BOSTON — Once was impressive enough. To do it again — that’s another level of performance.
Pitching at Fenway Park just five days after taking a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Angels, Bowden Francis was again at his best. This time, he took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before Boston third baseman Nick Sogard broke it up with a single, but Francis still completed seven innings of scoreless work, allowing just one hit on the way to a 2-0 Blue Jays win.
In five starts this month, Francis has now allowed only nine hits and four walks in 34 innings while striking out 39. He has an ERA of 1.06 over that span — by far the best of his MLB career, and one of the best stretches by any MLB pitcher this season. Sometime soon, Chris Bassitt will have to update his sign.
“He was just in total control,” said manager John Schneider. “He’s got such a good way about him mentally, physically, execution-wise. His pitch-mix is awesome. Not much more to say other than he’s really (expletive) good right now.”
After throwing 117 pitches on Saturday, it’s not shocking that Francis felt a little fatigued warming up in the Fenway Park bullpen Thursday. Realizing that his stuff “wasn’t electric,” Francis prepared for “one of those outings where you’ve got to fight through and be crafty.”
But even with what he describes as diminished stuff, Francis needed just 70 pitches to get through seven innings. He threw strikes consistently, avoiding walks and challenging the Red Sox with his stuff.
“Just furiously attacking the zone,” he said. “When you get ahead strike one, it gets the hitter kind of anxious. I always pride myself on strike throwing … If you go five and strike out 10, it doesn’t really wow me. I’d rather go seven and strike out four or five.”
Against the Red Sox, he did just that. As has been the case all month, Francis’s splitter was central to his success Thursday. He threw 18 of them, striking out Triston Casas with the pitch twice. And on this night it moved even more than it did against the Angels, averaging 37 inches of vertical drop — a little more than three feet per pitch.
At the same time, Francis knew the Red Sox would be looking for the splitter so he made sure not to over-rely on the pitch.
“His split is carrying the zone better than I’ve ever seen,” Schneider said. “There’s not many in the dirt. There’s a lot of weak contact … Every pitch had a purpose.”
If the no-hit bid had remained intact, the Blue Jays could have easily let Francis continue — he wanted to pitch the eighth regardless — but they pulled him for relievers Genesis Cabrera and Chad Green, who handled the last two innings without incident.
This stretch of dominance by Francis has helped the 66-70 Blue Jays put together their best month of the season, but even beyond 2024 this performance is significant. The 28-year-old broke camp in the Blue Jays’ rotation this spring before struggling and getting sent to the minors, yet this recent run of success offers a reminder of what Francis can do to help the 2025 team.
“It’s fun to work with him,” said catcher Brian Serven. “He’s on a bit of a roll right now.”
Afterwards, the right-hander said he’s focused on his preparation and execution while trusting that good results will follow.
“It’s cool,” he said. “I don’t look too much into numbers. I just try to go out there and win every game I pitch. I think the numbers will take care of themselves if you’re thinking about the right stuff and going about your business the right way and treating people the right way. I think the universe has a way of unravelling things. I’ve got to keep level-headed.”
Offensively, the Blue Jays did just enough to support Francis thanks to RBI doubles from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Ernie Clement. In the third inning, Guerrero Jr. drove in Serven, who had two hits, while Clement drove in Addison Barger in the sixth.
After making a catch up against the Green Monster to end the seventh inning, Joey Loperfido appeared shaken and was removed from the game for Steward Berroa. Loperfido will undergo testing on his head and neck, which absorbed much of the impact.
Having taken three games from the Red Sox at Fenway this week, the Blue Jays now head to Minneapolis where they’ll visit the Twins this weekend. But taking three games on the road and getting another gem from Francis represented a successful week for the visitors.
“It’s a good series,” Schneider said. “I really, really like the way the guys went about it.”