TORONTO – Saturday’s game against the Athletics was like a play in three acts.
First came a dominant pitching performance from Dylan Cease. Then a bizarre seventh inning undermined Cease’s start and stress-tested the Blue Jays’ left-handed relief. And finally, clutch swings in the ninth, tenth and eleventh innings led to the Blue Jays' second walk-off win in as many days.
The decisive swing came from Ernie Clement – a single into left-centre field that gave the Blue Jays an 8-7 win. Yet the victory wouldn’t have been possible without Rule 5 pick Spencer Miles, who pitched a scoreless 11th, earning his first MLB win with an impressive performance.
"It's great to see," Clement said. "We're battling. We're fighting back. We're picking guys up. It's what was special about last year's team and it's what will be special about this year's team. We're never out of it."
Before the game veered off-course, Cease was everything the Blue Jays could have hoped for.
He walked out to the bullpen 40 minutes before first pitch and waved back at the applauding fans – a rare move for a starting pitcher, even at home. Wearing his new home whites, the 30-year-old took in the scene around him and responded to his new fans.
"It felt right in the moment," Cease said. "I was awkwardly smiling, so I figured I might as well give them a wave."
With 12 strikeouts in his Blue Jays debut, Cease set a franchise record. He turned the game over to the bullpen with a couple runners on base, but was charged with just one earned run over 5.1 innings of work.
"Awesome to see him work," Clement said. "He pitched great."
Yet as impressive as that line is, it might actually undersell how dominant he was. Touching 100 m.p.h. on the radar gun, he completely overmatched the Athletics, striking out every member of their starting lineup at least once and never letting Max Muncy or Denzel Clarke put the ball in play.
Even the balls the Athletics did hit weren’t hit well. They hit just five balls harder than 71 m.p.h. against Cease and only one harder than 93 m.p.h. – a 108 m.p.h. Tyler Soderstrom single in the first inning. Otherwise, it was whiffs or extremely weak contact.
An outing that strong offers a reminder of why the Blue Jays spent $210 million to make Cease the highest-paid pitcher in franchise history. As Blue Jays assistant GM Mike Murov said at the time, "I don't think it takes a genius to uncover" that Cease can pitch.
That may be so, yet it did take a significant financial commitment and a strong sales pitch, both of which were on offer. Now, the Blue Jays have a second frontline starter to pair with Kevin Gausman, who opened the season with 11 strikeouts of his own on Friday.
"It's what we were looking for when we acquired him," manager John Schneider said.
As Cease left the field, the fans stood and cheered.
"That was a blast," he recalled. "Everyone was cheering and extremely supportive. It's an electric atmosphere and I think that really does make a difference."
Not long after Cease left, the seventh inning played out in bizarre and unfortunate fashion. With Mason Fluharty pitching in the top of the seventh, both Jeff McNeil and Muncy reached on infield singles that ricocheted off the pitcher’s legs. The second hit Fluharty hard enough that it chased him from the game with a right knee contusion.
X-rays were negative, so Fluharty's expected to be available for Sunday's series finale.
That brought Brendon Little into the game, and after striking out the first hitter he faced, a third infield single to the pitcher brought home McNeil to tie the game 2-2. Little then walked Nick Kurtz and threw a knuckle curve below the strike zone to the locked-in Shea Langeliers, who sent it over the centre field wall for a game-changing grand slam.
Clearly, it’s a results business for both Little and the Blue Jays. Bad luck or not, it was a rough afternoon for Little, who could have used a bounce-back outing after allowing game-changing home runs in each of the final two outings of his 2025 post-season against the Mariners and Dodgers, respectively.
Yet rarely will three weakly hit grounders to the pitcher and a curveball below the strike zone result in a five-run rally. What unfolded Saturday was literally the worst-case scenario for that combination of events. It’s frustrating, but the Toronto pitchers actually generated lots of weak contact while striking out 17 A's. Those are positives.
Despite the 6-2 deficit, the Blue Jays rallied. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Jesus Sanchez and Andres Gimenez each hit RBI singles to bring the score within one, then Alejandro Kirk hit a game-tying home run into the left field seats in the ninth.
After the A's scored in the 10th, Addison Barger hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game, setting up Miles' MLB debut. The right-hander "blacked out a little," but kept the score tied while earning his first MLB strikeout.
"He checked all the boxes today," Schneider said. "That was a big test. A good way to start."
That set up Clement’s walk-off hit, the third of his career and led to a joyful celebration in shallow right field.
"We've just got to focus on playing our game," Schneider said. "And let the chips fall where they may."
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