Ryan Has Another Near-Miss, 2 Outs From No-Hitter

Nolan Ryan now has a near-miss for each of his five no-hitters.

Ryan, for the fifth time in his career, lost a no-hit bid in the ninth inning when Dave Bergman singled with one out Thursday night as the Texas Rangers beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-1.

“The pitch Bergman hit was a good pitch,” Ryan said. “I felt he was sitting on a curveball. He just hit it in the gap where there wasn’t anybody.”

Three other times this season, Ryan took a no-hitter into the eighth inning but those also ended in disappointment.

Ryan (13-7) struck out 13 and walked six in his 286th career victory. He left the game after Bergman, a .260 hitter, lined a clean, opposite-field single to left field and Matt Nokes followed with a double.

Jeff Russell relieved Ryan and got his 25th save, giving up Chet Lemon’s RBI grounder.

Ryan has 11 career one-hitters, including two this season. On April 23, he also lost a no-hitter with one out in the ninth when Toronto’s Nelson Liriano tripled.

Ryan passed the 200-strikeout mark for the 13th time in his 21-year career. He has 4,986 strikeouts as he closes in on becoming the first pitcher with 5,000.

The Rangers made only one tough play to keep Ryan’s no-hit bid alive. Center fielder CecilEspy made a diving catch on Bergman’s line drive in the fourth inning.

Texas got a run in the first on Harold Baines’ run-scoring double off Doyle Alexander (5-13).

Ruben Sierra’s 19th home run in the sixth, Chad Kreuter’s second homer in the seventh and Pete Incaviglia’s 15th homer in the eighth gave Ryan a 4-0 lead.