Toronto Blue Jays’ Bowden Francis loses no-hit bid in 9th inning

TORONTO-

Bowden Francis lost his bid for the second no-hitter in Blue Jays history when Taylor Ward hit a home run in the ninth inning for the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday.

Francis walked three batters and hit one while striking out a career-high 12. He threw a career-high 117 pitches, 84 of which were strikes.

The crowd of 34,011 gave Francis a standing ovation when he was replaced by right-hander Chad Green after Ward’s 17th home run.

The 28-year-old Francis was named American League Player of the Week last week after going 2-0 with an 0.64 ERA in two starts, the first of which saw him pitch seven innings in a road win over the Angels on Aug. 12.

The Blue Jays defeated the Angels 3-1.