Red Sox fall to Blue Jays 2-0

BOSTON (AP) — Bowden Francis took a no-hitter into the sixth and left after allowing just one hit in seven innings, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Boston Red Sox 2-0 on Thursday night.

Francis (8-3) faced the minimum through 5 1/3 innings, with the only Boston baserunner coming when Jarren Duran reached on an error in the fourth. Duran was then thrown out trying to steal second.

The no-hit bid ended with one out in the sixth, when Nick Sogard blooped a soft single to center. Francis struck out five and walked none before leaving in the middle of the seventh with a with a 2-0 lead.

In his previous outing, Francis pitched eight no-hit innings against the Angels before allowing a solo homer to start the ninth.

Genesis Cabrera gave up one hit in the eighth and Chad Green pitched the ninth. After hitting Mickey Gasperwith a pitch, Green got Tyler O’Neill on a grounder to short to earn his 16th save and complete the two-hit shutout.

Kutter Crawford (8-12) held Toronto to two runs on six hits in 6 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out three. The game was 44-year-old Rich Hill’s 2024 debut, making him the only active player to have appeared in each of the last 20 seasons.

The Blue Jays took the lead in the third when Brian Serven doubled and scored on Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s double. They made it 2-0 in the sixth on back-to-back doubles from Addison Barger and Ernie Clement.

The Red Sox just missed a triple play in the ninth when Leo Jimenez bunted the ball in the air with runners on first and second. Pitcher Greg Weissert dove to catch the ball, got up and spun around to catch the runner off second base. But Davis Schneider was able to dive back to first and beat the relay.

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