Cease (10-5) earned the win against the Guardians on Wednesday, allowing four hits while striking out four batters across six scoreless frames. He did not issue a walk.
Cease's streak of seven-plus strikeouts ended Wednesday at 19 starts, one shy from tying Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling for the MLB single-season record. Nevertheless, it was another strong outing from Cease, who needed only 83 pitches (56 strikes) to get through six innings, which was the first time since May 24 against the Pirates that he tossed less than 90 pitches. That's a positive sign for the Blue Jays, who figure to use Cease as much as possible down the stretch in an effort to reach the playoffs. He'll take a 2.25 ERA and 1.04 WHIP over 156.1 innings into his next start, which is lined up for next week on the road against the Athletics in what is shaping up to be a two-start week for the AL Cy Young candidate.