Royals’ Appier Has One-Hitter, but It’s Enough for Him to Lose

It was a game Kevin Appier will always remember, but one he will try to forget.

Appier had a no-hitter for six innings Tuesday night when Rafael Palmeiro knocked a slider over the fence in the seventh inning for his 21st home run, not only ending Appier’s no-hit bid but giving the Texas Rangers a 1-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

Palmeiro’s homer on a 1-0 pitch was the only hit Appier (11-5) gave up in pitching his third complete game of the season. He had given up only one walk and retired 16 consecutive batters before Palmeiro’s homer.

“Take away that one hit and it’s definitely the best game I’ve ever pitched,” Appier said. “He hit a pretty good slider down. He just put a good swing on it.”

The homer made a winner of Kenny Rogers (8-6), who gave up nine hits before getting last-out relief help from Tom Henke, who earned his 22nd save.

“That’s one of the best pitching performances I’ve seen all year; no, it was the best,” Palmeiro said. “We really had our hands full. I was not trying to hit the ball out of the park; I was just trying to hit it somewhere.”

Appier fanned two Rangers in each of the first three innings and finished with a career-high 11 strikeouts, at least one in every inning.