The Edmonton Oilers had a little bit of a presence at last night’s near-no hitter by Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Bowden Francis.
Francis pitched eight perfect innings against the LA Angels last night, before letting up a leadoff home run against Taylor Ward in the top of the ninth inning en route to a 3-1 Jays win.
It was quite an impressive showing for the 28-year-old pitcher and one that Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse and his son Aiden were in the stadium for. The Blue Jays X account posted a video of the Oilers defender rocking the team’s City Connect jersey while sending a message to fans before the baseball game.
“Hey Blue Jays fans, it’s Darnell Nurse here, excited to take in the game today. I got my little man here watching his first game so let’s go Blue Jays,” Nurse said.
Family Time 💙 ⚾️
Darnell Nurse is in the building 👋 pic.twitter.com/sqliyN6Oay
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) August 24, 2024
Born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, which is just a measly hour and a bit drive away, it’s no wonder that Nurse has an affinity for the Jays. While he’s sure to have been to plenty of baseball games at Rogers Centre, this one would have been one of the more memorable ones.
If Bowden found a way to pull it off, the Oilers defenceman would have witnessed just the second no-hitter in Blue Jays history. The only time it has happened for the Jays was back in 1990 when Dave Steib pulled it off against Cleveland.
Alas, it wasn’t meant to be and now Nurse will have to start shifting his focus to the hockey rink as Oilers training camp is less than a month away and he will be in for a new defensive partner to start the year after the departures of Cody Ceci and Philip Broberg.
Maybe seeing Bowden’s performance will give him some extra motivation heading into camp this time around.