ARLINGTON, Texas -- Colby Lewis said he disappointed to hear boos from the crowd of 37,188 at Rangers Ballpark when he was lifted in the sixth inning of Sunday’s 8-2 loss to the A’s.

“I thought we had better fans than that,’’ Lewis said. “I mean, it’s the first time I’ve given up more than five runs. I walk a guy, and now they boo me?

“It was disappointing,’’ he said.

Lewis was unsuccessful for the eighth time in a bid for his tenth win. In those eight starts, including one run on Sunday, the Rangers have scored only eight runs with Lewis on the mound.

“It is what it is,’’ said Lewis, who has answered questions about a lack of offense for the last several games. “My job is to keep us in the game, no matter what the score is.’’

Lewis was doing just that midway through Saturday's game. The Rangers trailed 2-1 in the fifth inning when Lewis made an errant throw on a potential double-play ball that would have ended the inning. The error led to two Oakland runs, growing the deficit to 4-1.

“I make that play 10 times out of 10,’’ Lewis said. “I caught the ball, got my feet set and I just didn‘t make the throw.’’

Said Rangers manager Ron Washington: “Anytime you have a chance to get two outs with one pitch and you don’t get them, that’s big. We had a chance to get off the field 2-1.’’

* Oakland pitcher Gio Gonzalez handcuffed the Rangers on five hits to earn his 12^th win.

“Gonzalez has one the better left-handed curveballs in the league,’’ Rangers right fielder David Murphy said.

Murphy said it was a game when the Rangers were close, but unsuccessful, on several defensive plays.

“You can find plays where the game could have been a lot closer,’’ Murphy said. “It just wasn’t our day.’’

* Michael Young said the Rangers are playing good baseball. “We ran into guys the last two games that pitched well,’’ he said.

But Young added that the team’s execution needs to go way up in the final month.

“We get a good collective effort and we’ll win some games,’’ Young said.

* Washington said Oakland’s pitching staff “can give anybody fits.’’

* Oakland didn’t hurt its standing as the best team in baseball in the daytime. The A’s are 31-13 in day games. They trail the Rangers in the AL West by 7½ games and open a four-game series at New York on Monday.

Oakland still has a four-game home series against the Rangers on Sept. 23-26.