SAN FRANCISCO — Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Dylan Cease put together one of the most dominant performances of the season Wednesday, retiring San Francisco Giants hitters without a hit through eight full innings.
Cease was nearly perfect from the start, getting through the first 14 Giants batters before issuing a walk to Willy Adames with two outs in the fifth inning. He also walked Drew Gilbert to lead off the sixth and walked Rafael Devers with one out in the seventh, but no San Francisco hitter could manage a base hit against him.
By the time he exited after eight innings, Cease had thrown a career-high 115 pitches, with 79 of them going for strikes. He also struck out 11 batters, continuing his dominant stretch that had him leading the American League in strikeouts heading into Wednesday’s game.
Toronto held a commanding 7-0 advantage through eight frames.
The Giants came closest to breaking up the no-hit bid on two consecutive at-bats. With two outs in the seventh, Willy Adames hit a sharp grounder up the middle, but second baseman Ernie Clement ranged to his left, made a clean pickup, and fired a throw to first in time to retire the runner.
Then, leading off the eighth, Bryce Eldridge launched a deep drive to left-center field. Center fielder Daulton Varsho sprinted back and made an outstanding catch just before colliding with the outfield wall.
Toronto’s big lead was built early. Kazuma Okamoto crushed an opposite-field grand slam off Giants starter Logan Webb, capping a five-run first inning for the Blue Jays.
The win continued a strong stretch for Toronto against San Francisco. In the previous night’s 9-3 victory, the Blue Jays had retired the final 15 Giants hitters in a row.
Cease previously accomplished a complete no-hitter on July 25, 2024, when he was pitching for the San Diego Padres against Washington.
