Oracle Park came within one Heliot Ramos single of watching a visiting pitcher make history Wednesday night.
Toronto All-Star Dylan Cease carried a no-hitter into the ninth before Ramos broke it up with a leadoff single, the Giants’ lone hit in a 10-0 loss that wrapped up the series. Cease was one out away from the Blue Jays’ first no-hitter since Dave Stieb in 1990, but Ramos ended that bid on Cease’s 118th pitch, a 96.8-mph sinker that he shot back into play.
The bigger damage, though, was done long before that. Logan Webb was tagged for the first grand slam of his Giants career, and it came in a brutal five-run first inning that gave Cease all the breathing room he needed.
Toronto rookie Kazuma Okamoto, a 30-year-old MLB rookie, drove a 91.8-mph cutter off the right-field arcade’s metal facing for the slam, a call upheld after replay review. It was his 21st homer of the season and the first grand slam Webb has allowed in 82 home runs surrendered over his eight-year career.
Cease was sharp from the jump. He had a perfect game through 4 2/3 innings before Willy Adames drew a full-count walk, and he kept rolling after that.
Bryce Eldridge nearly spoiled the no-hit bid in the eighth, launching a 396-foot drive that Daulton Varsho hauled in at the center-field wall. Duane Kuiper summed up the moment on NBC Sports Bay Area: “Hit high … hit deep … and Varsho makes the catch!”
Cease then struck out Drew Gilbert and Drew Cavanaugh to finish the eighth with 11 strikeouts through 115 pitches.
The final inning still had a little suspense. A strong Toronto crowd, especially clustered behind the first-base dugout, rose as Cease came out for the ninth. But Ramos ended the no-hitter chase quickly, and former Giant Tyler Rogers came in to retire Luis Arraez, Casey Schmitt and Rafael Devers.
Webb’s night started in a nightmare and never fully recovered. He gave up soft singles to the first two hitters he faced, then walked George Springer.
Varsho followed with an RBI single that dropped in front of a sliding Jung Hoo Lee in right, and after a visit from pitching coach Justin Meccage, Okamoto unloaded on the next pitch. Webb did settle in after that, retiring the next 11 hitters and allowing just one hit over the next six innings, a two-out, full-count single by Nathan Lukes in the fifth.
But the Blue Jays kept adding on, helped by a Vlad Guerrero grounder that became Webb’s 13th error of the season by Adames.
The Giants had a couple of chances to get on the board and couldn’t cash in. Eldridge’s blast in the eighth was the loudest swing of the night, and Adames also came close with a two-out grounder up the middle in the seventh before Ernie Clement cut it off and threw him out.
Toronto wasn’t finished after Webb exited, either. Spencer Bivens entered in the eighth and nearly escaped a bases-loaded jam, but Devers’ second error of the game erased an inning-ending double play and helped bring in another run.
Adames then made a late throw on an RBI infield single by Andrés Giménez, pushing the deficit to 7-0. In the ninth, Ryan Walker issued a leadoff walk and then gave up back-to-back home runs to center field as the Blue Jays stretched the lead to 10-0.
The loss dropped the Giants to 38-54, their first time 16 games under .500 this season, and to 5-11 in Webb’s starts. Toronto improved to 44-49.
The Giants also left Wednesday without a listed starter for Thursday’s 6:45 p.m. series opener against Colorado, though Carson Whisenhunt appears likely to be promoted from Triple-A for what would be his second start of the season. After that, the projected starters are Robbie Ray on Friday at 7:15 p.m., Tyler Mahle on Saturday at 1:05 p.m. and Trevor McDonald on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. McDonald was hit hard Tuesday night, allowing 11 hits and eight runs in 2 1/3 innings in a 9-3 loss.
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