Giants avoid being no-hit, but fall season-worst 16 games below .500

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants narrowly avoided making the wrong kind of history Wednesday afternoon at Oracle Park.

Blue Jays right-hander Dylan Cease came within three outs of tossing the first no-hitter by an opposing pitcher at Oracle Park before Heliot Ramos finally broke up the bid with a leadoff single in the bottom of the ninth. It proved to be the only hit of the afternoon for the Giants, who were blanked, 10-0, to seal a series loss to Toronto.

“I broke up a no-hitter, but I did it on the day that we lost,” Ramos said. “It was a really bad loss for us. I think we're really better than that. He had it going on today. I think we should have done a better job, just like attacking the zone, just being aggressive. But at the end of the day, he's a really good pitcher.

"I think he's a Cy Young [contender], 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 was really good today. He had it going on, for sure.”

The defeat dropped the Giants (38-54) a season-high 16 games under .500 heading into their final series of the first half, a four-game set against the Rockies that begins Thursday night at Oracle Park.

Cease dominated from the get-go, retiring the first 14 batters he faced before issuing a two-out walk to Willy Adames in the bottom of the fifth. Drew Gilbert and Rafael Devers also drew free passes, but the Giants didn’t come close to recording a hit until Bryce Eldridge smoked a 396-foot drive out to left-center field that was caught at the warning track by Blue Jays center fielder Daulton Varsho to lead off the eighth.

“It was like, ‘Oh my God, we can't catch a break, even on that,’” Ramos said. “I think it was a good play. He's a really good defensive player.”

Cease was already at a career-high 115 pitches through eight innings, but he returned to the mound in the bottom of the ninth with a chance to become the first Blue Jays pitcher to throw a no-hitter since Dave Stieb in 1990. Still, those hopes were dashed by Ramos, who lined a 1-1 sinker up the middle for a clean single.

Cease, who previously no-hit the Nationals as a member of the Padres on July 25, 2024, departed after allowing only one hit over eight-plus innings and racking up 11 strikeouts. He walked off the field to a standing ovation from Blue Jays fans and was replaced on the mound by former Giants submariner Tyler Rogers, who recorded the final three outs to hand the Giants their ninth shutout loss of the year.

“I think it was just the mix,” Ramos said of Cease’s dominance. “Personally, to me, he wasn't repeating any fastballs. He was just mixing and matching pretty good, locating the pitches. The slider looked just like the fastball.”

The Blue Jays gave Cease all the support he would need in the top of the first inning, when they scored five runs against Giants ace Logan Webb.

Webb, who was making his final start before heading to his third All-Star Game next week, fell into early trouble after allowing Toronto to load the bases on a pair of singles and a one-out walk.

Right fielder Jung Hoo Lee then tried to go into a slide to catch a fly ball from Varsho, but he allowed it to get past him for an RBI single. That brought up Kazuma Okamoto, who knocked a 1-0 sinker off the top of the right-field wall for a grand slam, the first Webb has allowed in his eight-year career in the Majors.

The 29-year-old right-hander held the Blue Jays scoreless over his final six innings, but the Giants’ offense couldn’t pick him up after struggling to solve a near-perfect Cease.

“We lost the game, right?” Webb said. “I put our team in the hole 5-0 in the first inning. It’s not good.”