The Padres almost threw their 1st-ever no-hitter. Almost.

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The Padres joined Major League Baseball in 1969. They've played over 7,500 games that counted in the standings since, and not a single one of them has featured San Diego throwing a no-hitter. They got oh so very close on Thursday night against the Mets, though. New York was held hitless into the seventh inning thanks to Colin Rea's strong outing, which would eventually result in eight innings of one-run, three-hit ball and a Padres win. The shift betrayed San Diego in the seventh, as Yoenis Cespedes hit a slow roller to the right side of the infield at the same time most of the Padres' infielders were on the third base side of the diamond. Two more hits came after, so it's unlikely the shift truly ruined this no-no, but after 48 years and 7,500-plus games, it's hard not to think like that.

On the bright side, Rea's dominance over a Mets lineup that has been doing work this season is a good sign for the Padres, who are using 2016 to rebuild. Over his last five starts, the 25-year-old Rea has a 2.61 ERA and is averaging nearly 6 1/3 innings per outing -- this is the kind of encouraging performance San Diego needs from their young pitchers this year, especially so soon another young arm, Robbie Erlin, was found to need Tommy John surgery.

It's going to be a long summer for the Padres, but as long as players like Rea progress and they are able to trade some of their key veterans for more pieces of the future by the time the trade deadline rolls around, the 2016 season can still be a success. It would be nice if they could also sprinkle a no-hitter in there somewhat, but a no-hitter, as fun as they can be, is just a piece of trivia. What the Padres need more than no-nos is more performances like this one from Rea and Drew Pomeranz and the rest of the kids.

• Speaking of shifts, this newspaper spelled the word wrong in the most hilarious way possible.


• The Giants lost against the Rockies to a degree that it might have broken Grant Brisbee.


• Byung Ho Park is making the Twins look smart, which they kind of need right now given how some of the rest of the roster is playing.



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