After Taylor Ward criticized Toronto right-hander Bowden Francis’ recent strong performance, Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt made sure to support his teammate.
Francis had a career-high 12 strikeouts in Toronto’s 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday. He was close to a no-hitter until Ward hit a leadoff home run in the ninth inning.
Francis, who is 28 years old, was named AL Player of the Week last week after winning both of his games with a 0.64 ERA. In his first start, he pitched seven innings in a road win over the Angels on August 12, allowing one run and one hit while striking out eight.
Ward struck out, was hit by a pitch, and flew out before hitting his 17th home run on Saturday.
After the game, Ward said about Francis, “I thought that everything was hittable. Maybe to other guys he made better pitches. A lot of guys were talking about his split and that being on. But personally, I didn’t think it was anything special.”
While Francis was being interviewed from the dugout during Sunday’s game broadcast, Bassitt stood beside him holding a hand-written sign that said, “15 innings, 2 hits, 20 Ks. Hittable + Nothing Special.”
Manager John Schneider mentioned that Bassitt and fellow pitcher Kevin Gausman have “kind of taken Bowden under their wing” and expressed his pleasure in seeing players support one another.
“I love when the guys have each other’s back,” Schneider said, “and I think Bowden’s results against (the Angels) speak for themselves.”
