I won’t bury the lede: the Toronto Blue Jays have 13 near no-hitters in franchise history. 13 times, a starting pitcher has taken the mound in the ninth inning with a chance to make history, only to leave one, two, or three outs away from mortality.

Dylan Cease was the latest Blue Jay to join that list, becoming the ninth Blue Jays starting pitcher to flirt with a no-hitter. With 11 strikeouts and three walks under his belt, it seemed for a moment like Cease might join Dave Stieb to throw the only no-hitter in Blue Jays history.

In many ways, these near-misses haunt the memories of Blue Jays fans alike, as most can recall at least one of these games that nearly resulted in a no-hitter. For all you Blue Jays masochists, let’s assemble all of them in one place for convenient viewing.

Hat tip to MilkeesPress.com for the research on all these Blue Jays near no-hitters.

Near the end of the 1982 Blue Jays campaign, workhorse starter Jim Clancy took the mound for his 40th, yes, 40th start of the year, which led the American League in 1982. Despite racking up 266.2 innings by year’s end, he wasn’t running on fumes when he faced the Minnesota Twins on September 28, 1982.

Clancy cruised through the first eight frames, only to give up a leadoff single to Randy Bush in the top of the ninth inning. Clancy finished the game anyway, collecting his 11th complete game of the season, three outs away from picking up a no-hitter.

Another innings-eater in franchise history, left-hander Jimmy Key took on the Detroit Tigers on June 6, 1985, in one of his best starts as a Toronto Blue Jay. Key held the Tigers off the board for the first eight innings, allowing a leadoff single to start the ninth inning.

It didn’t matter as Key got the final three outs, then came back out for the 10th inning, put up another shutout inning, and the Blue Jays won the game in the next half inning courtesy of a walk-off home run by Buck Martinez.

You could write a book about all the heartache Dave Stieb experienced in a Blue Jays uniform (actually, he did; “Tomorrow, I’ll Be Perfect”). Incredibly, Stieb lost four no-hitters in the ninth inning before finally securing his long-awaited no-no on September 2, 1990.

Stieb’s first kick at the can was a game on August 24, 1985, against the Chicago White Sox. Facing the top of the order, the White Sox came out swinging, as leadoff hitter Rudy Law went deep to break up the no-hitter with three outs to go. Then, Bryan Little went yard as the very next batter, and after a pitching change, the White Sox hit their third consecutive home run.

During his final two starts of the 1988 season, Stieb was one out away from recording a no-hitter in consecutive games. The first was broken up by Julio Franco: a single up the middle. The very next game, Stieb carried a no-no into the ninth inning. It was a single by pinch-hitter Jim Traber that prevented history from being made.

But the most heartbreaking near-miss of all was Stieb’s run at a perfect game, which happened on August 4, 1989, against the New York Yankees at SkyDome. After striking out the first two batters in the ninth, all Stieb had to do was retire Yankees centre fielder Roberto Kelly to secure the perfect game.

On a 2-0 pitch, Kelly drove a double into left field, ending Stieb’s attempt at a perfect game. In four years, Stieb had four near no-hitters, two of which happened in the span of six days.

I know what you’re thinking: David Cone was a Blue Jay in 1995? He was the team’s prized trade deadline acquisition at the 1992 trade deadline, but he came back to the Jays via a trade from the Kansas City Royals at the start of the 1995 campaign.

Against the Texas Rangers on June 17, 1995, Cone was masterful until he wasn’t. The lefty retired the first batter of the ninth, but it all came unravelled as a pair of singles, a walk, and an error took the game from an all-timer to just a really good start for Cone. He finished the day two outs away from a no-hitter, but with no earned runs on the board, and seven strikeouts.

Considering the long and arduous journey Roy Halladay took to becoming one of the greatest pitchers of his generation, this game might be his origin story. In just his second start in the big leagues, Doc took the Detroit Tigers to the very edge of infamy on September 27, 1999.

Pinch hitter Bobby Higginson came into the game and deposited a solo home run into the left field bullpen, which ended Halladay’s no-hitter. In an eerie scene, which Blue Jays pitcher caught Higginson’s home run? None other than Stieb. Nobody knew heartache like him, so Stieb could relate to what Halladay experienced that day.

It would be a while before the next Blue Jays starting pitcher came within earshot of a no-hitter, but eight years later, the mutton-chopped man himself, Dustin McGowan, narrowly went the distance against the Colorado Rockies on June 24, 2007.

Who was it who broke up the no-no? That would be Rockies DH Jeff Baker, who was hitting in the number eight spot in the lineup that day. McGowan regrouped and collected the next three outs to finish the game and pick up the complete game one-hitter.

By Game Score, you will not find a more dominant start by a Blue Jays starting pitcher than Brandon Morrow’s masterpiece against the Tampa Bay Rays on August 8, 2010. He struck out an astonishing 17 batters, which is one shy of the franchise record for most Ks in a game (that belongs to Roger Clemens, who struck out 18 batters on August 25, 1998).

Morrow’s no-hit bid was especially brutal to watch at the end, because it was a bouncing ball that trickled away from Blue Jays second baseman Aaron Hill. Had he fielded it cleanly, he might have thrown out Evan Longoria at first, but the ball skipped into right field, ending Morrow’s flirtation with a no-no.

Up until now, there was only one Blue Jays starting pitcher who knew the pain of having a no-hitter slip through their fingers multiple times, but Bowden Francis is the second player on this list with multiple no-hit bids lost in the ninth inning.

Given the calibre of pitchers on this list, Francis’ name might be the most unexpected of the group, but if you saw his second-half run in 2024, he was pitching like an ace. The first of Francis’ near no-nos came on August 24, 2024, at home against the Los Angeles Angels.

Taylor Ward ended the bid with a solo home run to lead off the ninth inning, but Francis put the bow on a one-hit, one-run affair. A handful of starts later on September 11, 2024, Francis had the New York Mets eating out of the palm of his hand for the first eight innings. Francisco Lindor put the Mets on the board with a leadoff home run in the ninth.

Cease already has a no-hitter on his resume as a member of the San Diego Padres, but it really seemed like he’d become the second Blue Jay to completely stymie the opposition. San Francisco Giants leadoff hitter Helios Ramos tagged Cease with a single up the middle, but Cease had 11 strikeouts on the day, wrapping up his best outing of the first half.

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