Dylan Cease was far from his best self against the Athletics, allowing five runs in five innings pitched during the Toronto Blue Jays' 6-5 defeat Monday evening.
Cease's velocity was notably down throughout his outing, but the Blue Jays' ace made no excuses for his subpar performance.
"I think it's just late in the season and I've got to kind of roll with what I've got and try to figure out how I can maybe maximize that a little bit better," Cease told reporters postgame, including Sportsnet's David Singh.
Cease was "pretty disappointed" with his command and acknowledged his inability to shut down the Athletics on the basepaths despite having a pregame conversation with manager John Schneider about it.
Henry Bolte and Zack Gelof stole two bases apiece and eventually scored on each occasion.
"I wish I had a little more focus on that," Cease said. "Looking back, I kind of just let it happen. ... Not letting them on base would have been nice, but no, they definitely took advantage. And it's something that I know going forward I'm going to have to really focus on and make sure I know what other teams do."
Toronto signed Cease to a seven-year, $210-million contract during the offseason. The right-hander, who's among the leading candidates for the Cy Young Award, ranks second in the American League in strikeouts (227) and ERA (2.40).
The Blue Jays sit one game back of the Cleveland Guardians for the AL's final wild-card spot.
