CLEVELAND - CLEVELAND — Another day, another Blue Jays pitcher trying to do a Dave Stieb.
Stieb, of course, is the lone Jays pitcher to ever twirl a no-hitter in club history but the way things are going this season it shouldn’t be long before he has a roommate in the record book to match his Sept. 2, 1990 pitching gem.
This game it was Brett Cecil’s turn to make a run at a no-no.
In the season opener, Shaun Marcum carried a no-hitter into the seventh, then on April 13 against the White Sox, Ricky Romero lost his no-hit bid in the eighth at Rogers Centre.
Monday night at Progressive Field, with the Cavaliers and the Celtics doing battle next door at Quicken Loans Arena, a dispirited crowd of 10,117 sat mostly in silence as Cecil did his thing.
This day his thing was something to behold as he carried a perfect game into the seventh but that dream went poof with a one-out walk to Grady Sizemore.
A second walk was followed by a strikeout and then on a 2-2 pitch to Cleveland’s Jhonny Peralta, an inside fastball wasn’t inside enough and an RBI line drive single to left ended the drama and the shutout just like that.
Cecil, who felt miserable due to a sinus headache, would have to settle for the win and a career-high 10 strikeouts over eight innings in the Jays 5-1 victory.
“I really wished he finished it off, he was great,” manager Cito Gaston said of Cecil. “That would have been nice. Every time he goes out there he just gets better all the time. He was just outstanding out there.”
Cecil’s line would read 10 strikeouts, two walks, one hit, one run. But it seemed better than that, if possible, as he had the Indians baffled and off-balance all night.
Cecil, by comparison, was as calm and as poised as he’s ever been.
“He’s been that way for a while,” Gaston said of his composure. “He’s shown that calmness, he’s shown that: ‘Hey listen, you’re going to have a tough time getting me out of here.’ And that’s good. I’m happy to see that with him.
“He’s a little bit more outgoing as far as before the game starts. He gives everybody a little bit of a first-pump before his starts.”
In the clubhouse, Cecil was as relaxed as he was on the mound.
“Baseball-wise it felt good, but I feel like s---, I had a little bit of a sinus infection,” Cecil said. “The game was great, man. I had a lot of fun. It was awesome.”
If at any time he felt some nerves, he never showed it.
“My head was too cloudy, too stuffed, I didn’t have time to be nervous,” he said. “I just wanted to stay the same every inning and just go pitch to pitch with these guys and for the most part I did that.
“I lost it a little bit in the seventh, walking two guys back to back.”
Like his first two starts, Cecil relied heavily on his changeup, a pitch he developed this spring.
“That was my money pitch tonight, I threw it a lot,” he said. “It got me out of a lot of jams. My two-seamer (fastball) was really good also tonight.”
What of the pitch that Peralta hit to end it?
“An inside fastball. Buck said he wanted (me) to throw a changeup once we got in the dugout but I was fine with throwing a fastball.
“I think I jammed him a little bit but he’s a strong guy so he just got enough of it to get over Gonzo’s head (Alex Gonzalez).”
His reaction?
“No big deal. One hit, one run, eight innings is not bad at all.”
Not too shabby indeed.
