Blue Jays pull Kevin Gaussman from hitless game after just five innings

Updated 4:33 PM EST: According to the Blue Jays, Gausman did not participate in today’s game due to lower back tightness.

Updated 16:18 EST: Josh Smith singled on Genesis Cabrera’s first pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning. No-hitter over. No update on Gausman.

The Toronto Blue Jays and Texas Rangers will face off in an afternoon game on Thursday. Both clubs have nearly identical win-loss records this year and both have fallen far short of preseason expectations.

On the mound for the 72-80 Blue Jays is right-hander Kevin Gausman, who was widely expected to be the club’s ace heading into the regular season. The veteran pitched well but wasn’t the clear leader of the pitching staff as initially expected.

Gausman looked like the ace he was expected to be in Thursday’s game, throwing 58 balls (38 of them strikes), walking one batter and not allowing a single hit in five innings of work.

Then came the bottom of the sixth inning, and the recently reinstated Dillon Tate entered the game for the Blue Jays. Gausman’s day ended after just five innings and an extremely low pitch count. To Tate’s credit, he entered the game and tore through the Rangers with 12 pitches that resulted in two strikeouts.

For now, the no-hitter remains intact. However, Blue Jays fans will have to hold their breath as to why exactly Gausman was pulled from the field during what was, so far, a historic performance.