Dylan Cease not sensational, but Blue Jays top Boston in Rutschman's Red Sox debut

Дата публикации: 12-08-2026 02:18:43

Spencer Miles worked around a walk to record his first big-league save.

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Dylan Cease has been on quite the run, putting himself in the running for the AL Cy Young Award.

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Tuesday night, he looked like a run-of-the-mill starter, which is a far cry from the recent stretch of high-end performance, including a complete game shutout of the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox fielded an almost identical roster in the second game of a four-game series at Rogers Centre on Tuesday night, the big addition being the recent trade acquisition of Adley Rutschman, who nearly took Cease deep on a ball he pulled down the right-field line that barely went foul.

Cease wasn’t as fortunate when facing Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu, who each went deep.

Cease entered the night having pitched 22.0 scoreless innings.

His last earned run allowed came in a home start against Tampa Bay on July 20, when the Rays touched Cease for two homers.

There’s so much to like about Cease, who began his outing Tuesday by recording two strikeouts in a 14-pitch first inning.

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That was the extent of Cease’s highlight on this night.

At least his offence picked him up as both teams battled, the hitting infinitely better than Monday, though the Jays didn’t mind because they prevailed 2-1 that night.

Cease went five innings before call-up Chase Lee started the sixth, inducing a key double-play ball.

Toronto’s bullpen came up big in the series opener, and the club’s relievers were asked again to step up.

Just enough offence when hits were required in clutch moments, very good defence and even better pitching, especially from the bullpen, the ideal winning formula that allowed the Jays to topple the Red Sox, 5-3.

Spencer Miles has been used in leverage, but at no point has he been asked to save a game until Tuesday.

Miles was given some room for error after Myles Straw provided an add-on run in the eighth with an RBI double.

And it helped as Miles worked around a walk to record his first big-league save.

The following are three takeaways on a night the Jays won their ninth game in their past 13 to improve their overall record to 58-63, while the loss was Boston’s fourth in a row as its record dropped to 64-55.

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VLAD JR. COMES CLOSE

As long as Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s homerless streak at Rogers Centre continues, does it really matter how close he comes to going yard when the end result is a long out?

Andres Gimenez has proven to be a better hitter in the clutch, and his defence has been very good.

A clutch situation was presented to Vlad Jr. in the third inning, but he took a called third strike at the knees for the inning’s final out.

In his first at-bat, he had drilled a ball to straight-away centre, but it was caught at the wall.

Eventually and hopefully for fans of the club, Vlad Jr. will hit a homer at home.

It has been almost one calendar year when Vlad Jr. last recorded a home dinger.

Even when he tries his best, things don’t go right for Vlad Jr.

When the Jays tied the game in the fifth, he tried to stretch a single into a double, but was thrown out at second base.

In his final at-bat on the night, he flew out to centre to give him a 1-for-4 night.

McADOO THE RIGHT THING

Charles McAdoo was in left field in the hours leading up to first pitch Tuesday, a sure sign he would be starting in the outfield as the Jays were under the belief that Kazuma Okamoto would be back at third base.

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For the second game in a row, Okamoto was scratched from the starting lineup because of a knee contusion he suffered in Philadelphia when he took a foul tip off his leg.

For the second game in a row, McAdoo was back at the hot corner.

At the plate, he was looking to build on his results Monday, when he went deep in his first game since he was called up earlier in the day.

Against Red Sox starter Patrick Sandoval, McAdoo hit leadoff.

A big moment arrived in the fifth inning, with runners at second and third and one out.

His sacrifice fly cashed in a runner as the Jays came within one run of the BoSox.

Situational hitting has been an issue for most of the season until this recent stretch when the Jays have been playing much better.

Brett Bateman followed McAdoo and tied the game on a sharply hit ball into centre to give him his second run batted in.

The one-two punch in the order gave the Jays a lift.

Combined, the two were playing in their 15th big-league games, including Bateman in his fifth.

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RULE OF THUMB

So much time wasted amid so much confusion, but lost in Monday’s seventh-inning ruling that ultimately led to Boston scoring its lone run was the simple fact that the Jays won a game.

The other news of far greater importance was the loss of starter Jameson Taillon (right forearm tendinitis), who went four scoreless innings in his home debut with the club.

When Max Scherzer was a rookie with Arizona, baseball’s oxymoronic fourth-out rule came into play,

During his days managing in the minors, John Schneider witnessed this oddity.

Better communication to the many confused fans in attendance and watching on TV would have been in order, but the actual ruling was correct, even though it took forever to sift through the chaos.

Why such a rule even exists remains the big question.

It’s baseball is a term used often and daily when sizing up every aspect of the game, good, bad and indifferent.

It’s time baseball correctly addresses this four-out quirky rule by simply eliminating it.

Up Next

Jose Soriano was decent Saturday in his debut with the Jays in Philadelphia when he pitched into the fifth inning; he gave up three walks, but the right-hander gave his team a chance as the Jays would win the game; Wednesday night (7:07 p.m. first pitch), he will make his Toronto debut in a much-anticipated outing; Boston will counter with left-hander Ranger Suarez.

fzicarelli@postmedia.com

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