SAN FRANCISCO (AP) 鈥� Dylan Cease knew he had a no-hitter going and was willing to throw an unusual number of pitches to finish it off.
Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider was happy to let him try.
鈥淒ylan came in after the sixth (inning) and said, 鈥業鈥檝e got 120.鈥� I said, 鈥極K.鈥� And then after the seventh, he said, 鈥業鈥檝e got 130,鈥欌�� Schneider said.
Cease carried his bid for a second career no-hitter into the ninth inning Wednesday against the Giants before Heliot Ramos broke it up with a line-drive single to center field.
Cease was lifted after Ramos鈥� hit from the San Francisco crowd. Tyler Rogers came on and got the last three outs on four pitches as .
The 30-year-old Cease threw a career-high 118 pitches, 81 for strikes, as he sought the first solo no-hitter in the majors since 2024. The All-Star right-hander struck out 11 to increase his American League-leading total to 148.
鈥淚 kept saying, 鈥榃hatever it takes,鈥欌�� Cease said. 鈥淚 guess in my mind I thought maybe 130 at that point was what it was looking like.鈥�
Schneider said he left Cease in the game because of his career durability and because he can get extra rest during next week’s All-Star break.
鈥淚鈥檓 a fan of baseball,鈥� Schneider said. 鈥淚 think if a guy has a chance to throw a no-hitter, I think you let him do it and I think you make adjustments after that.
鈥淚f I can let a player have that opportunity, I鈥檓 going to do it every single time. Maybe not every single time, but as long as I鈥檓 allowed to.鈥�
Cease threw a no-hitter for the San Diego Padres at Washington on July 25, 2024. He thought he was in better form Wednesday than he was that day against the Nationals.
鈥淚 was really commanding the ball well, mixing the ball well,鈥� Cease said. 鈥淚鈥檓 just happy it wasn鈥檛 Luis (Arraez) that broke it up again.鈥�
While pitching for the Chicago White Sox, Cease lost a no-hit bid on Sept. 3, 2022, with two outs in the ninth inning when Arraez singled for Minnesota. Arraez, now San Francisco鈥檚 second baseman and a winner of three batting titles, was the hitter after Ramos.
Eight days after Cease’s no-hitter two years ago, Blake Snell threw one for the Giants at Cincinnati.
Since then, there have been two combined no-hitters 鈥� including one in March by Tatsuya Imai, Steven Okert and Alimber Santa of the Houston Astros 鈥� but no one has done it on his own as managers more frequently pull pitchers in the middle of hitless outings because of concerns over pitch counts and injuries.
Cease had plenty of velocity in the ninth, throwing two 97 mph fastballs to Ramos before giving up the hit on a 96 mph sinker.
鈥淚鈥檓 thinking he鈥檚 probably going to be looking for a slider at some point,鈥� Cease said. 鈥淚 figured if I go a couple of heaters and a sinker in, it would surprise him.
鈥淚 wish I got it a little more in, but a good batter got a hit. It鈥檚 baseball.鈥�
The Blue Jays have gone nearly 36 years without a no-hitter. Dave Stieb threw one on Sept. 2, 1990.
Including playoffs, 35 big league pitchers have thrown multiple no-hitters. Mike Fiers of the Athletics became the last to do it on May 7, 2019.
Cease set down the first 14 San Francisco batters before he walked Willy Adames with two outs in the fifth. Cease also walked Drew Gilbert leading off the sixth and Rafael Devers with one out in the seventh.
Toronto鈥檚 defense made two solid plays to sustain the no-hit bid. With two outs in the seventh, Adames sent with a grounder up the middle, and second baseman Ernie Clement ranged to the left side of the bag and made a nice pickup and throw to first.
Leading off the eighth, Bryce Eldridge hit a drive to deep left-center. Center fielder Daulton Varsho raced to make an excellent catch before running into the wall.
Cease then struck out Gilbert and pinch-hitter Drew Cavanaugh.
鈥淲hen Daulton made that play,鈥� Cease said, 鈥渋t was like, 鈥楳an, that鈥檚 what happens in no-hitters.鈥� At that point, I really did it have it on my mind and I thought, 鈥楢ll right, we鈥檝e got a shot today.鈥欌��
Ramos said Cease 鈥渉ad it going on today. I think we should have done a better job attacking the zone, just being aggressive, but at the end of the day, he鈥檚 a really good pitcher.
鈥淚 think he鈥檚 Cy Young-caliber.鈥�
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