​What an incredible start from Dylan Cease in the Blue Jays’ 10-0 win over the Giants. I wasn’t sure about sending him back out for the eighth inning at 104 pitches, but Cease isn’t going to have another start for several days with the All-Star break approaching. He might even be in the All-Star game, which would be a well-deserved showcase. In the eighth, Daulton Varsho made a spectacular running catch into the center-field wall at near full speed, then followed it with two strikeouts. After throwing 116 pitches, Cease was set to come out for the ninth, and the plan seemed clear.
Unfortunately, the first batter in the ninth, Heliot Ramos, lined a single to center. Cease would finish with three walks and an eleven-strikeout performance, with just the one hit allowed. It was a phenomenal start. Tyler Rogers closed out the one-hitter with a clean ninth.
Offensively, everything that mattered happened in the top of the first, though Vlad’s ninth-inning homer did register as a meaningful moment in the right direction. Ernie Clement and Nathan Lukes led off with back-to-back singles. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. tapped a ball that barely scooted in front of the plate, but it functioned like a bunt, moving runners to second and third. George Springer drew a walk, and Daulton Varsho lifted a ball in front of the right fielder, who misjudged it, narrowly allowing a run to score as the ball dropped. The Giants’ defense looked off all day. Kazuma Okamoto then delivered a grand slam, hit right at the edge of the right-field wall; the play was reviewable, but it stood as a home run. It was such a close call that it felt like a long ride to right field in San Francisco. The Jays would lead 5-0 after that inning.
Logan Webb matched Cease’s pace by going seven innings and conceding only one more hit after that initial burst, but he ran into bad luck in the top of the first that helped fuel Toronto’s early lead. The Jays added two more runs in the eighth. With one out, Varsho and Okamoto each singled, and Alejandro Kirk walked on a seven- or eight-pitch at-bat. Myles Straw then hit into a potential double play, but Giants first baseman Rafael Devers mishandled the ball, allowing another run to score. Andrés Giménez followed with an infield single, keeping the inning alive. As discussed in the GameThread, Giants shortstop Willy Adames isn’t the defender he once was; an unfortunate error in the fifth inning underscored that slide.
The ninth inning featured three more errors by the Giants—three more runs for Toronto. Lukes walked, and Vlad Guerrero Jr. belted the first pitch for a home run, a shot measuring 108.3 mph and traveling 419 feet. George Springer, back from paternity leave and hitting clean-up, homered as well, a 104.3 mph drive that traveled 415 feet and landed near Vlad’s spot. The two blasts nearly mirrored each other in trajectory and distance.
Among the hard contact today, Vlad posted exit velocities of 108.3, 101.8, and 99.9 mph; Springer hit 104.8 and 104.3; Lukes 106.1; Kirk 104.7; Okamoto 101.7; Varsho 101.6—plenty of firm contact all around, even when some hits didn’t leave the park. Cease’s dominance was highlighted by the 0.18 win probability added (WPA) in his favor, and Okamoto’s 0.19 WPA, with Varsho contributing 0.10 plus that eighth-inning catch. No one earned the “Other Award” this time.
In the end, the Jays piled up 19 runs over the last two games, a nice signal for the team’s momentum and a potential boost for SEO signals as well. Cease’s performance, combined with the late-game power from Guerrero and Springer, was the story, but the day belonged to the collective effort that produced a dominant 10-0 victory.