Joe Musgrove’s return to a major league mound Tuesday night gave the Padres a clean playoff win, but the moment belonged to the pitcher himself.
San Diego rolled past the Chicago Cubs 8-0 in Game 1 of the National League Wild Card Series, powered by three home runs and Michael King’s flirtation with a no-hitter. Still, nothing in Petco Park hit quite like the reception Musgrove got when he jogged in for the ninth inning.
The former Pirates right-hander hadn’t appeared in a major league game since October 2, 2024, when an elbow injury knocked him out of San Diego’s Wild Card Series matchup against the Atlanta Braves. Since then, he’d gone through Tommy John surgery, dealt with multiple setbacks and spent nearly two full seasons away from the big leagues.
For a stretch, even a 2026 return wasn’t a sure thing. But Musgrove made it back for October, and he made it count.
The inning wasn’t spotless. He allowed two hits and a walk, loaded the bases and briefly gave the Cubs a chance to crack San Diego’s shutout.
But with the crowd roaring behind him, he got Michael Conforto to strike out and close out the game. Musgrove finished with a scoreless inning and three strikeouts.
It was hardly a perfect frame. It was, though, the kind that sticks.
Pirates fans know Musgrove well. Pittsburgh got him from the Houston Astros in the much-criticized Gerrit Cole trade in January 2018, and he settled in as one of the steadier arms on a rotation that rarely gave the club much consistency.
In three seasons with the Pirates, Musgrove posted a 4.23 ERA over 325 1/3 innings. He was also Pittsburgh’s Opening Day starter in 2020 before the organization moved him along during its rebuild.
Ben Cherington dealt Musgrove to his hometown Padres in January 2021 as part of a three-team trade that brought David Bednar, Endy Rodríguez, Hudson Head, Omar Cruz and Drake Fellows into the Pirates’ system.
That deal ended up helping Pittsburgh in its own way. Bednar developed into an All-Star closer, and Rodríguez emerged as a promising young catcher. But Musgrove found another level in San Diego, throwing the first no-hitter in Padres history in April 2021 and making the All-Star team in 2022.
Now he’s back on an October stage while Pittsburgh watches the postseason from home for the 11th straight year.
That’s the easy way to frame it. The harder truth is that Musgrove’s night was bigger than any trade tree or roster debate.
After everything he went through to get back, simply stepping on a big league mound again was a victory. Doing it in front of his hometown crowd, in a playoff game, and finishing it with a strikeout to lock up an 8-0 win made it unforgettable.
The Pirates do have young pitching to build around, and their 82-win season gave them something real to carry into 2027. But seeing a former Pittsburgh starter live out the kind of October moment that has eluded the franchise for more than a decade? That’s a tough one to miss.
For Musgrove, though, Tuesday night wasn’t about the trade, the injuries or the years lost. It was about being back where he belongs.
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