TORONTO -- The easiest way to forget an ugly loss that brought boos down from the home crowd? Hand the ball to Dylan Cease.
The ace was spectacular yet again, leading the Blue Jays to an 8-1 win over the Mariners to open their weekend series at Rogers Centre. With that, the Blue Jays are now 2 1/2 games behind the Guardians for the final Wild Card spot.
“That’s a really good bounce-back win,” manager John Schneider said. “It was nice to answer right back in the first inning. We talked to the guys today. We’ve got 26 games left, hopefully more. Let’s worry about one day at a time and leave it all out there.”
This is what mattered most:
1. Cy Young battle down to the home stretch
You could have predicted Cease’s line an hour before first pitch. Six innings, one earned run, eight strikeouts and another dominant performance.
The AL Cy Young race is down to Cease and Cam Schlittler of the Yankees, who countered with 5 2/3 scoreless innings (5 BB, 8 K) against the Red Sox Friday night. This could turn into a fascinating debate by the end of September, highlighting which statistics are valued most.
Schneider points to WHIP and quality starts as two of the more common metrics that he gives some added weight to. If he were running Cease’s Cy Young campaign, he’d highlight the reliability of Cease’s outings -- not just the dominance of his stuff -- and how rare this level of consistency is in the modern game.
“Just because of the way bullpens are used,” Schneider said. “When he’s out there, we’re pretty comfortable with him getting deep into the game. That impacts what you do in the days before and the days after.”
Cease has also struck out seven or more batters in 19 consecutive starts. The last pitcher to do that in a single season was Randy Johnson in 2001.
“This feels good. These all feel like must wins at this point,” Cease said. “We obviously didn’t play well against Kansas City, so we’re trying to gain a little ground and set the tone a bit.”
2. Add-on homers? The Blue Jays?
This is what it’s supposed to look like.
Both Nathan Lukes and George Springer tacked on solo shots to give the Blue Jays some extra cushion after they took a 3-1 lead in the first. These were both trademark swings, too, with Lukes dropping down to a knee to launch one out while Springer nearly toppled over, that all-effort swing connecting on a towering blast to left.
Watching that ball fly out, it immediately brought back the memory of Springer’s home run against the Mariners in Game 7 of the ALCS, which ultimately sent them to the World Series. We’re still too close to the heartbreak of 2025 for that moment to be fully appreciated and contextualized, but it will forever stand as one of the biggest moments in this organization’s history.
After that pair of homers in the fifth, Kazuma Okamoto joined the party with his 27th of the season an inning later. Schneider was thrilled, too, that it came on a sweeper, the pitch that’s given Okamoto fits.
“We’re going to celebrate. We’re going to have a whiskey, me and Kaz,” Schneider said. “That sweeper’s been his enemy, but he got it tonight.”
If the Blue Jays are going to pull off another run in September, power needs to be part of it. That’s a non-negotiable at this point, and it’s the Blue Jays’ only pathway to a winning streak longer than four games, which is their season high.
3. Vlad Watch: 11 home games remain
The box score will show an RBI double for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and a flyout in his next at-bat. Oddly enough, that flyout was probably a more impressive swing, a line drive straight at the right fielder, while the double was a chopper up the third-base line with some good fortune behind it.
Either way, Guerrero has 11 home games left in the Blue Jays’ final 26, and he still hasn’t homered at Rogers Centre. Around the clubhouse and on the field pregame, Guerrero was loose and energetic, but of course he’s aware of this. After Friday’s win, his OPS sits at just .685.
The Blue Jays only have one shortcut to the final AL Wild Card spot, and it’s Guerrero.