Dylan Cease dances with no-hitter as Blue Jays bury Giants

Reporting from ORACLE PARK

The Giants fell to a season low Wednesday afternoon, held hitless into the ninth inning by Dylan Cease in a 10-0 loss to the Blue Jays at Oracle Park.

The defeat drops San Francisco to 38-54 – 16 games below .500 for the first time this season. The Giants had won all seven previous games they played while sitting 15 games under.

Giants manager Tony Vitello didn’t mince words:

“It was a low point with a couple defensive plays, not finishing the game the way we needed to on the mound, obviously not having much to show for offensively.”

Toronto greeted Giants starter Logan Webb in the first inning with a string of soft-contact hits capped by a grand slam from Japanese rookie Kazuma Okamoto. Okamoto’s 21st home run of the season just reached the metal roof of the right-field wall, and after a review upheld the call, Toronto led 5-0 before the Giants had an at-bat.

Cease looked in control early on. He retired the first 14 Giants he faced, striking out five over the first three innings – including five in a row from the second into the fourth.

Cease entered Wednesday atop the American League strikeout leaderboard at 137 with a 2.79 ERA. He will be in Philadelphia next week for the 2026 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, his first selection in eight big league seasons.

Webb bounced back from the rough first, facing the minimum through the next three innings without allowing a baserunner. He entered the day looking like his usual self at Oracle Park: Each of his last three home starts lasted at least seven innings, racking up 20 strikeouts and just one earned run allowed; dominance that helped make him National League Pitcher of the Month for June.

In the fifth, Willy Adames‘ 13th error of the season nearly proved costly. His off-balance, high throw sailed into the Toronto dugout, helping put runners at second and third, but Rafael Devers‘ reach at first base bailed out a high throw from Casey Schmitt on the next play, keeping the deficit at five.

Adames became the first Giant to reach base in the bottom of the fifth, drawing a two-out walk. Pitching from the stretch for the first time all afternoon, Cease struck out Bryce Eldridge for the second time to end the threat.

Toronto threatened again in the top of the sixth, when a leadoff walk and stolen base put Daulton Varsho at third with one out. Webb escaped with an infield pop out and a groundout, both recorded by Devers. Webb finished his day allowing one hit after the first inning.

Cease stayed dominant despite a leadoff walk in the sixth, striking out two and getting Luis Arraez to ground out to first. Through six innings, he had nine strikeouts on 88 pitches, and still no hits allowed.

Cease eclipsed the 100-pitch mark in the seventh after a nine-pitch at-bat from Jung Hoo Lee ended in a flyout to right field. Second baseman Ernie Clement then kept the no-hitter intact with an off-balance throw picked out by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at first base.

The Blue Jays added two runs in the eighth on a pair of balls that never left the infield.

Varsho saved the no-hitter in the bottom of the eighth, running down an Eldridge liner at full speed on the warning track in front of the Giants bullpen, crashing into the wall and hanging on. Cease added two more strikeouts, giving him 11 through eight innings.

Guerrero belted a two-run homer over the Giants bullpen in the ninth, and George Springer deposited one of his own in almost the same spot as the Toronto lead reached double digits.

Cease returned for the ninth at 115 pitches with history within reach, but Heliot Ramos had other ideas, roping a single into center field to end the bid, along with Cease’s best outing of the season.

Ramos said:

“I think we’re really better than that, [Cease] had it going on today. I think we could have done a better job just attacking the zone, just being aggressive.”

The Giants continue to be on the wrong side of history this season, This marks their ninth time being shutout this season, only the San Diego Padres have more (10) across Major League Baseball. Wednesday also marked the longest the team has ever gone without a hit in the history of Oracle Park.

Up next

The Giants open a four-game series against the Colorado Rockies before the All-Star break. The two sides met last weekend in Denver, with Colorado taking two of three. First pitch Thursday is set for 6:45 p.m.

All-Star Notebook

For Webb, the start Wednesday sets himself up to get some work in the 96th Midsummer Classic and his Giants manager Tony Vitello would like to see him get that opportunity:

“[I’m] a little hopeful for him that he gets an inning. I think it aligns fairly well for him and it’d be exciting to get to watch him of course. I think it works out as conveniently as it can.”

Verlander announces retirement

Former Giants pitcher Justin Verlander announced he will retire at the end of the 2026 season. Over a 21-year career, Verlander won three Cy Young Awards, an American League MVP award and AL Rookie of the Year honors in 2006. He is a two-time World Series champion with the Houston Astros, in 2017 and 2022.

While Verlander won’t be remembered for his time in San Francisco, he made an impact on members of the pitching staff during his one season. Blue Jays reliever Tyler Rogers shared a clubhouse with Verlander for half of the 2025 season, and Giants left-hander Robbie Ray was his teammate twice — as a Detroit rookie in 2014 and again in San Francisco last season.

Tyler Rogers, now a relief pitcher for Toronto, shared a clubhouse with Verlander for half of the 2025 season and looks back fondly on those months:

“To be able to tell my sons that I got to play with him, be a teammate with him, is really cool. He was gracious, he took me and a few guys to dinner a bunch of times, telling us stories of his career.”

Giants pitcher Robbie Ray had two different stints as a Verlander teammate. In 2014, as a rookie for the Detroit Tigers, and last season in San Francisco. Ray said:

“First meeting him in Detroit, I was a rookie, so a little bit different dynamic but he was great. Taught me a lot of things, how to be a major league baseball player. When he came over here, we’re both deeper into our careers and it was kinda fun to have that connection as well and get to spend more time with him off the field. It was just really fun.” 

Ray went on to call Verlander one of the best pitchers of his generation and believes he will be a first ballot Hall of Famer.