Blue Jays’ Bowden Francis loses another no-hit bid by allowing 9th-inning home run for the second time in 3 weeks

For the second time in three weeks, Blue Jays pitcher Bowden Francis fell agonizingly short of a no-hitter.

Francis pitched eight hitless innings against the New York Mets on Wednesday and returned to the mound in the ninth after throwing 108 pitches for a chance to make history. Francisco Lindor ruined it.

With Toronto leading 1-0, Lindor launched an 0-2 fastball into the right-field seats at Rogers Centre to open the inning and tie the game.

The solo homer ended Francis’ no-hit bid. It also cost him a chance to win. Francis’ day was over, and he left the game after 111 pitches that were ineligible to influence the decision.

The Mets stormed to the plate after breaking up the no-hit bid and added six runs before the half inning was over. New York then added five more runs off relievers Chad Green and Genesis Cabrera to take a 6-1 lead. The inning concluded with the Mets having batted in around 30 runs thanks to a flyout by Lindor in his second at-bat of the ninth.

The Blue Jays added a run in the bottom of the ninth, but the Mets held on for a 6-2 victory after allowing no hits in eight innings.

This sounds familiar to me

The scene was painfully reminiscent of one that played out less than three weeks ago. Francis returned to the mound on Aug. 24 after throwing 112 pitches in eight hitless innings against the Los Angeles Angels. That day, Taylor Ward homered to lead off Francis’ no-hitter in the ninth inning.

The Blue Jays are still searching for the franchise’s second no-hitter. Dave Stieb launched the first in 1990. Francis has come close to doing it twice, but the Blue Jays remain stuck at one.

For Francis, it’s his ninth-inning no-hitter in four starts. He ended his day having allowed one run on Lindor’s solo homer that stood as the only hit against him. He walked one and struck out one while lowering his season ERA to 3.50 and his WHIP to 0.93 in 92 2/3 innings pitched.