Francis continues torrid hot streak: 'Running out of things to say about him'

BOSTON -- After taking a no-hitter into the ninth his last time out, Bowden Francis stepped to the mound at Fenway Park and almost did it again. In another brilliant performance, one that saw him take a no-hitter into the sixth, he helped his club escape with a 2-0 victory on Thursday night.

Francis came out on the attack, recording nine straight outs to open the game before the Red Sox got a runner aboard, and that came via a throwing error by Leo Jiménez at second base, allowing Jarren Duran to reach first.

Catcher Brian Serven would eliminate Duran on the basepaths on a caught stealing at second.

“[Francis] has been coming out in his last few outings on the attack from the get-go, mixing in three or four different pitches with conviction,” said Serven, who went 2-for-4 with two doubles. “It’s been good. He’s been clicking. It’s been fun to work with him.”

“He was just in total control,” added manager John Schneider. “He’s got such a good way about him, mentally, physically, execution-wise, his pitch mix is awesome.”

After Duran was caught stealing, Francis erased the next six batters he faced before Nick Sogard singled on a flare to left field that fell just in front of Joey Loperfido.

As with Duran, Sogard would not make it past first base, as Francis quickly retired the next two hitters to end any inkling of a threat.

“We just kept them off balance,” said Francis. “My stuff wasn’t electric, but we mixed it up really well, kind of kept them guessing.”

When the dust settled on Francis’ night, the righty tossed seven shutout innings -- needing only 70 pitches to do so -- while striking out five.

“Mixing, location and execution,” said Serven on why Francis was so efficient. “He did a great job with it. … It makes my job easier. I can sit in a certain spot, show a target in a certain spot and most of the time tonight, he was hitting it.”

“Just furiously attacking at the zone,” Francis said. “When you get ahead [with] strike one, it gets the hitter anxious, I think. I always pride myself on strike-throwing and filling it up, [letting] the defense work.”

Francis has been the winning pitcher in each of his last four outings, a stretch in which he has allowed a total of just two earned runs while striking out 32 batters over 29 innings of work.

“I’m running out of things to say about him now,” Schneider said.

Francis was backed by a pair of timely RBI doubles from the Blue Jays’ offense, the first from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the third, and the other off the bat of Ernie Clement, who drove in Addison Barger in the sixth.

With the win, the Blue Jays earned a split of the four-game series, but left Boston with three wins after winning the continuation of their suspended game from June 26 on Monday.

“It’s cool,” said Francis of his current run. “... I don’t really look too much into numbers, I’m trying look too much into numbers, I’m trying to go out there and win every game I’m pitching. The numbers will take care of themselves if you’re thinking about the right stuff and going about your business the right way. The universe has a way of unraveling things.”