Cease not perfect, therefore punch-less Padres lose to Blue Jays
May 20, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Dylan Cease (84) throws a pitch against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
Rogers Centre- Toronto, Ontario
Still licking their wounds after being swept by the Mariners at home over the weekend, the Padres traveled to Toronto to see if their luck would change on the road. Dylan Cease took the mound to try and swing momentum.
While Cease was solid but not spectacular, the Padres’ offense continues to be like the planet Mercury- devoid of all life.
With the discourse surrounding the Padres being their lack of success with runners in scoring position (0-for-21 against the Mariners), they had a chance to immediately rectify that in the top of the first. After a Luis Arraez one-out double, Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill flailed away, both striking out to end the threat.
Chris Bassitt mixed pitches well and kept San Diego hitters off-balance.
To make matters worse, the Blue Jays immediately compounded the issue with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. launching a solo blast in the bottom of the first.
It didn’t take much for this game to feel out of reach for the reeling Padres. Cease, by all accounts, pitched well. You take seven innings with three runs any day of the week. He continues his bounce-back stretch after a bad start to the season.
Dylan Cease's 2Ks in the 2nd.
5Ks thru 2. pic.twitter.com/nEpGZ0r4M5
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 20, 2025
Unfortunately, Cease didn’t throw a perfect game. And with how this Padres lineup looks right now, that was too much to overcome.
Anthony Santander, who was in a mighty slump himself, launched a line-drive homer to increase Toronto’s lead to 3-0 in the fifth inning.
And as the saying goes, “that’s all she wrote.” That’s all Toronto would get, and that’s all they needed. Wandy Peralta put together a scoreless eighth after Cease departed.
Still, it’s about the Padres’ lineup and their sheer ineptitude at the moment. They extended the hitless streak with runners in scoring position, which is now a spell of 0-for-24 dating back to the weekend. They hardly even threatened against three Blue Jays relievers after Bassitt left.
Overall, the offense mustered five hits, four of them singles. They left five runners on base and never even got a runner to third base. That just isn’t going to be good enough to win many games.
The Padres still have a shot at a series win, but that needs to start Wednesday in Toronto with Randy Vasquez on the mound.
Native of Escondido, CA. Lived in San Diego area for 20 years. Padres fan since childhood (mid-90s). I have been writing since 2014. I currently live near Seattle, WA and am married to a Seattle sports girl. I wore #19 on my high school baseball team for Tony Gwynn. I am a stats and sports history nerd. I attended BYU on the Idaho campus. I also love Star Wars.