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 with a chance to make history. But 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. With that, Francis’ day was over, and he left the game after 111 pitches that were ineligible to influence the decision.
The Mets went on the offensive after breaking up the no-hitter. New York added five more runs off relievers Chad Green and Genesis Cabrera to take a 6-1 lead in the bottom of the ninth. The inning concluded with Lindor popping out in his second at-bat of the inning.
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 looking for their franchise’s second no-hitter. Dave Stieb launched the first in 1990. Francis came close to doing it twice, but the Blue Jays remain stuck at one. They’ve had six no-hitters interrupted in the ninth inning since Stieb’s no-hitter.
For Francis, it’s the second no-hitter he’s lost in the ninth inning in four starts. He finished the day having allowed one run, with Lindor’s solo homer the only hit against him. He walked one and struck out one while lowering his ERA to 3.50 and his WHIP to 0.93 in 92 2/3 innings pitched.