Carrasco loses no-hitter with 1 strike to go in 9th vs Rays

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) Carlos Carrasco came within one strike of throwing the Cleveland Indians' first no-hitter since 1981 on Wednesday night, giving up an RBI single to Joey Butler over leaping second baseman Jason Kipnis' glove in an 8-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.

For the third straight night, the Indians took a perfect game into the sixth inning against the Rays. This time, Carrasco retired the first 19 batters before walking Butler with one out in the seventh.

Washington's Max Scherzer lost his perfect game with one strike to go on June 20 but finished with a no-hitter, the second in the major leagues this season.

Carrasco walked Astrubal Cabrera leading off the ninth, then hit pinch-hitter Brandon Guyer with a pitch. Grady Sizemore, also pinch hitting, grounded into a force play and Kevin Kiermaier struck out to bring Butler to the plate with a crowd of 11,394 at Tropicana Field on its feet.

Butler lined an 0-2 pitch over Kipnis, who jumped high in the air to make an attempt at the ball and fell flat to the ground as the line drive landed cleanly in the outfield. Carrasco smiled, clapped into his glove several times and pointed at the second baseman in appreciation of his effort.

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