The A’s increasingly imperfect season met up with some near perfection Thursday as the Rangers’ Colby Lewis carried a flawless game into the eighth inning and a no-hitter into the ninth, ultimately losing the shutout but winning the game, 5-1.
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In the ninth, Lewis fell behind Muncy 2-1 before the left-handed hitter hit a high drive toward the right-field wall. Mazara tracked down this ball but couldn’t hold onto it as he smacked into the padded wall.
Mazara looked at his glove as he went to retrieve the ball. Earlier in the game, Mazara ran hard to rob Muncy of extra bases.
Yonder Alonso walked with two outs in the 8th to break up Lewis’ flawless game bid and then Max Muncy doubled to lead off the 9th to break up the no-hitter.
An error on Oakland first baseman Yonder Alonso opened the door for the Rangers to add a second run in the inning and end Mengden’s afternoon.
Ian Desmond broke a scoreless tie with a leadoff home run in the seventh, propelling the Rangers to a third win in four days against the A’s and their franchise-record-tying eighth straight series win.
Baltimore scored three runs in the first four innings, then added two in fifth.
Right-hander Ryan Dull replaced Mengden two batters later, with the bases loaded, and struck out Elvis Andrus and Bobby Wilson to keep the A’s with in 2-0.The spotlight then went back on Lewis, who needed just six pitches to get through the bottom of the seventh unscathed.
Lewis isn’t going to get you a lot of strikeouts, but he’s an excellent contact pitcher who won’t be a detriment to your lineup.
The play broke up a no hitter for Rangers pitcher Colby Lewis.
The Pirates lost seven of eight to fall to.500 for the first time since they were 9-9 on April 23.
“He was outstanding”, A’s catcher Stephen Vogt said.
With the game tied at 1, Gregorius hit the first pitch he saw from reliever Fernando Abad over the right-field fence for his sixth homer of the season. Snell (0-1) allowed five runs – one earned – and eight hits over 3 1-3 innings in his first home big league start and second overall.
“He got me down to two strikes and I was expecting him to come slider in like he did last at-bat so I was trying to get in front of it”, Muncy said. A’s rookie Daniel Mengden pitched very well for the A’s. “He had a really good mix of pitches and kept the ball down”. RHP Henderson Alvarez, who underwent shoulder surgery last July and is scheduled to throw a 70-pich rehab game on Saturday, was an option for Saturday’s game, but manager Bob Melvin said trainers advised against it.
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Rangers: LHP Cole Hamels has won seven straight road decisions for Texas. He’s pitched fewer than than five innings in each of his last two starts and three of his last four. He’ 0-1 with a 6.25 ERA in his two previous interleague starts since coming to Texas and is 2-2 with a 2.61 ERA in 12 career starts against the St. Louis Cardinals.
