Angels barely avoid no-hitter in loss to Blue Jays

TORONTO — For all the misery the Angels have endured over the past decade, they had at least avoided the ignominy of being no-hit.

They pushed that to the limit Saturday, failing to collect their first hit until Taylor Ward led off the ninth with a homer against right-hander Bowden Francis.

The home run was little consolation for the Angels in their 3-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. The Angels lost for the 10th time in their last 12 games, falling a season-worst 22 games under .500.

The last time the Angels were no-hit was Sept. 11, 1999, by Eric Milton of the Minnesota Twins. It is the longest active streak in the majors.

Ward said he’d never had a no-hitter thrown against any team when he was in the lineup, so it was “a big relief” to get a hit. He also said he didn’t think Francis was doing anything exceptionally.

“I thought everything was hittable,” Ward said. “Maybe to other guys he made better pitches. Other guys were talking about his split and that being on, but I didn’t think it was anything special.”

Logan O’Hoppe, who hit a line drive to center field and struck out twice, said Francis deserves credit for what he did.

“He was in a groove all day,” O’Hoppe said. “It seemed like he was flowing from pitch one. I didn’t feel rushed in the box, but you just feel like he was comfortable and he was settling in. He made some really good pitches. The split was really good.”

The Angels faced Francis earlier this month in Anaheim, and in that game they also had only one hit – a third-inning homer by Mickey Moniak. Francis pitched seven innings that day.

This time Francis walked three – two in the second inning – and hit a batter. Before Ward’s homer, the Angels didn’t even come close to a hit.

The best the Angels could do was see enough pitches to run up Francis’ pitch count.

Francis was at 95 pitches when he finished the seventh, with action going in the Blue Jays bullpen. He went back for the eighth and pitched a perfect inning, with 16 more pitches.

Much to the delight of the Rogers Centre crowd, the Blue Jays sent him back to the mound in the ninth with 111 pitches. Ward hit his 117th pitch just over the fence in left-center.

If the Angels had managed just a little bit of offense, they would have had a chance, because Angels starter Carson Fulmer kept them in the game. Fulmer allowed two runs in six innings.

Fulmer made a fielding mistake that opened the door for both Blue Jays runs in the first inning. Varsho hit a roller up the first-base line. Although the ball was seemingly going to roll foul, Fulmer picked it up and made a hurried flip to first. The toss was wide and the ball dribbled into foul territory, far enough from any Angels defender to allow time for Varsho to get to third.

“I probably should have just eaten it and kind of made him stay at first base,” Fulmer said, “but I’m competitive and always want to make a play.”

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. then yanked a double down the left-field line, driving in Varsho. An out later, Joey Loperfido lined a double into right to drive in Guerrero.

After that, Fulmer did not allow another run. In the third, center fielder Kevin Pillar and second baseman Brandon Drury made a couple strong throws to nail a runner at the plate.

“I thought that’s his best (start),” Angels manager Ron Washington said of Fulmer, who has started eight games. “He was under control. He really knew what he wanted to do, and he executed his pitches with intent. And that’s the one thing we’ve been trying to get him to do.

“Other than the first inning, when they scored the two runs, he matched Francis’ zeros. And when you are facing a guy that’s pitching like that, that’s what you want to do. Match zeros. He did. He should be proud of his outing today.”