Colby Lewis: It sucks to lose another no-hitter

OAKLAND, Calif. - When the ball left Max Muncy's bat leading off the ninth inning, Colby Lewis thought it was another fly that would move him one out closer to a no-hitter.

Instead the ball kept carrying and glanced off Texas right fielder Nomar Mazara's glove as he crashed into the wall for Oakland's first hit of the game.

''I thought he was going to get to it a lot easier,'' Lewis said. ''It is what it is. You can't throw your arms up in the air and get all mad about it. You have to go back to work.''

Related - Watch: Mazara just misses saving Lewis' no-hitter

Lewis did just that and finished off the Athletics in a 5-1 victory Thursday that left the Texas right-hander wondering what could have been. The 36-year-old Lewis just missed out on a crowning achievement to an 11-year big league career that has been hampered by injuries and included a detour in Japan.

"Ah, it sucks," Lewis told reporters after the game.

''I feel like any time you go into the ninth and you haven't given up a hit, when it happens there's a disappointment there,'' Lewis said. ''I'm not getting any younger. But I feel like it was a great day.''

Last September, Lewis also took a perfect game into the eighth against the A's. Danny Valencia broke that up with a leadoff double.

Lewis was aiming for Texas' first no-hitter since Kenny Rogers threw a perfect game in 1994. He was barely threatened the first eight innings as he got the A's to swing early in counts and only got to three balls three times in the first seven innings. He needed just 16 pitches through the fifth and sixth innings, retiring Muncy on a bunt attempt in the sixth.

''I was thinking about it after the first time through the lineup,'' Lewis said. ''Any time someone says they don't think about it, they're lying.''