Jays’ Dylan Cease bids to bolster playoff chances, resume in finale vs. Yankees

Cy Young Award candidate Dylan Cease will aim to help the host Toronto Blue Jays complete a three-game sweep of the New York Yankees on Sunday afternoon.

Toronto followed a 3-1 win on Friday with a 4-1 decision Saturday to clinch a series victory.

Cease (7-5, 2.40 ERA) will provide a challenge for the Yankees, who are batting .203 since the All-Star break.

The right-hander has a good chance to improve Toronto’s position in the crowded race for the third wild card in the American League — the Jays are only a half-game out — while enhancing his credentials for the AL Cy Young Award.

The Yankees can look to the past for some encouragement. Cease sports just a 1-3 record with a 5.84 ERA against them in seven career appearances (all starts), including a 1-0 record with a 9.00 ERA in one outing this season.

The Yankees will start Ryan Weathers (5-7, 3.69 ERA), who has had problems with the Blue Jays. The left-hander is 1-1 with a 6.75 ERA in three career starts against them, including two this season in which he is 0-1 with a 10.24 ERA.

The Yankees were held to four hits by seven Toronto pitchers on Saturday. Their run came in the second inning against Ricky Tiedemann, who made his major league debut.

“Maybe shake up the order a little bit here and there,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

New York’s Cy Young candidate, Cam Schlittler, was the victim of a lack of run support. He allowed one run in 5 1/3 innings in a no-decision.

The Yankees’ base running was questionable at best. George Lombard Jr. failed to slide into second base to avoid the tag on the second half of a double play after the out was recorded at first. Also, Heliot Ramos did not run hard to first base on a bobbled sixth-inning groundout.

Most troubling was the team’s two singles after the second inning.

“Broken record,” Boone said. “Obviously, we know we’ve got to be better. This is who we’ve got. These are our guys, and I continue to believe wholeheartedly, looking at these names, all capable of doing really big things for us. But we’ve got to go do it. We can talk all about that, but we’ve got to go make it happen.”

Toronto opened a seven-game homestand by winning three of four games from the Boston Red Sox this week.

“I like the fact that we’ve won the last two series at home against division opponents,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “There’s still a whole lot of baseball to go, and there’s so much action going on with five or six teams. Just keep the foot on the gas and keep trying to stack wins.”

Toronto is without struggling first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who went on the seven-day concussion injured list Saturday after a collision at third base on Friday.

Charles McAdoo played at first base for the Blue Jays on Saturday. He doubled in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, then added an RBI single in the eighth.

“We like his profile,” Schneider said. “He can play anywhere on the corners, in the outfield, and he’s got a lot of energy.”

Pinch hitter Ernie Clement singled to start the seventh and scored on McAdoo’s hit.

“It’s going to take everybody,” Schneider said. “You’re trying to create some traffic and get the big hit. (It is) how this roster is built, guys knowing when they’re going to be in there, knowing what they’re going to be asked to do and then not trying to do anything other than that.”

–Field Level Media