Well, it wasn’t exactly the offensive explosion we’ve been waiting for but they got the win. Dylan Cease was phenomenal, taking the Angels lineup apart for seven innings without ever really getting into trouble. They needed to stop the losing streak, and they did enough tonight to do that.
Dylan Cease was exceptional tonight. He made it through three innings before allowing a base runner, picking up five K’s and three soft pop outs his first time through the order. Zach Neto lined a single to lead
off the fourth, and Mike Trout crushed a grounder up the third base line that could have been a problem had Kazuma Okamoto not made a great grab to turn it into a double play ball. He gave up a single each in the fifth and sixth, but neither scored and he also racked up his sixth through eighth punch outs.
He got the first two batters in the seventh, but Jo Adell lofted a fly ball over Daulton Varsho’s head in centre that bounced over the fence for a ground rule double to give the Angels their first runner in scoring position of the night. Cease responded with his tenth strikeout. That would be the end of his night. He went seven shutout innings, scattering five hits. Importantly for him, he didn’t walk a batter and took only 97 pitches to get as deep as he did. This is the kind of outing the Jays hoped to see a dozen of a year when they paid him.
The offence was happy to wait out a wild Angels pitching staff, but when they did swing they didn’t generate a lot of hits. Reid Detmers battled his command all night, but it took the Jays offence a while to capitalize. Vladimir Guerrero jr. and Kazuma Okamoto worked back to back two out walks in the first but were stranded. In the second, Davis Schneider also walked and then stole second. He moved to third on a ground out but again was left on. Finally, in the third, they brought a couple home. George Springer lead off with a ground ball single up the middle. One batter later, Vlad won a challenge to earn his second walk of the evening. Okamoto singled up the middle himself to bring Springer around to score. Following a Varsho walk, Ernie Clement hit a sac fly that was just deep enough to get Vlad home, putting the Jays up 2-0.
Detmers’ pitch count was getting out of hand at that point. He returned to face the first four batters in the bottom of the fourth, getting two outs but walking Brandon Valenzuela and allowing Springer to reach on catcher’s interference. At that point, Kurt Suzuki called for Jose Fermin to face Vlad. Vlad hit one on a line but not that hard and right to Neto at short to end the inning. Fermin returned and struck out the first two Jays in the bottom of five. Clement hit a deep fly ball to the track in centre, but Trout was there to make the catch.
Brent Suter got two strikeouts in a clean sixth. In the seventh, after Kirby Yates got the first out pinch hitter Yohendrick Pinango lined a single into left field. A Yates balk advanced him to second. Vlad hit a one hopper that looked like it passed a few inches outside the third base bag, but it was called fair and Vlad was thrown out at third without running. Okamoto lined out to prevent them from adding the insurance run.
That looked like it might cost them in the top of the eighth. Jeff Hoffman gave up a lead off double to Vaughn Grissom, who advanced on a ground out. Hoffman pulled it together to get a pop out and a Trout K to escape.
Old friend Alek Manoah got the eighth for the Angels. In his first MLB appearance in almost two years, he got two pop ups and a strikeout to hold the margin at two.
Louis Varland picked up the save without much drama in the ninth.
Jays of the Day: Cease (0.40), Okamoto (0.10),
Less So: Nobody!
It’s a 3:07pm ET start tomorrow. Jack Kochanowicz (2-1, 3.05) will take the mount for the angels. For the Jays, Trey Yesavage (1-1, 0.96) will make his third start of the season.
