WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Athletics pitcher J.T. Ginn lost his bid for a no-hitter Saturday night against the Washington Nationals when Keibert Ruiz lined a clean single to center field with one out in the seventh inning.
After the base hit, Ginn was removed from the game by manager Mark Kotsay and received a standing ovation. The right-hander exited with the A's leading 8-0 as they tried to snap a 10-game losing streak.
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Ginn struck out seven and walked three. He threw 82 pitches, 50 for strikes.
Before the seventh, Washington’s only baseruners came on a pair of two-out walks in the second and a two-out walk in the fifth. The Nationals piled up a season-high 21 hits Friday night in a 23-4 blowout against the A's.
The closest the Nationals had come to a hit was in the fifth when Dylan Crews appeared to beat out an infield single to third baseman Joshua Kuroda-Grauer. After Crews was initially ruled safe, the A’s challenged and the call was overturned following a replay review for the final out of the inning.
Kuroda-Grauer also made a diving catch in the outfield on CJ Abrams' popup in the fourth.
Ginn took a no-hitter into the ninth on May 18 at the Los Angeles Angels before walking off the mound with a heartbreaking loss. He allowed a leadoff single to Adam Frazier and a two-run homer to Zach Neto that gave the Angels a stunning 2-1 victory.
That was the only complete game for Ginn in his three-year major league career. He entered his latest outing 7-6 with a 3.67 ERA this season.
Mike Fiers pitched the most recent no-hitter for the A’s against the Cincinnati Reds in May 2019 when the team still played in Oakland.
The lone no-hitter in the majors this year came when three Houston Astros pitchers combined for a 9-0 victory over the Texas Rangers on May 25.
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This story has been corrected to show that three Houston Astros pitchers combined on a no-hitter against the Texas Rangers on May 25, not four pitchers.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
