Dylan Cease threw a one-hitter and George Springer hit a three-run home run as the visiting Toronto Blue Jays beat the Boston Red Sox 6-0 Saturday.
The teams will play the rubber match of the series on Sunday. Boston is 11-2 in its last 13 games against the American League East and has won 16 of its last 18.
Cease (7-5), who took a no-hitter into the ninth against the San Francisco Giants on July 8, only allowed four Red Sox hitters to reach base.
He was perfect until walking Caleb Durbin with two outs in the fifth and didn’t allow a hit through five innings.
The complete game was the first for Toronto this season and the 12th in the majors. Seven of the complete games have been shutouts.
It was Cease’s fourth career complete game and his fourth career shutout. The right-hander walked three and struck out 12 on a career-high 120 pitches.
Boston starter Sonny Gray (12-2) gave up five runs on 10 hits in five innings. The right-hander didn’t walk anyone and struck out three on 75 pitches.
The Blue Jays took control in the third when they used six straight hits to score five runs with two outs.
Nathan Lukes started the rally with a double into the left-field corner and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. lined a single to left.
Kazuma Okamoto kept it going by singling off the glove of third baseman Durbin and Springer made the Red Sox pay by homering just over the Green Monster in left to make it 4-0.
Varsho continued the inning with a single to center and he scored when Ernie Clement doubled off the base of the left-field wall to go up 5-0.
Gray had been 10-0 since coming off the injured list in mid-May. This was his worst outing since giving up five earned runs in four innings in a 6-0 loss to Minnesota on April 14.
Cease, pitching on the second anniversary of his no-hitter for the Padres, didn’t give up a hit until Andruw Monasterio doubled to lead off the sixth.
Monasterio did not advance, however, as Cease induced Connor Wong to ground out, struck out Anthony Seigler and retired Ceddanne Rafaela with a pop out to shallow center.
