Key takeaways: Blue Jays 10, Giants 0

SAN FRANCISCO -- Wednesday afternoon at Oracle Park teased us with history as Dylan Cease took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Giants, falling just short of joining Dave Stieb, who remains the only Blue Jays pitcher in history to pull it off.

By the time your heart rate comes down from all of that, you, too, may be left with a blurry memory of how the Blue Jays managed to put up all of those runs in the 10-0 win. Besides, we are all just focused on Cease.

This is what mattered most from the win, which sends the Blue Jays to San Diego beginning Friday with a sudden sense of momentum.

1. Decision time: Cease wanted it all
One of the great dramas in baseball is the decision of how far to push a pitcher chasing a no-hitter, especially in the modern game when they’re no longer throwing 145 pitches.

Cease felt like he had 130 pitches in him, and if it got close to that, he surely would have found more. Even as he stepped on the mound for the ninth, though, before a Heliot Ramos single broke up his bid, Cease was hyperfocused.

“It’s impossible for it not to be on your mind, but I was more focused on sequencing and what I wanted to do,” Cease said, “as opposed to thinking, ‘Oh god, I’ve got a no-hitter.’ You saw it there, that any little thing can be a hit. Until you have it, it’s really far away.”

In the dugout, pitching coach Pete Walker sensed it. The longtime pitching coach also pitched for this organization in the early 2000s, so he’s been around for so many of these near-misses since Stieb made history on September 2, 1990.

“I felt it after the sixth inning for him,” Walker said. “He was cruising along and throwing strikes. His pitch count was reasonable. He was getting some early contact here and there, so there weren’t too many deep counts today. Then, his stuff, it was just electric. His slide and curveball were as sharp as they’ve been all year.”

2. Vladdy goes deep at last!
It’s easily forgotten, because the tension of Cease’s no-hit bid was already reaching a 10/10, but Vladimir Guerrero Jr. uncorked one of the best swings we’ve seen from him this season.

In the top of the ninth, Guerrero turned on a 95-mph sinker from Ryan Walker and launched it to left-field, 419 feet. It was one of those low, classic ball flights from Guerrero, and while he benefited from getting a meatball over the heart of the plate, this was finally a glimpse at Guerrero doing what great hitters should do with those pitches. It’s just his fifth home run of the season, a stunning number as we sit here on July 8, but if there’s going to be any sort of turnaround, it needs to start somewhere.

“This is the first extended [slump] that he’s felt, but he’s handled it like a true professional,” hitting coach David Popkins said Tuesday. “He’s a guy who has been raised around this game. He’s built for this game and the stress that comes with it. You learn a lot about yourself and you learn a lot about your team when you’re facing adversity like this.”

Finally, this was progress.

The swing itself is what matters most here. Guerrero uncoiled his body and unleashed the power of his hips and lower half, which has been all too rare. It’s still a long road back to who he truly can be, but this is the path.

3. Okamoto’s first career grand slam
He snuck it over by an inch, but they all count … especially the grand slams.

Kazuma Okamoto’s 21st of the season blew open a 5-0 lead early, which allowed Cease to settle in for his run at history.

“Twenty-one homers, and I think the record for a rookie Japanese player is 22,” Schneider said. “We’re not even at the All-Star break yet. He’s been everything we could have hoped for, and maybe a little bit more.”

Where would this team be without Okamoto? He’s been this team’s biggest offensive threat, and for much of the season, it hasn’t even been close. If he can continue to stay afloat in this game of adjustments against big-league pitching, he’ll cruise past 30 home runs, and he’s still got a shot to make a late case for AL Rookie of the Year.