Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Kevin Slowey had a no-hitter through seven innings Sunday against the Oakland Athletics and was removed from the game after throwing 106 pitches. The Twins were up 1-0 when Slowey left the field and scored three runs in their half of the seventh inning. Reliever Jon Rauch came on in the eighth to strike out Chris Carter before losing the no-hitter, allowing a double to 9-hitter Cliff Pennington.

Had Slowey finished the job, it would have been the first Twins no-hitter since September 11, 1999, when Eric Milton beat the Angels. If Rauch and the bullpen had finished it off, it would have been the first combined no-hitter since six Houston Astros pitchers shut down the New York Yankees on June 11, 2003.

The last pitcher removed from a no-hitter, having thrown at least seven innings, was Damian Moss in 2002 for the Braves in St. Louis (Moss threw 116 pitches).

The last AL pitcher removed after seven no-hit innings was David Cone for the Yankees in Oakland on September 2, 1996 (Cone's 1st start back from injury).

As a result, the A's still have the longest drought of any AL team without being no-hit. Oakland has gone 19 full seasons without being no-hit, and Nolan Ryan was the last to do it, on June 11, 1990.