WASHINGTON — Running at full speed Thursday with his back to the infield, Xander Bogaerts raced toward a part of the outfield where you’re not supposed to find second basemen.

Nationals hitter Juan Yepez had lifted a ball eagerly hunting no-man’s land at Nationals Park and seemingly hell-bent on finding it. It was the beginning of the fifth inning, a moment in time in the middle of a game in the middle of a long season.

Bogaerts raced 55 feet to put a glove on the ball.

Then it popped out.

“I see Jackson right there,” Bogaerts said. “I’m like, ‘Oh yeah. He’s everywhere.’ ”

Shadowing Bogaerts after a 96-foot burst of his own was rookie Jackson Merrill, a blur who somehow, some way positioned himself to make the most unrookie-like play.

Merrill stabbed at the airborne ball for an out when his catch probability was determined to be 5%. He flashed a knowing grin at the unlikelihood of it all as he cradled the ball.

Four innings later, Padres starting pitcher Dylan Cease polished off the second no-hitter in franchise history. The tell-your-grandkids stunner of a play was the icing on Cease’s unforgettable cake as the Padres cruised 3-0 for their fifth consecutive win.

“It looked like one of those in-betweeners and I saw Bogey going back and I was like, I have confidence in him but I’m like, ‘Man, that looks like it’s perfectly placed,’ ” Cease said.

“… It feels like every no-hitter, there’s a couple plays like that that are just remarkable.”

How was Merrill there? Because that’s what the best in baseball do. The meter’s always running. Assume nothing. Give up on nothing. Attack each play to the fullest.

Flip the 50-50 moments to your side of things. That’s what winning baseball looks like.

“If he had five hits or no hits, I’m going to go all out for that ball,” Merrill said.

Bogaerts smiled as he took a breath to rewind the moment.

“You name it, he’s there,” said Bogaerts, who shook his head and hugged Merrill after the out was secure. “It’s very routine for him to be in the right spot every time.”

Now back to that 5% part.

Even if you do math like a toddler, that means there was a 95% chance of the ball finding grass. That also means there was a 95% chance of the no-hitter going poof-see ya’-gone.

“Well, I had a little help,” Merrill said with a grin. “I don’t worry about the probability. All I know is that I caught it.”

Padres manager Mike Shildt has given up on ways to contextualize how much Merrill plays like a veteran, rather than a barely 21-year-old 100 games into his big league career.

“That’s just Jackson,” Shildt said. “You know, that’s just a baseball player. I don’t know that it has a status for him anymore. Whether it’s a rookie or a veteran, he’s just a baseball player. And he’s proven that.

“It’s a really heady play and it turned out to be in a big moment.”

It was the closest Cease came to a scare until the eighth inning, when Bogaerts had to dive to the first-base-side of second on a ball hit by Keibert Ruiz. Bogaerts fumbled it, but recovered in time to cut the no-hitter outs needed from five to four.

You see that type of play from time to time in baseball. You do not see the play Bogaerts and Merrill combined on often, if ever. As teammates mobbed Cease on the mound, the moment was magnified 10-fold.

“I was going to call him off if he didn’t raise his hands,” Merrill said of the hard-charging Bogaerts. “It would’ve been a tough play for me. I’m glad he went for it. It made it a little easier, honestly. But definitely a little more stressful.”

Cease needed 114 pitches to make history, but No. 58 earned a share of the spotlight.

For all but perhaps one.

“It wasn’t my moment. It was Dylan’s moment all day,” said the always understated Merrill. “It’s just another out that we made.”

The crazy catch had relevance in the big picture, as well. If Yepez leads off an inning with a hit, there’s no crystal ball to tell us what would have happened next.

Those sorts of plays snuff out fires before they start.

In the end, it contributed to the Padres building the longest current streak in the National League, tied for the beefiest in baseball.

“I kind of had it and last second, I kind of hear his footsteps,” Bogaerts said of the play. “Obviously knowing my shoulder issue and stuff, I just kind of was a little more (hesitant). … (It was) relief. The situation with me is, I’m going back, he’s coming in, he probably has a better view.”

Great view. Better instincts.

The hit that wasn’t became the no-hitter that was.

©2024 The San Diego Union-Tribune. Visit sandiegouniontribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.