BOSTON — With the field half-covered in shadows at Fenway Park Saturday afternoon, Dylan Cease threw his 120th pitch of the day and pumped his fist.
He had just struck out Wilyer Abreu looking — or so it seemed. Once an ABS review confirmed the strike three call, Cease raised his arms above his head in celebration as his teammates jogged over to join him.
All afternoon he had been ‘focused and fighting.’ Once that final strikeout was recorded, he could finally celebrate.
“Just that it’s over,” he said with a smile afterwards. “I was tired at the end. (I was happy) that it was over and I could go rest.”
He had just delivered one of the most dominant performances of his career, pitching a one-hitter to out-duel Red Sox starter Sonny Gray as the Blue Jays beat the Red Sox 6-0 in front of 36,902.
It was the Blue Jays’ first one-hitter since Shaun Marcum dominated the Athletics on August 16, 2010 and Cease was an Andruw Monasterio double away from joining Dave Stieb as the only Blue Jay ever to throw a no-hitter.
What’s even more remarkable is that the right-hander did so with diminished velocity. While his fastball gained speed as the day progressed, he averaged just 95.8 m.p.h., considerably below his season average of 97.6.
“My body was a little cranky, so I was just working with what I had,” Cease said. “Nothing really hurt, it was just my body not wanting to cooperate.”
When John Schneider saw the early radar readings, his thoughts “weren’t great” at first, but as the manager saw Cease start to use his legs more he realized something special could be unfolding. On the mound, Cease’s confidence kept building.
“When we got to the fifth and I had a no-hitter going, my body’s loosening up a little," he said. "By the end you have the kill in sight, so I was just going for it."
It’s been a spectacular debut season in Toronto for Cease – but far less so for his new team. Now 48-57, the Blue Jays remain on the outer edges of the American League wild-card race, 6.0 games behind the Red Sox and Guardians.
Big-picture, the Blue Jays are still poorly positioned. Now nine games under .500, they’ll have to go on an extended run to get back into contention. Otherwise, selling off pending free agents may be the logical move.
“Everybody understands where we are and what has to happen,” said George Springer. “It’s not about stats or numbers … it’s about playing with your hair on fire every day.”
But here at Fenway Park, Cease did everything within his power to keep the Blue Jays’ 2026 hopes alive. For the second time this month, he took a no-hit bid into the late innings only to lose it.
Cease struck out 12 on the afternoon, walking just three. One day after Yankees right-hander Cam Schlittler said he “deserved the opportunity” to start the All-Star Game, Cease showed why he got the nod instead.
Those two now appear to be the frontrunners for the American League Cy Young Award with Schlittler’s 2.06 ERA still ahead of Cease’s 2.46 mark.
The 120 pitches were a career high, and Cease acknowledged he was tiring by the end but he didn’t want Schneider to replace him.
“That was awesome,” he said. “I’m very happy they let me go for that.”
“You don’t see it very often,” Schneider added. “Dylan’s kind of a throwback pitcher. He’s durable and thrives for that (workload) … he’s evolving as a pitcher and I wanted to give him every chance to finish it.”
To recover, Cease anticipates prioritizing sleep and “maybe a little extra” recovery work depending on how his body feels in the coming days.
Offensively, the Blue Jays broke out with a five-run rally against Gray in the third. A Springer home run was the big swing of the day, one of six consecutive hits the Blue Jays would record in the frame.
It was also a productive day at the plate for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. who contributed three hits and a walk after offering some thoughts on the state of the team earlier in the day. Speaking to the media Saturday afternoon, Guerrero Jr. expressed frustration over the team’s record while saying “the vibes are good” in the clubhouse.
Guerrero Jr. said he hasn’t spoken with GM Ross Atkins about how the team will approach the upcoming trade deadline, but he did have a message for fans.
“Be patient,” he said. “I know things are not going the way we wanted, but I can promise all our fans that every time we go out there (our goal) is to win the game. We’re humans. Sometimes things don’t happen the way you want, regardless of your preparation or what you do. That’s baseball, but I can promise them we’re going to continue to work hard.”
As Guerrero Jr. acknowledged, bigger picture questions still linger around this edition of the Blue Jays. But amidst that uncertainty Cease continues to pitch like an ace. He’s certainly doing his part to keep the Blue Jays relevant as long as possible.
“It’s big,” Springer said. “It’s everything our team had to have. He was himself and he was great today. For him to keep a great team off the scoreboard is huge.”
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