SAN FRANCISCO – Among the many things on John Schneider’s plate right now is the prep work to manage the American League in next week’s All-Star Game, a set of duties that includes selecting a starting pitcher. So, in the lead-up to the break, he’s naturally kept tabs on various candidates for the honour, with his own ace on the Toronto Blue Jays, Dylan Cease, very much among them.
“You're kind of quietly watching what they're doing, you know?” he said Wednesday morning when asked if Cease can help his case in his final outing before Tuesday’s Midsummer Classic in Philadelphia. “So, I hope that it's a very productive outing for Dylan and the Toronto Blue Jays.”
Cease proceeded to not just deliver productive, he delivered near-historic, carrying a no-hitter into the ninth before Heliot Ramos’ leadoff single ended the bid in a 10-0 thumping of the San Francisco Giants. The 30-year-old threw a no-no for the San Diego Padres against the Washington Nationals on July 25, 2024 – when he struck out nine and walked three in a 114-pitch gem – and was similarly as dominant at Oracle Park, recording 14 outs before issuing the first of his three walks while striking out 11 over eight innings.
But on the cusp of joining Dave Stieb as the only pitchers in club history to throw no-nos, Ramos ripped a sinker to centre, Schneider came out to get his ace and fans of both teams in the stands gave him a standing ovation as he walked off.
Before that swing, Cease’s effort survived a difficult seventh, when Jung Hoo Lee grinded out nine pitches before flying out to deep right and Willy Adames sent a grounder up the middle that Ernie Clement scooped and fired to first. And it held through the eighth, which opened with Bryce Eldridge sending a drive to deep centre that Daulton Varsho chased down before crashing into the wall.
The outing should not only bolster Cease’s case to start for the American League, but more importantly, it extended the rejuvenation Tuesday’s 9-3 win provided after the low-point of a 10-1 blowout on Monday.
The Blue Jays ambushed Logan Webb in the first when Varsho dunked an RBI single to open the scoring and Kazuma Okamoto followed with his first career grand slam in the majors. And the Blue Jays kept adding on from there, getting a two-run shot from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and solo drive from George Springer back-to-back in the ninth.
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