White Sox ace Dylan Cease loses no-hitter with 2 outs in ninth inning

Chicago White Sox star Dylan Cease was unhittable for 8 2/3 innings. Unfortunately, that wasn't quite enough.

The Cy Young candidate took a no-hitter into the ninth inning on Saturday against the Minnesota Twins, but lost it with two outs when he faced the American League batting average leader, Luis Arraez. The All-Star infielder pulled a simple line drive into right field to end the bid for history.

Sometimes, it's the person you most suspect of killing the no-hitter.

Cease would at least get the shutout one batter later by striking out Kyle Garlick. He finished the game with nine scoreless innings, seven strikeouts, two walks and, sadly, one hit allowed.

Per MLB.com's Sarah Langs, Cease joins Miles Mikolas of the St. Louis Cardinals to become the first pair of players to lose a no-hitter on the final out in the same season since 2015. Mikolas was even closer than Cease, needing only one more strike to put the game away.

Had Cease completed the no-hitter, it would have been the 21st in White Sox history and the fourth this season. It would also have been the second individual no-hitter this year.

Saturday's start was the most impressive performance yet for Cease this season, who has broken out with numbers that have him squarely in the Cy Young race, though he is likely still behind Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander.

As of Saturday, Cease had thrown 156 innings with a 2.13 ERA, a 1.08 WHIP and 197 strikeouts across 27 starts. He's been the best player on a disappointing 67-66 White Sox team, which jumped to the good side of .500 with the win.