After carrying a no-hitter into the ninth inning of his final begin, Bowden Francis will take the mound for the Toronto Blue Jays within the finale of a four-game sequence towards the host Boston Crimson Sox on Thursday.
Francis (7-3, 4.02 ERA) held the Los Angeles Angels hitless for eight innings in a 3-1 Toronto win on Saturday, shedding his bid for the second no-hitter in Blue Jays historical past on Taylor Ward’s leadoff homer within the ninth.
The 28-year-old notched a career-high 12 strikeouts en path to his third straight win and can purpose to proceed the streak in his first profession begin towards Boston, which has received back-to-back video games within the sequence after a 3-0 win Wednesday.
Francis has three profession aid appearances towards the Crimson Sox, tossing 2 2/3 scoreless innings.
“He is battled for lots of years and has gotten up to now, so I did not need to take something away from him,” Blue Jays supervisor John Schneider stated, reflecting on Francis’ final outing. “(Pitching coach) Pete (Walker) and I had been on the identical web page. It was his till he gave up a success.”
Francis has labored 22 innings throughout his previous three begins, going 3-0 whereas placing out 27 and permitting simply 5 hits, two runs and three walks.
He gave up 12 runs in his first 8 1/3 frames of the season — his first two profession begins.
“Everyone knows that at the start of the season, issues weren’t going his manner,” Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. stated. “The final 4 or 5 outings, he is been unbelievable. (Saturday) was unbelievable.”
Boston obtained its personal stellar pitching efficiency on Wednesday, as Brayan Bello labored eight innings for the primary time in his profession, permitting simply two hits and one stroll whereas placing out 9.
The Blue Jays had been shut down by Bello of their second loss after a five-game win streak, although Addison Barger’s double moved his hitting streak to 6 straight video games. The crew’s streak of 16 video games in a row with a house run got here to an finish, nevertheless.
After Bello capped his sensational evening, Tyler O’Neill delivered a clutch two-run dwelling run within the backside of the eighth — his fifth in 9 video games this season towards Toronto — to present the Crimson Sox insurance coverage.
In any other case, Wilyer Abreu’s first-inning RBI single stood tall.
“That was enjoyable to look at,” Crimson Sox supervisor Alex Cora stated. “(Bello’s) finest outing within the massive leagues. Towards a crew that has given him hassle, he was in a position to maintain them off stability.”
Seeking to observe up Bello’s dominant outing shall be Kutter Crawford (8-11, 4.19), who has tough-luck losses in his previous two begins. He allowed simply 5 runs on 5 hits over a mixed 10 1/3 innings towards Arizona and Baltimore.
Crawford held the Diamondbacks to 5 innings of two-run ball on Saturday. The road seems to be stable, however it was not sufficient for the righty himself.
“For essentially the most half, I felt like I competed fairly nicely — each single pitch. I simply wasn’t within the zone sufficient,” he stated.
Crawford is 1-1 with a 4.26 ERA in 5 appearances (4 begins) towards Toronto.
Earlier than Wednesday, the one different Boston starter to pitch a minimum of eight innings this season was Tanner Houck in an April 17 shutout of Cleveland.
The Crimson Sox have totaled 13 shutouts, tied for essentially the most in MLB.
–Area Degree Media
