Blue Jays pitcher Bowden Francis lost his no-hit attempt for the second time in four starts when he gave up a leadoff home run in the ninth inning.
Francisco Lindor hit an 0-2 fastball on Wednesday, sending a clear drive over the right-field fence to give the New York Mets their first hit and tie the game at 1-1.
Francis was quickly taken out of the game and received a warm applause from the 29,399 fans in Toronto. The right-hander walked one batter, struck out one, and hit two batters with pitches. He threw 111 pitches in total, with 68 of them being strikes.
Earlier in the season, Francis also lost a no-hitter in the ninth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on August 24 when Taylor Ward hit a home run to start the inning.
The only no-hitter in Blue Jays history was pitched by Dave Stieb at Cleveland on September 2, 1990.
In the sixth inning, New York’s Harrison Bader hit a deep drive to left field against Francis, but Toronto’s Davis Schneider made an excellent catch at the wall. Lindor later lined out to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at first base.
Guerrero also caught a soft liner from Jose Iglesias in the fourth inning, and Brandon Nimmo lined out hard to right field in the fifth inning.
Francis was named AL Pitcher of the Month for August, during which he went 4-1 with a 1.05 ERA. He struck out 39 batters and walked four in six appearances, including five starts.
This season, there have been four no-hitters in the majors. The Chicago Cubs achieved a combined no-hitter against Pittsburgh last Wednesday, following complete-game no-hitters by Houston’s Ronel Blanco against Toronto on April 1, San Diego’s Dylan Cease at Washington on July 25, and San Francisco’s Blake Snell at Cincinnati on August 2.
The Mets have been no-hit eight times, with Max Scherzer being the last pitcher to achieve this with Washington on October 3, 2015.
