Cecil flirts with perfect game as Blue Jays top Indians
5/4/2010CLEVELAND — Brett Cecil took a perfect game into the seventh inning for the Toronto Blue Jays and settled for a 5-1 win over the Cleveland Indians on Monday night.
The left-hander allowed one hit over eight innings, striking out a career-high 10.
Cecil (2-1) lost the perfect game when he walked Grady Sizemore with one out in the seventh. He then walked Shin-Soo Choo but came back to strike out Austin Kearns before Jhonny Peralta ruined the no-hitter and shutout with one swing. Peralta lined a 2-2 pitch to left field, scoring Sizemore to get Cleveland within 4-1.
Cecil was seeking to pitch only the 17th perfect game since 1900 and the first in Cleveland since the Indians' Len Barker did it against Toronto on May 15, 1982.