Dylan Cease came within three outs of becoming the first Toronto Blue Jay in 36 years to throw a no-hitter Wednesday afternoon, striking out 11 in a 10-0 road victory over the San Francisco Giants.
Kazuma Okamoto capped a five-run first inning with a grand slam and center fielder Daulton Varsho prevented an extra-base hit by the Giants’ Bryce Eldridge with a leaping catch on the center-field warning track in the eighth, each helping Cease’s cause.
The All-Star right-hander retired the first 14 Giants he faced until losing his perfect game by walking Willy Adames with two outs in the fifth.
Cease (6-4) also walked Drew Gilbert leading off the sixth and Rafael Devers with one out in the seventh, but breezed through a 1-2-3 eighth with Tyler Rogers warming up, earning a shot at the ninth despite having thrown 115 pitches.
Home runs by Vlad Guerrero Jr., his fifth, and George Springer, his ninth, added three runs to the Toronto total in the top of the ninth, giving Cease a long rest before continuing his quest.
Attempting to match the feat of Dave Stieb in September of 1990, the only previous no-hitter in Blue Jays history, Cease went 1-1 on Heliot Ramos before the Giants outfielder lined a fastball up the middle. Ramos had struck out his previous three times.
Cease was pulled at that point, having walked three and recorded his sixth double-digit strikeout performance of the season.
No opponent has ever pitched a no-hitter in the 27-year history of Oracle Park.
Rogers retired all three men he faced after taking over for Cease, wrapping up Toronto’s sixth shutout of the season.
The first six Blue Jays hitters gave their pitcher all the support he would need against Giants starter Logan Webb (5-7).
Singles by Ernie Clement and Nathan Lukes, and a one-out walk to Springer, loaded the bases for Varsho, who blooped an RBI single into right field.
Okamoto then took Webb high and deep the opposite way, landing his 21st home run atop the 20-foot-high wall in right field at Oracle Park. The hit was reviewed and Okamoto, who had stopped at first base, was sent the remaining 270 feet for a grand slam and a 5-0 lead.
Lukes, Varsho and Okamoto each had two hits and scored twice for the Blue Jays, who improved to 3-3 on their nine-game Western swing.
Webb rebounded from his rough start to serve up just one more hit through the seventh inning, finishing with five runs and five hits allowed. He walked two and struck out two.
