Dylan Cease struck out 10 batters over seven innings Friday night, leading the Toronto Blue Jays to a 2-0 shutout victory against the visiting Los Angeles Angels in the series opener.
Cease (3-1) scattered five hits without issuing a walk in his second win over the Angels this season, giving Toronto a 3-1 edge in the season series. He previously fanned 12 over five innings in Toronto’s 5-2 win at Anaheim on April 20.
Louis Varland notched his fifth save of the season with a scoreless ninth inning, snapping the Blue Jays’ four-game losing streak.
Toronto pushed across both runs in the third inning against left-hander Reid Detmers (1-3). George Springer led off with a single, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. walked with one out, and Kazuma Okamoto lined an RBI single to center field. Daulton Varsho walked, and Ernie Clement added a sacrifice fly to right.
Cease retired the first nine batters he faced, striking out five, before Zach Neto singled to lead off the fourth. Mike Trout grounded into a double play, and Nolan Schanuel singled to second base, advancing on a throwing error by Clement. Jorge Soler grounded out to end the frame.
In the bottom of the fourth, a walk and catcher’s interference put two on with one out. Detmers struck out Myles Straw on his 96th pitch before Jose Fermin took over on the mound and escaped the inning on a lineout from Guerrero to shortstop.
Detmers allowed two runs on two hits and six walks, striking out three over 3 2/3 innings. He also took the loss against Toronto on April 20.
The Angels’ first extra-base hit came on Jo Adell’s double to center with two outs in the seventh, but Cease struck out Josh Lowe to end the inning.
Pinch hitter Vaughn Grissom opened the eighth against Jeff Hoffman with a double to left. Hoffman escaped the inning with a groundout, a popup, and a strikeout.
Former Blue Jay Alek Manoah made his first MLB appearance since May 29, 2024, pitching the bottom of the eighth. The right-hander, who underwent elbow surgery, received a mixed reaction from the crowd but tossed a perfect inning with one strikeout.
