Fastball

Toronto Blue Jays Rookie Does Something Never Done in Modern Era of Baseball History

It's been a great run for Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Bowden Francis, who helped the team beat the Boston Red Sox on Thursday.

Brady Farkas

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Bowden Francis (44) throws a pitch against the Boston Red Sox in the first inning at Fenway Park on Aug. 29.
Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Bowden Francis (44) throws a pitch against the Boston Red Sox in the first inning at Fenway Park on Aug. 29. / David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
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The Toronto Blue Jays shut out the Boston Red Sox 2-0 on Thursday night at Fenway Park. The win moved the Blue Jays to 66-70 on the year while the loss dropped Boston to 69-65.

With the Twins being idle, the Red Sox dropped to 3.5 back in the battle for the third and final wild card spot in the American League.

The Blue Jays scored their runs via a double from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and another double from Ernie Clement. On the mound, they got another solid performance from Bowden Francis.

Francis went 7.0 innings, surrendering just one hit. He walked none, struck out five and was in complete control all night. The 28-year-old, who was fighting for a roster spot out of spring training, is now 8-3 on the season. He's got a 3.66 ERA and has given the Jays a very solid 78.2 innings this year.

Furthermore, his recent run has made modern baseball history, according to @OptaSTATS:

Bowden Francis of the @BlueJays has a WHIP of 0.31 over his last 4 starts.

That's the lowest WHIP by any MLB pitcher over any 4-start span in the modern era (min. 20 IP).

Francis was a former seventh-round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2017 draft out of a Florida junior college. He made his major league debut in 2022 but had just 21 appearances heading into this season.

The Blue Jays will be back in action on Friday night when they take on the Twins at 8:10 p.m. ET.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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