Francis flirts with 1st no-hitter, Blue Jays win

TORONTO -- Bowden Francis struck out a career-high 12 in a dominant performance for the Toronto Blue Jays, carrying a no-hitter into the ninth inning of a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday.

Francis (7-3) walked three and hit a batter in his third consecutive win. He threw a career-high 117 pitches, 84 for strikes.

Francis was working on a no-hitter before Taylor Ward drove a 3-2 fastball deep to center for a leadoff homer in the ninth. It was Ward's 17th homer of the season.

"I would say I found a second gear in the eighth," Francis said in his postgame, on-field interview on Sportsnet, acknowledging that the fans clearly fueled him. "And when I went out for the ninth, I felt you all, for sure."

The crowd of 34,011 saluted Francis with a standing ovation when he was replaced by right-hander Chad Green, who earned his 14th save in 14 chances.

"The defense behind me gave me all the confidence," Francis said. "I was just trying to stay in attack mode, and stay in that flow state, but in moments like this, it's hard to stay like that."

Francis, 28, was named American League Player of the Week last week after going 2-0 with an ERA of 0.64 in two starts. In the first of those, he pitched seven innings in a road win over the Angels on Aug. 12. After the victory, when the question of how long Francis would remain on the mound came up, Toronto manager John Schneider said the game "was his until he gave up a hit."

"You've got to tip your hat to the kid, he almost threw a no-hitter but I'm glad he didn't," Angels manager Ron Washington said. "We couldn't center him."

Dave Stieb pitched the only no-hitter in Blue Jays history at Cleveland on Sept. 2, 1990.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his 27th homer as the Blue Jays recorded their sixth straight win over the Angels.

"I feel very proud of him right now," Guerrero said of Francis through a translator. "The last four or five outings he's been incredible. Today was unbelievable."

Angels right-hander Carson Fulmer (0-5) allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings. He struck out eight and walked two.

Toronto's Daulton Varsho singled in the first and advanced to third on Fulmer's throwing error. Guerrero followed with an RBI double and scored one out later on Joey Loperfido's double.

Guerrero extended Toronto's edge with a leadoff homer against Victor Mederos in the eighth.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.