Prior to Monday night's series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays, Colby Lewis' last outing ended in a blowout Texas Rangers win in which the veteran right-hander shut out the Chicago White Sox in a complete-game effort.
That game marked the pinnacle of Lewis' return from two surgeries and was the best he's looked since the 2010 postseason, and it was the fourth straight outing that Lewis had been continuously getting better. All of that progress, however, came to a crashing, fiery end on Monday night.
Lewis lasted just five innings, gave up five runs and five hits and walked four batters while hitting another as the Rangers lost 7-0 to open their homestand. Lewis' wheels came off early when his own throwing error resulted in three unearned runs after a bunt attempt that saw Lewis spike his throw to first base.
The dud wasn't too surprising, even if Lewis had been the Rangers' best pitcher over the past month. He did throw a season-high 110 pitches in his previous outing, and while they were low-leverage innings considering the Rangers won that game 16-0, they were high-leverage in regards to him chasing that complete-game shutout, which he eventually got.
The Rangers still hope Lewis can finish the season strong and possibly play into their 2015 rotation plans as he's a free agent this winter. They're also hoping that game back on Aug. 5 wasn't the last shining moment for the veteran righty.
