Cease struggles at wrong time as Blue Jays drop crucial matchup vs. Rangers

ARLINGTON -- The Blue Jays needed Dylan Cease at his best Friday night, but the dominant right-hander endured an uncharacteristic outing at a crucial point in Toronto’s postseason push.

Cease lasted just 2 2/3 innings in the Blue Jays’ 7-1 loss against the Rangers at Globe Life Field, allowing four runs (one earned) on three hits while issuing a season-high six walks and striking out a season-low three batters. He needed 74 pitches to record eight outs, throwing only 36 for strikes as his command deserted him and another dip in his fastball velocity added to a concerning late-season trend.

The timing could hardly have been worse. Toronto (76-78) still sits two games out of the third AL Wild Card spot with just eight games remaining after Chicago (78-76) lost to Detroit, but the Rangers (77-77) are now ahead of the Blue Jays. Toronto owns the tiebreaker over Cleveland (79-75), but not Texas or Chicago, leaving little margin for error as the Blue Jays try to keep their postseason hopes alive.

Among qualifying AL pitchers, Cease entered Friday ranked first in strikeout rate (35.3%), strikeouts (239), FIP (2.47) and opponents’ batting average (.180), while ranking second with a 2.40 ERA.

But there have been some concerning signs with Cease, particularly with his fastball velocity. A dip that first emerged in June continued Friday, when his fastball averaged 93.6 mph, compared to his season average of 96.9 mph. It averaged 94.8 mph on Sunday and 94.9 mph on Sept. 7.

After Ezequiel Duran popped out to second to begin the first inning, Cease issued a four-pitch walk to Corey Seager and a five-pitch walk to Josh Jung. Seager stole second (Cease leads the Majors with 33 stolen bases allowed), but Toronto’s ace escaped the inning after the infield turned a double play.

The walks continued in the second, when Cease opened the inning with back-to-back free passes before Nicky Lopez singled to right to load the bases. Texas took a 2-0 lead when Evan Carter reached on a fielder’s choice and two runs scored after a throwing error by Ernie Clement to third. He started at shortstop in place of Andrés Giménez.

The Rangers added two more on Duran’s sacrifice fly and Seager’s RBI double before Cease struck out Jung to end the inning.

Cease returned for the third inning and struck out Brandon Nimmo before issuing another pair of walks and allowing a single to Lopez. His night ended after he won an eight-pitch battle with Elias Díaz for his third and final strikeout.