Jays' Bassitt trolls Ward after comments about 'hittable' Francis

The Toronto Blue Jays had a message for Los Angeles Angels outfielder Taylor Ward on Sunday.

Less than 24 hours after Ward downplayed Bowden Francis' near no-hitter, Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt fired back. While Francis was being interviewed by the home broadcast, Bassitt stood behind the rookie with a sign detailing Francis' accomplishments against the Angels this season, alongside Ward's now-infamous quotes.

The sign referenced Ward's quotes after breaking up Francis' no-hitter with a ninth-inning home run Saturday.

"I thought everything was hittable," Ward said following the Angels' 3-1 loss. "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."

Francis struck out 12 over eight no-hit innings against the Angels on Saturday before Ward's homer. The start came barely two weeks after he'd dominated the Halos in Anaheim over seven shutout innings.

Over his two starts against the 54-76 Angels this season, Francis put up a 1.20 ERA and 0.33 WHIP while tallying 20 strikeouts. The homer was Ward's only hit against Francis in six plate appearances.

Francis owns a 4.02 ERA and 1.07 WHIP with 70 strikeouts across 22 appearances (eight starts) this year. The 28-year-old has allowed only four earned runs since joining the Blue Jays' rotation permanently in early August.

The Blue Jays won Sunday's game 8-2 to complete a seven-game season sweep of the Angels.