Blue Jays’ Dylan Cease throws one-hit shutout against red-hot Red Sox

Pitcher flirts with no-hitter for second time this month

Published Jul 25, 2026  •  Last updated 11 minutes ago  •  4 minute read

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Dylan Cease reacts after giving up his first hit of the game during the sixth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on July 25, 2026 in Boston. Photo by Winslow Townson /Getty Images

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At least for one game, the Blue Jays looked like the team that went as deep as any MLB club could possibly go without winning it all last season.

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One game does not mask all the failings and deficiencies that have plagued this year’s edition, but one game can inject some long-awaited life and belief.

As well as things went Saturday at Boston’s Fenway Park, the only remaining drama and area of interest will involve MLB’s Aug. 3 trade deadline and how active the Jays will be heading into the day of reckoning.

Dylan Cease isn’t going anywhere, that much is certain, once again flirting with a no-hit bid against the hottest team in the major leagues.

Of all the unknowns heading into Aug. 3, Cease is among the very few known assets that will form the nucleus of the 2027 edition of the Blue Jays, whenever next season begins, as a new labour agreement must be negotiated.

Cease retired the first 14 Boston batters he faced before the Red Sox got their first base-runner via a walk.

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The only hit he allowed came in the sixth inning on a leadoff double by Red Sox shortstop Andruw Monasterio.

On July 8, Cease had a no-hit bid ended on a leadoff single in the ninth inning against the host San Francisco Giants, who aren’t a good team.

The Red Sox happen to be good, but Cease was elite, one start after he looked normal in a loss to the visiting Tampa Bay Rays.

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Cease looked like the front-runner for this year’s Cy Young Award when he began the ninth inning, aiming to put the finishing touches on a complete-game shutout.

The frame began with Cease recording his 10th strikeout followed by a walk, the third issued by the right-hander.

Strikeout No. 11 arrived via a successful ABS challenge.

On his 120th pitch, Cease recorded his 12th K, also via an ABS challenge initiated by Boston that confirmed the strike.

A big-time pitching performance, a rare show of offensive fireworks, and the Jays were well deserving of their 6-0 win.

The following are three takeaways on a day the Blue Jays, who had fallen 10 games under .500, improved their record to 48-57, a day when the Jays recorded six successive two-out hits in the third inning when the floodgates opened.

VLAD JR. PREACHING PATIENCE

Disgruntled fans of the beleaguered and underachieving Blue Jays will not take too kindly to the pre-game words expressed by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. when he huddled with the media at Fenway Park.

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“Be patient,” began the club’s franchise face. “I know things are not going the way we want it, but I can promise all our fans every time we go out there we take the field to win the game. We’re humans and sometimes things don’t happen the way you want it.”

No one, not even the most vocal detractor, would have thought Vlad Jr. would go homerless at home with the calendar about to flip to August.

Because of his $500-million contract, he will bear the brunt of fans’ criticism, not only for the club’s underwhelming record, but also his sub-par numbers at the plate.

Realistically speaking, even if the Jays can reel off wins, which they haven’t done this season, the club’s chances of making the playoffs are slim.

Vlad Jr. went 3-for-4 in the win and drove in two runs.

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SPRINGER FINDING HIS SWING

In baseball, players with 10 years of service, including the last five successive seasons with the same team, hold all the cards when trades are being engineered or discussed.

Such players have the ultimate power to veto transactions, a right George Springer has earned, knowing his time in Toronto could be about to end.

He has swung the bat well of late and given his post-season pedigree, Springer would be welcome on a competing team in need of experience.

Only once has Springer played in the field this season, but his right-handed bat at DH is sure to draw interest.

After Red Sox starter Sonny Gray needed only eight pitches to retire the Jays in order in the first inning, the righty was rocked by the visitors in a five-run third inning.

One of the sharply hit balls off Gray was launched by Springer, who went deep for a three-run blast, his 11th homer of the season.

Boston, it’s no secret, needs a bat.

Springer, coincidentally, grew up in Connecticut.

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THREE-PEAT

In the series opener on Friday, Kazuma Okamoto went deep for a three-run belt as the Jays nearly came back from a 4-0 deficit before losing 6-4.

One game later, Springer goes deep for a three-run dinger to put the exclamation point on a five-run third inning.

It was precisely two weeks ago when the Jays most recently had produced a four-run inning.

Everyone, by now, is well aware of the club’s inability to produce runs, and it’s lack of slug.

At least at Fenway Park, a venue where the Jays have done well in recent years, scoring three runs on one swing hasn’t been an issue heading into Sunday’s series rubber match.

UP NEXT

Kevin Gausman is scheduled to make the start for the Blue Jays, an outing that will have all kinds of undertones depending on what plays out in the days leading up to the trade deadline; strip away the emotions and the fact remains Gausman has not been good since a very good start to the season and he isn’t getting any better, having been roughed up by the Tampa Bay Rays in his last start when the right-hander gave up four earned runs on nine hits across 3.1 innings.

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