Blue Jays pitcher Francis gets no support in loss to Texas

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This time, Bowden Francis didn’t surrender his first hit until the ninth inning.

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His meteoric rise has featured two games, both at home, when Francis took a no-hit bid into the ninth inning.

Amazingly, each bid would end when Francis gave up a leadoff home run, the first in a win over the L.A. Angels, the most recent in a loss to the New York Mets after Toronto’s beleaguered bullpen imploded.

Wednesday at Globe Life Field, the host Texas Rangers wasted no time in getting to Francis. He gave up a leadoff double in the first inning of a game the Rangers eventually won 2-0.

Francis survived the inning by keeping Texas scoreless.

He allowed a leadoff walk in the second inning, but once again no runs would be scored.

In the third, Francis dealt with runners at first and second as his pitch count was approaching 60 on a night when his velocity was once again diminished.

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He ended the frame with a strikeout. The Rangers left five runners on base through three innings.

Francis led off the fourth inning with a strikeout, his fifth of the game, as part of his first clean inning.

As opposed to Tuesday’s slobberknocker when 21 combined runs were scored in a Rangers win, Francis and his counterpart, left-hander Cody Bradford, were able to limit any damage in what turned out to be an entertaining pitchers’ duel.

The Rangers can sweep the Jays with a victory in Thursday afternoon’s series finale.

In the fifth inning, the Jays had runners, their first on the night by the way, at second and third with none out.

Francis completed his second straight three-up, three-down inning when the Rangers took their hacks in the home half of the frame.

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The evening’s ice breaker arrived in the sixth inning when Adolis Garcia took Francis deep into left field for a two-run blast with none out.

Through six complete innings, Francis threw exactly 100 pitches.

While Francis wasn’t dominant, he was better than good and provided his team a chance, which is all a starter can do, whether flirting with a no-hitter or making clutch outs to avoid a big inning.

One bad pitch marred Francis’ six-inning outing.

He got no run support, which stood out as the game’s primary theme.

Still, it was Francis’ seventh quality start in succession as he continues to cement his spot in next season’s rotation, if that’s even in question.

OH, NO BO!

Precisely one day following his long-awaited return to the big leagues, Bo Bichette was a surprising scratch.

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Per the Blue Jays, Bichette became a victim of a right middle finger contusion.

Bichette was in the dugout sporting a splint on the finger, indicating that something a bit more serious is at play.

Either way, there was no immediate word other than the pre-game diagnosis.

With Bichette out of Wednesday’s lineup, the Jays moved Davis Schneider up in the order and into Bichette’s No. 2 hole.

Schneider entered the second game of the three-game series having gone yard in each of his past three games.

He drove in two runs on Tuesday, the same night Bichette went 2-for-5 on two in-field hits with one RBI in Toronto’s 13-8 loss.

In his first at-bat Wednesday, Schneider struck out swinging.

Defensively, the Jays had Ernie Clement start at shortstop, one night after Clement handled the hot corner.

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WILL POWER

The news kept coming as the Blue Jays also announced that Will Wagner will have his knee scoped Thursday in Cleveland.

One day earlier, the club placed Wagner on the 60-day IL, the same day it was revealed Daulton Varsho will undergo surgery to his right rotator cuff.

Manager John Schneider told reporters during his pre-game availability Wednesday that Wagner, whom many project to be the team’s 2025 opening day starter at second base, is expected to be ready for spring training once his period of inactivity concludes.

The same cannot be said for Varsho, whose recovery, according to the skipper, will bleed into spring training.

Nathan Lukes started in centre field Tuesday. On Wednesday, it was Joey Loperfido’s turn.

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PEN PALS

Just about any healthy arm automatically becomes an option for the Blue Jays, who will leave no stone unturned in their pursuit of acquiring competent relief help.

For far too long this season, the team’s pen has been a complete liability, due to poor performance or injury-related.

The word disaster immediately comes to mind.

The word disaster clearly applied to Luis Frias, who threw 41 pitches Tuesday, but managed to record only two outs.

He actually struck out three, but one came on a wild pitch that allowed the hitter to reach base.

Not surprisingly, Frias was optioned to triple-A Buffalo. In a corresponding move, the Jays recalled right-hander Dillon Tate.

Tate was taken fourth overall by the Rangers in 2015.

He was traded to the Yankees and later played for the Orioles.

This past Sunday, Baltimore placed Tate on waivers, prompting the ever-desperate Blue Jays to claim him.

He’s 30 years old and at least Tate did show promise with Baltimore until a flexor strain derailed his 2023 season.

Tate was active for Wednesday night’s game, though he did pitch the night earlier for the Bisons.

The only reliever required by the Blue Jays on Wednesday was Ryan Yarbrough, who pitched two scoreless and hitless innings, while recording four strikeouts.

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