From here, things can only get better, right?
After an awful night in Houston, where the Astros recorded their 17th no-hitter in franchise history—the most in the majors since 1962—the Toronto Blue Jays are counting on that. Houston defeated them 10-0.
Ronel Blanco, a right-hander, made his sixth big-league start and went the entire game while striking out seven batters. The offense was unable to solve him. Blanco would have spun baseball’s 25th perfect game if not for two walks from George Springer, the only player to reach base the previous evening.
To be fair, a lot of the blame was placed on a struggling squad that has shown itself to be erratic in the first five games of the 2024 season. However, they weren’t the only ones that caused this terrible defeat. There was also input from the pitching staff.
It is very difficult and, for the most part, nearly impossible to grind out a win without taking a hit. However, the situation becomes ten times more difficult when your team is unable to prevent the opposition from scoring; Bowden Francis faced this challenge during his dismal starting debut on Monday night at Minute Maid Park.
In his first big-league start of his career, Francis—who emerged from camp as the fifth starter—went up against a strong lineup that included players like Alex Bregman, Yordan Alvarez, Jose Altuve, and Kyle Tucker. It turns out that it was equally tough to navigate Houston’s offensive bottom half.
To the best of his ability, the 27-year-old endured through 5.1 innings, trying to limit the already depleted bullpen. But on a night when he gave up seven runs on ten hits, including three home runs, and a walk, that was one of the few bright spots.
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