Cease comes 3 outs from ending 36-year no-no drought, then asks: 'How many K's did I have?'

SAN FRANCISCO -- Dave Stieb still stands alone, right where he’s been for 36 years.

Another heartbreak now lives on his doorstep, another no-hitter that fell just short of giving Stieb the company that’s long been overdue. This time, it’s Dylan Cease left with the memory of what could have been and what almost was.

When Cease burst out of the Blue Jays’ dugout for the ninth inning of Wednesday afternoon’s 10-0 victory over the Giants at Oracle Park, his no-hitter still alive, he was already at a career-high 115 pitches. Three pitches later, Heliot Ramos lined a single back up the middle, ending Cease’s bid. Blue Jays and Giants fans together gave Cease a standing ovation as he walked off the field. It was one of the greatest pitching performances we’ve seen in a Blue Jays uniform, but again, it’s fallen so painfully short.

• Key takeaways: Blue Jays 10, Giants 0

Sensing history, Cease just wanted to keep going, pitch count be damned. Besides, he’s got the All-Star break to rest up. Moments like this might never come around again.

“I kept saying, ‘Whatever it takes,’” Cease said. “In my mind, 130 pitches.”

Then came that one pitch. Throughout the history of heartbreaks that Blue Jays pitchers have piled up, they all have that one pitch they look back on. Stieb nearly had a half-dozen of them before he finally broke through. Cease’s was a sinker to Ramos, up and over the plate after a day where everything else had looked nearly perfect.

“He had it going on today. … He's a really good pitcher,” Ramos said. “I think he's a Cy Young-caliber [pitcher], so he had it going on. I think since he got too comfy, he just repeated a couple of fastballs on me, and that's when I took my chance. But I tip my cap to him. He's really good. He was really good today. He had it going on, for sure."

Players have a sixth sense for these things. When Ernie Clement made a great play to end the seventh inning, throwing back across his body to get the runner, everyone’s ears perked up. When Daulton Varsho slammed into the wall to make a spectacular catch in the eighth, everyone started to have the same thought. This is what it looks like.

History matters, too. Cease hadn’t been born yet when Stieb threw his no-hitter. In fact, George Springer was the only player on the Blue Jays’ roster who was born before that famous day. When these rare moments come, you have to chase them. Manager John Schneider wanted to chase it.

“I’m a fan of baseball. If a guy has a chance to throw a no-hitter, you let him do it, and I think you make the adjustments after that,” Schneider said. “Dylan, he’s done it before, and he’s really durable. He’s in the category where you can be pretty aggressive with it. It’s not very often you get to see that, so if I can let a player have that opportunity, I’m going to do it every single time.”

At 106 pitches after the seventh inning, Cease walked back to the dugout twirling his right index finger, telling his manager and pitching coach that he could keep going. At 115 pitches after the eighth, it was undeniable. Cease had to have his shot. If this happened or fell apart on the doorstep, it would be his to own.

How in-the-zone was he? He had a question for Sportsnet field reporter Hazel Mae in his on-field interview after the game: "How many strikeouts did I have?"

When Stieb finally got his no-hitter on Sept. 2, 1990, it felt like he’d finally done the impossible. It was, and still is, the only no-hitter in Blue Jays history, but he’d come painfully close so many times before, tortured by ninth innings that just wouldn’t allow for history.

Stieb originally lost a perfect game and two no-hitters in heartbreaking fashion in 1988 and ‘89. All three ended with two outs in the ninth inning, making it so much sweeter when he finally reached that mountaintop. Roy Halladay, Brandon Morrow and Dustin McGowan have all lost no-hitters in the ninth inning, too, and Bowden Francis had two heartbreaks in late 2024.

Only the Guardians have a longer drought, going back to Len Barker’s perfect game on May 15, 1981, against … the Blue Jays.

“Selfishly, I wanted it for this group, for this team,” said pitching coach Pete Walker. “Since I’ve been here, we haven’t had one. It would have been cool, but for Dylan, he’s been working so hard and getting deeper into games … These days, when they do come, you get excited.”

What’s left is still a brilliant pitching performance by Cease, who already has a no-hitter to his name from his time with the Padres, even if this one won’t come with the label, the celebration and the memories. He’ll look back on a line of eight scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts and three walks, but there’s that "1" in the hits column.

The Blue Jays have played 7,804 baseball games in their 50 years. Only one man has finished with a "0" in that special spot. Someday, he’ll have some company. Someday, they’ll do it again.