Dylan Cease Dominates Angels As Toronto Wins 2-0 Pitching Duel To Open LA’s Road trip

The Los Angeles Angels dropped a tough 2-0 game to the Toronto Blue Jays, as Blue Jays starter Dylan Cease shut down the Halos for seven innings and a pair of relievers picked him up to complete the shutout. The game wound up being a tight pitcher’s duel, but not because of Angels starter Reid Detmers. He lost his control early and often, as he walked six hitters in just 3-2/3 innings.

The Blue Jays did score two runs in the third on a single by Kazuma Okamoto and a sacrifice fly from Ernie Clement, and based on Detmers’ command issues it looked like it might be a long night for the Halos. But the Angels were able to minimize the damage by getting Detmers out in time, and the bullpen picked him up nicely as relievers Jose Fermin, Brent Suter, Kirby Yates and Alek Manoah also posted zeroes to keep the score at 2-0. Unfortunately for the Angels, Jays starter Dylan Cease was dealing, as Cease struck out ten and scattered five hits in seven innings.

The Angels came close to scoring when Jeff Hoffman took over for Cease in the eighth, but they stranded Vaughn Grissom at third after his leadoff double. This game featured the appearance of both Yates and Alek Manoah, as both returned from minor league rehab assignments. Manoah volunteered to provide innings out of the bullpen, despite the fact that he’s been a starter for most of his career.

Yates and Manoah each threw a scoreless inning, which represents hope for a bullpen that’s been a disaster for the last couple of weeks. The Toronto bullpen was also excellent in this one, though. Hoffman locked down the Halos after allowing the Grissom double, and Louis Varland  came on to pitch an easy 1-2-3 ninth to get his fifth save of the season.