On this day 36 years ago, Dave Stieb tossed the lone no-hitter in Toronto Blue Jays history.
Dylan Cease — he of multiple close calls this season — will aim to double that count on Wednesday as he takes on the Cleveland Guardians (Sportsnet, Sportsnet+, 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT) in a crucial game for Toronto's post-season hopes.
Cease (9-5, 2.33 ERA) took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the San Francisco Giants in July and has put together four appearances with two or fewer hits since.
In his first season with the Blue Jays, he is generally viewed alongside New York Yankees starter Cam Schlittler as the leading candidates to capture the AL Cy Young award. Schlittler holds an edge in ERA (2.09) and innings pitched (163.2 to Cease's 150.1), but Cease has struck out 217 opponents compared to 201 for Schlittler, who will also take the mound Wednesday against the Los Angeles Angels (Sportsnet, Sportsnet+, 9:30 p.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. PT).
The Blue Jays (68-71) will need their ace at his best if they want to make up ground on the Guardians (70-68), who hold the third and final AL wild-card berth with a 2.5-game edge on Toronto.
Elsewhere in the wild-card race, the Texas Rangers (69-70, 1.5 games back) host the Athletics while the Baltimore Orioles (69-70, 1.5 games back) visit the Colorado Rockies. The Minnesota Twins (67-72, 3.5 games back) meet the Detroit Tigers (63-75, seven games back) in an AL Central showdown.
Toronto dropped the first of the three-game series against the Guardians on Wednesday as its hitters struggled in a 6-1 loss. They'll get another crack at it against left-handed starter Joey Cantillo, who holds a 3.70 ERA with 145 strikeouts over 28 starts and 136.1 innings pitched on the season.
The Blue Jays managed just three hits in the defeat, with their lone run coming on a wild pitch from Guardians starter Gavin Williams, who was otherwise dominant with 13 strikeouts over seven frames.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will continue his season-long search for power against Cantillo. The star first baseman has not hit a home run since Aug. 8 and remains stuck on just seven for the season.
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