As well as Bowden Francis pitched, reliever Chad Green was just as bad

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The one area of strength that may allow the Blue Jays to pursue their stated goal of contending next season, a broad term no one associated with the franchise has yet to properly describe, involves starting pitching.

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While much heavy lifting awaits to address a porous pen and somehow find the necessary money to extend the likes of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette on top of adding some much-needed thump to the lineup, there are four legitimate starters to at least build around.

One involves Bowden Francis, whom the Jays sent to the bump in Wednesday’s series rubber match against the visiting New York Mets.

For the second time in his past four starts, Francis flirted with a no-hitter.

In the history of the Blue Jays, which dates back to 1977, only Dave Stieb has accomplished the elusive no-no.

Francis gave up a leadoff homer in the ninth the last time he took aim on a no-hitter.

Against the Mets yesterday, he began the ninth in a 1-0 game, which took a back seat to what Francis was on the cusp of achieving, potentially that is.

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With history on the line, Francis faced leadoff hitter Francisco Lindor, an MVP candidate.

Down 0-2 in the count, Lindor took Francis deep in the cruellest of fates, replicating Taylor Ward’s blast that ended Francis’ previous no-hit bid.

History would not be made, but a different kind of history did repeat itself with Francis cast as the main character.

All of sudden, the game’s actual outcome took on meaning, especially for the Mets, who had considerably more to gain.

A Jays’ loss seemed almost inevitable once Chad Green entered the fray.
He has not pitched well of late and it would continue.

It got even worse for the Jays when Genesis Cabrera entered the game with two runners on base before he promptly served up a three-run homer, Toronto’s depleted bullpen once again imploding.

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Francis lost his no-hit bid, while the Blue Jays lost the game, 6-2, in stunning fashion.

When the Jays tied the series Tuesday night, it was Chris Bassitt piecing together a dominant performance.

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Jose Berrios has won his past six starts, as durable a pitcher as there is in baseball who reached a career milestone by winning his 15th game of the season.

In Kevin Gausman, the Jays have their staff ace, but it can be argued any of the above can easily qualify for the designation.

Until an actual playoff game gets played, which, for obvious reasons based on the standings, won’t happen this year, determining an ace isn’t so obvious.

The way Francis has been pitching, it would be hard-pressed to exclude him from the conversation.

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First trip through the Mets’ lineup and Francis retired all nine hitters he faced.

He entered the afternoon having yielded six walks in his past 46 innings.

Francis was in attack mode right from the jump.

Through four innings, he needed 44 pitches to retire 12 batters in succession.

With Sean Manaea pitching just a notch below the level of Francis, it did make for a compelling pitchers’ duel, a Mets team in the hunt for a wild card with the Atlanta Braves against a Blue Jays team playing out the string.

After Vlad Jr. led off the fourth with a single, he advanced to second on an Ernie Clement hit, providing the game with its first runner in scoring position.

Following a walk to Will Wagner, Davis Schneider hit into a force out as Vlad Jr. scored the game’s first run.

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Francis had a 1-0 lead when he began the fifth inning.

Behind 2-0 in the count to Brandon Nimmo, Francis induced a fly out to right field.

On the every next pitch, Francis hit Pete Alonso as the Mets had their first runner reach base.

J.D. Martinez then lined out to Nathan Lukes in right, the fifth put-out involving Lukes.

Starling Marte then forced a full count and drew a walk, the first free pass issued by Francis since Aug. 24 when he took a no-hit bid into the ninth inning against the visiting L.A. Angels.

For the record, 20 pitches were required by Francis to get out of the fifth inning.

What became obvious involved Francis’ command and velocity, each beginning to show signs of regression, but he persevered knowing he did not have his best stuff.

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He was bailed out by Schneider, who made one of his best defensive plays, arguably ever, by leaping into the wall in left field to rob Harrison Bader of extra bases.

Francis hit his second batter when Jose Iglesias leaned into a pitch, only to get forced out at second to end the inning.

Francis worked into the seventh inning having thrown 85 pitches.

In his past six starts, Francis averaged 6.5 strikeouts.

Through seven hitless innings, Francis had struck out one in throwing 102 pitches.

His outing featured one strikeout and the one hit.

Against the Angels, Francis reached a career-high pitch count of 117.

His counterpart went 6.2 innings and would get lifted after Manaea walked his second batter in the seventh on the righty’s 109th and final pitch.

Francis needed one pitch to record the first out in the eighth.

Pitch No. 2 resulted in the second out.

An infield pop out would end the inning as Francis took his no-hit bid into the ninth.

He needed six pitches to retire the side in order in the eighth inning.

His at-bat against Lindor in the fateful ninth featured three pitches.

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