The Toronto Blue Jays got the full Dylan Cease experience on Saturday in a 7-4 loss against the Texas Rangers.

Cease needed 107 pitches to get through 4.2 innings, surrendering four earned runs on four hits. He walked five but struck out 10.

High pitch counts, high walk totals and high strikeout totals have always been the calling card for Cease, who signed a seven-year, $210 million deal in the offseason.

The 30-year-old is now 4-4 with a 3.02 ERA. He has 128 strikeouts in 83.1 innings, making him, once again, one of the top strikeout artists in the sport. He's second in baseball in the category, behind only Jacob Misiorowski of the Milwaukee Brewers. The kicker? He missed 15 days on the injured list and is still second.

His performance on Saturday also put him in some historic company. As noted by StatsCentre, Cease's 128 strikeouts are now tied for third-most in American League history for a pitcher's first 15 games with an AL franchise. He trails only Chris Sale's 146 with the 2017 Red Sox and Gerrit Cole's 138 with the 2018 Astros. He's tied Nolan Ryan, who had 128 with the 1989 Texas Rangers.

Any time you can put yourself into a category of history with Ryan, you've done something special.

Cease has five straight seasons of 200 strikeouts or more and he's well on his way again, however, he has to work on his efficiency. It's something he spoke about in the offseason, but hasn't fully translated. He has 43 walks in those 83+ innings, meaning he averages more than a walk every two frames.

High pitch counts limit his ability to go deep into games and to give the team exactly what it needs, which are performances that give the Jays a chance to win and limit exposure to the bullpen.

After being named a starter for the American League in the All-Star Game this summer, infielder Ernie Clement delivered a simple message to Blue Jays fans. Clement is hitting .297 with seven homers, and his 20 doubles lead the American League as well (entering play on Sunday).

The Blue Jays enter play on Sunday at 39-44 and in third place in the American League East. They'll look to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Rangers at 1:37 p.m. ET. Texas is 41-42 and just 0.5 games back of the Seattle Mariners in the American League West.

Shane Bieber will pitch for Toronto while Kumar Rocker pitches for Texas.

First pitch is 1:37 p.m. ET.

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