Cease shows sensational side in 7-inning gem in Seattle

SEATTLE – The dominant version of Dylan Cease returned to action Friday night, and the Blue Jays had to be delighted to see that pitcher again.

The right-hander put recent control struggles behind him in one of his best outings of the season in a 2-0 win over the Mariners in T-Mobile Park. It was the first rematch of the two teams from last year’s thrilling seven-game American League Championship Series.

Cease, whom Toronto signed to a seven-year, $210 million contract over the winter to help them get back to the World Series, shut out Seattle over seven innings, giving up three hits, striking out nine and walking one. Five of his frames were of the 1-2-3 variety.

“I thought it was just a really good outing, really,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “I thought his pace was a lot better … really the whole time without shaking and being on the same page as [catcher Alejandro Kirk].”

Cease's only semi-shaky inning came in the third, when he gave up back-to-back singles to Cole Young and Victor Robles, but he immediately got Colt Emerson to ground into a 6-3 double play. After walking the next batter to put runners on the corners, he induced a threat-ending groundout off the bat of Randy Arozarena.

Cease lowered his season ERA from 3.02 to 2.79, which was a step in the right direction after his last start, in which he gave up four runs in 4 2/3 innings and walked four in a loss against Texas. Entering Friday’s game, Cease had issued free passes to 13 batters in his previous 15 1/3 innings.

He said he didn’t make any significant mechanical adjustments heading into this outing. Just minor tweaks here and there. The results showed right away when he punched out the first three batters of the game, although he still said there was room for improvement.

“I didn't feel like I really got a great rhythm until probably the fourth,” said Cease, who improved to 5-4 this season and has a good chance of being selected for his first All-Star Game when rosters are announced Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

“I kind of didn't really power the ball until a little later in the game when I really felt comfortable in my mechanics. [Striking out the side in the first] is obviously a great way to start, but I don't know if I ever think like that. It's always what pitch needs to be executed next.”

Meanwhile, the Toronto offense executed when it had to against stingy Mariners starter Luis Castillo to make Cease’s fine work stand up, and all of it came in the third inning.

Sean Keys led off with a single, Andrés Giménez doubled him home, a Nathan Lukes sacrifice bunt sent Giménez to third and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. punched an RBI single to right to make it 2-0.

“I thought we hit some balls really hard, had some good at-bats, some hard contact for outs,” Schneider said. “But [Castillo], his fastball was a little bit firmer than what it has been, and I like the fact that we kind of continued to grind him, get a couple runs on him, and the approach didn't really budge.”

Guerrero came into the night hitting .214 (9-for-42) in his last 10 games, but said after the game that he’s feeling better in the batter’s box.

“But the most important thing,” he said through an interpreter, “is trying to keep doing things to help the team win some games.”

That’s why Guerrero didn’t want to take too much credit for the offensive output on this night, especially after watching Cease carve the Mariners for seven innings before setup man Jeff Hoffman pitched a scoreless eighth and closer Louis Varland recorded his 18th save in as many opportunities.

“I just want to talk about the pitching,” Guerrero said. “I mean, our pitching was great tonight. It's been great, and not just a starting pitcher, not also the bullpen. After that, you know, the mindset is just to try to score as many runs as we can.”