Rangers’ Lewis foiled by A’s in no-hit bid

San Francisco (AFP) – Texas Rangers pitcher Colby Lewis flirted with a no-hitter on Thursday, but the 36-year-old right-hander settled for a 5-1 Major League Baseball victory at Oakland.

Lewis hurled a perfect game through 7 2/3 innings, retiring the first 23 A’s batters he faced until he walked Yonder Alonso on four errant fastballs to spoil his perfection bid, although his hopes for a no-hitter were intact entering the ninth inning.

A’s outfielder Max Muncy smacked a leadoff double in the bottom of the ninth inning off Lewis to end the no-hit dream.

At the finish, Lewis surrendered one run on two hits with one walk while striking out four, tossing 75 of his 109 pitches for strikes and improving to 6-0 on the season.

Lewis was a 17-game winner last season but with an earned-run average of 4.66. He has also pitched for Detroit, Oakland and the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of the Japan League.

The Rangers improved to 42-25, six games ahead of Seattle atop the American League West division with the AL’s best record.