Angels 0 Blue Jays 3
That was an amazing start for Bowden Francis. He finished seven innings at 97 pitches, and no hits allowed.
John Schneider sent Frances back out for the eighth. He had another hitless inning and finished the eighth with 111 pitches thrown.
- He stayed in the game to try for the no-hitter. Unfortunately, the first batter of the inning, Taylor Ward, went to six pitches before hitting a home run just over the center field wall. It hit the top of the wall. Varsho did all he could to try to catch it.
Great game for Francis. 8 innings, plus a batter, 1 hit, 1 earned, 3 walks and 12 strikeouts. It was the best start of the season for the Blue Jays. A career-high 117 pitches.
Bowden has now goes 7 or more innings in each of his two previous starts. He’s thrown 22 innings, allowing two runs on five hits, with 27 strikeouts in three starts. I’m going to suggest he get an extra day off before his next start.
Chad Green got the last three outs for his 14th save of the year.
The Jays scored their two runs in the first:
- With one out, Daulton Varsho topped one down the first baseline. It was going foul, but for some reason, Angels pitcher Carson Fulmer picked it up and tried to flip it to first, even though Daulton was past hit. It got by the first baseman, and Varsho ended up on third with a single and a two-base error.
- Vlad Guerrero followed with a double.
- An out later, Joey Loperfido also doubled, and we had an early 2-2 lead.
Our other run came on a Vlad home run in the eighth. SIGN HIM.
We could have scored more. In the third inning, Spencer Horwitz had a two-out walk, and Loperfido doubled off the top of the center field wall. Horwitz was waved home but was out by a bunch. It was well played off the wall. It was a poor decision to send him. Two outs, you can take a chance, but it wasn’t close.
We had eight hits—two each for Varsho, Guerrero, and Loperfido.
Jays of the Day: Francis (.429 WPA) and Vlad (.101).
No one gets the Other Award. The low mark was Ernie Clement -.059 WPA on an 0 for 4, 3 strikeouts, in the lead-off spot.
Tomorrow’s game is a 1:30 Eastern start. Tyler Anderson (10-11, 3.46) will face Kevin Gausman (11-9, 4.24) as the Jays attempt a four-game sweep.