The good news was that A's right-hander Jarrod Parker needed just four pitches to get through the eighth inning on Monday night, but the bad news was that he gave up his first hit on the second pitch of the frame. Texas' Michael Young singled on Parker's 109th pitch of the night, breaking up the 23-year-old's no-hit bid.
Parker walked three and struck out six in eight innings, while allowing just the one hit. He got out of the eight on two pitches after Young's single by getting Nelson Cruz to pop up to second and David Murphy to hit into a double play.
Parker's 111 pitches were one shy of a career-high, and his eight innings set a new personal best. Jim Miller came into the game in the ninth for Oakland to finish off the team's 12-1 victory over the Rangers.
In his first season with the A's, Parker has allowed two or fewer runs in seven of his eight starts this season. The rookie improved to 2-2 with a 2.40 ERA on the season. The A's sent Trevor Cahill to Arizona in exchange for Parker in one of the off-season's biggest trades.
Oakland had lost 10 of its last 11 games heading into Monday's game and Parker hadn't recorded a victory since May 1.
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