TORONTO -- When Dylan Cease pitches like that, any base hit against him feels like a miracle.
The Blue Jays returned home Friday reeling after four straight losses and a brutal visit to Tropicana Field, but Cease was a one-man show, single-handedly lifting his team and getting it back on track.
This is what mattered most from the Blue Jays’ 2-0 win over the Angels:
1. ACE STUFF: Cease goes deep
This is what “both” looks like. It always feels like Cease is stuck between his dominant bursts -- something like 10 strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings -- or working deeper into a game with a “gritty” outing, where he strikes out fewer batters. Friday was both.
Cease cruised through seven shutout innings, struck out 10 and barely even found himself in a bad count, finishing without issuing a walk for the first time since July 18, 2025. He had complete and total control, and because of Cease, we’re not spending another night talking about the Blue Jays’ lack of offense.
“It all comes to executing,” Cease said. “Sometimes, you execute, but they put it in play and get hits. Sometimes, you strike them out. I’ll take that level of execution 32 out of 32 times, for sure.”
Before the game, though, the extremes of Cease’s starts were at the front of manager John Schneider’s mind.
“I would love to see some 10-pitch innings with a couple groundouts and a popup,” Schneider said. “It’s about not trying to strike everybody out in a one-strike count. You need to get three of them and understand that a foul ball or a called strike is just as good as a swing and miss in those counts. When he’s in the zone consistently, he’s pretty damn good.”
Cease’s pitch count by inning:
11 - 13 - 12 - 17 - 13 - 14 - 17
Forget strikeout totals, those are some of the prettiest numbers Cease has put up for the Blue Jays this season. Exactly what Schneider was looking for, and following the win, Cease’s manager was singing his praises on the podium.
2. KAZADILLA: Okamoto leads the way
On the same night the Blue Jays introduced a “Kazadilla” at Rogers Centre -- a nod to Kazuma Okamoto’s newfound love for quesadillas in North America -- the Japanese star opened the scoring with a single up the middle in the third inning.
This shouldn’t be surprising -- Okamoto’s 24 RBIs comfortably lead the Blue Jays and his 10 homers are more than double anyone else on the roster. He looks like a perfect cleanup hitter in this lineup. Young Blue Jays fans had Edwin Encarnacion batting cleanup in the early 2010s. Before that, it was Joe Carter in the No. 4 spot in the 90s, the quintessential “RBI guy” in those years.
That’s who Okamoto can be. He has a knack for driving in runs, this unique ability to come through with runners in scoring position which can’t be written off as a coincidence.
“Every time I’m out there, the least I could do is to move the runner over,” Okamoto said through interpreter Yusuke Oshima. “Obviously, getting a hit or a home run is ideal, but the least I can do is move the runner over. That’s the approach I take every time.”
In the fourth inning, Okamoto stabbed a 105-mph scorcher from Mike Trout on his backhand and turned a double play to keep Cease rolling. Toronto’s pitchers have spoken about how impressive Okamoto’s defense is. When Addison Barger returns on Saturday, he’ll take over full time in right field, meaning the hot corner belongs to Okamoto.
“I didn’t even see it. It was a rocket. I looked over and the ball was already being thrown to second,” Cease said. “I was elated. I was very happy to see that. It was an unbelievable play.”
3. DECISION TIME: Barger’s return
Who’s the counter-move when Barger is activated?
Yohendrick Piñango’s excellent debut has turned this into a fascinating question over the past week, and given the Blue Jays’ offensive struggles, it would be awfully bold to option one of their hottest hitters.
Do the Blue Jays prefer Davis Schneider, whose 15 walks take some of the edge off his .127 average, or Lenyn Sosa, who hasn’t drawn a walk yet? The Blue Jays have shown a willingness to stick with Schneider through struggles before, but this is a difficult call with another outfielder coming back in Barger.
“You don’t want to be redundant and you don’t want to be pigeonholed into a guy not playing, if that makes sense,” Schneider said. “It’s a tough decision.”