Bowden Francis struggles vs. Orioles in return to Blue Jays

In his first MLB appearance since April 24, Bowden Francis just didn't quite have his best stuff.

The 28-year-old righty was tasked with being the "bulk guy" out of the Toronto Blue Jays bullpen against a powerful Baltimore Orioles lineup.

After Trevor Richards served as the opener, working two scoreless innings, Genesis Cabrera was the first reliever John Schneider called upon, but couldn't get through the inning.

So Francis entered the game in the third with two outs, runners on first and third and Ryan Mountcastle at the plate.

Mountcastle, perhaps the most notorious Blue Jays killer in MLB, welcomed Francis back to the big leagues by lining a curveball that got too much of the plate over the wall in left, giving Baltimore a 4-0 lead.

Francis got the next out of the inning, but wasn't able to keep the Orioles off the scoreboard from there.

While he worked a scoreless fourth, Mountcastle was lurking in the fifth. Francis allowed a one-out double to Gunnar Henderson and an RBI single to Adley Rutschman before Mountcastle hit a ball off the West Jet Flight Deck at Rogers Centre. The pitch was a fastball at the top of the zone that the Orioles first baseman hit 443 feet to centre — his longest home run of the season.

With the Blue Jays needing some length from their bullpen, Francis worked a scoreless sixth before being replaced by Zach Pop.

When all was said and done Tuesday night, Francis threw 57 pitches, 40 strikes, over 3.1 innings, allowing five hits, four runs and no walks while striking out two.

The six-foot-five Francis now has a 9.00 ERA and 19 strikeouts over 18 innings this season. Before he went on the injured list with right forearm extensor tendinitis, he had worked two straight scoreless outings out of the bullpen.