bid for the first postseason no-hitter in Padres history — and King struck
out his next two batters, ending it with a nasty changeup to Carson Kelly and another standing ovation.
King yielded just three walks in the first six innings of his third career playoff start, and another Cubs batter reached on an error by shortstop Xander Bogaerts. The veteran right-hander didn't allow any runners to score, and he struck out eight while the Padres stormed to a 7-0 lead over Chicago through 6 1/2 innings.
The 31-year-old King was the obvious choice to start the Padres' opener in their fifth playoff trip over the past seven seasons. He went 12-10 with a 3.21 ERA over 32 starts in the regular season, providing a steady presence and a 1.18 WHIP.
King showed how fired up he was for this playoff opportunity when he began the game by striking out probable NL MVP Pete Crow-Armstrong on three pitches. King threw a fastball during the at-bat that hit 97.6 mph — his fastest pitch in a Padres uniform.
King also struck out Alex Bregman in the first. Seiya Suzuki reached on Bogaerts' awful throw in the second and eventually advanced to third, but no farther.
Crow-Armstrong walked and stole second in the third inning, but King struck out Bregman again to end it. Suzuki drew a walk in the fourth, but couldn't advance.
King spent his first four full major league seasons with the Yankees, largely as a reliever. He was traded to San Diego in December 2023 as part of the seven-player deal for Juan Soto, and King has been a solid rotation member for the Padres ever since.
King made his first postseason start two years ago for the Padres in Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series against Atlanta, four years after his postseason debut with the Yankees. He racked up 12 strikeouts against the Braves over seven innings of five-hit ball in a 4-0 victory.
King was slowed by injuries last season, and he made just one appearance in the Padres' tough three-game loss to the Cubs in the Wild Card Series. He re-signed with San Diego in the offseason and emerged as the most dependable starter in a turnover-plagued rotation.
King's excellence aside, the 91-win Padres jumped all over the Cubs and starter Matthew Boyd in the series opener at raucous Petco.
Fernando Tatis Jr. hit San Diego's first postseason leadoff homer on Boyd's first pitch, and Machado added another first-inning homer and a third-inning RBI double. Bogaerts homered in the fourth, and Jackson Merrill added a two-run single in the fifth to break it open.
The Padres have thrown just two no-hitters in the history of a franchise that began play in 1969 — and both of them happened in the past six seasons.
Joe Musgrove, a surprise addition to San Diego's current postseason roster Tuesday after missing the past two regular seasons while recovering from Tommy John surgery, made history for his hometown team by blanking Texas on April 9, 2021.
Dylan Cease followed on July 25, 2024, by no-hitting Washington.
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