Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Dylan Cease lost his bid for a second career no-hitter in the ninth inning against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday.
Cease had thrown eight no-hit frames at Oracle Park before allowing a leadoff single to Heliot Ramos on his career-high 118th pitch to start the ninth. He was then lifted to a standing ovation.
“I probably should have thrown (Ramos) a slider,” Cease told Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae postgame. “If I get that sinker a little more in, maybe it’s good. I don’t know. That’s baseball, you know? It was a good one.”
Tyler Rogers quickly got the final three outs to finish off a 10-0 Blue Jays win.
Cease was at his most dominant Wednesday, striking out 11 over eight-plus frames while walking three and allowing just four fly-ball outs. Second baseman Ernie Clement and center fielder Daulton Varsho both made stellar defensive plays late in the game that looked like they’d save Cease’s effort until Ramos spoiled the party.
Despite the 30-year-old passing his previous career high in pitches during the eighth inning, manager John Schneider had no reservations about giving Cease the chance to make history.
“I’m a fan of baseball. … If I can let a player have that opportunity, I’m going to do it every single time,” Schneider said, according to Keegan Matheson of MLB.com.
Cease threw a no-hitter with the San Diego Padres on July 25, 2024. Since then, only one pitcher – Blake Snell, who did it for the Giants just a week later – has finished off a complete-game no-no.
Dave Stieb threw the first, and still only, no-hitter in Blue Jays history at Cleveland on Sept. 2, 1990.
The near no-no is the latest stellar effort from Cease, who signed a seven-year, $210-million contract with Toronto during the offseason and has been worth every penny so far. He leads the AL with 148 strikeouts and a 13.6 K/9, while his 2.56 ERA ranks second in the Junior Circuit. Cease was recently named an All-Star for the first time in his career and is a leading candidate to start for the AL in next week’s Midsummer Classic.
Toronto’s slumbering bats also woke up in a big way Wednesday. The Blue Jays tagged Giants ace Logan Webb for five runs, highlighted by Kazuma Okamoto’s first-inning grand slam. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and George Springer hit back-to-back homers in the ninth as well. For Guerrero, who’s been struggling at the plate all season, it was his first round-tripper since June 18.
San Francisco, meanwhile, narrowly avoided being no-hit for the first time since 2013.
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