Lewis made a supremely nifty glove flip on a Tony Kemp bunt in the sixth inning. Oh, and there was that little matter of his getting drilled in the head on Carlos Correa's line-drive comebacker in the seventh.
"I felt it a little bit," Lewis said. "Your eyes kind of shake a little bit and then I came right to. I turned and saw the ball in the air and I was worried about the out, yelling at [Rougned Odor] to get the out."
Correa led off the frame with a shot left his bat at 101 mph, according to Statcast™. The ball caromed off the back of Lewis' head high into the air and into shallow center field, where Odor reeled it in with an awkward sliding grab despite the ball's unusual spin making it difficult to track.
After the out was recorded, all attention was on Lewis, who remarkably seemed unfazed. The entire Rangers infield, head trainer Kevin Harmon and manager Jeff Banister huddled around Lewis while Correa, taken aback at the way he was retired, also showed concern for Lewis.
"It's baseball," Correa said. "Baseball is tough. I thought it was a hit, for sure, and all of a sudden it's a popup to the second baseman."
Added Banister: "He finished the inning; he's a tough man. Of all the things that Colby has been through, it was a little bit of a scary moment…We don't expect him to be so tough that he takes one off his nugget and continues to pitch."
But Lewis remained in the game anyway, finishing the inning and his night with a flourish, striking out Colby Rasmus and getting Colin Moran on a groundout after Evan Gattis' single.
"You're pumped up in that situation, you shake the other stuff off and get back to work," Lewis said. "I felt like I had the rest of the game."
Lewis completed seven scoreless frames, allowing only four hits while striking out six and walking none. He improved to 3-0 and has lasted at least seven innings in five straight starts.
Before he was hit in the head, Lewis had already made the highlight reels an inning earlier. With his glove, the righty scooped up what looked like a sure infield hit for the speedy Kemp and smoothly shoveled the ball over to first in plenty of time for the out.
Just like the shot he took minutes later, Lewis made an astonishing play look routine.
On a scale of 1-10 probably an 11," Banister said of the play. "Especially for Colby, a guy that - he's not really fast. To get over and backhand flip to first base. It's a scoop and right to Mitch, blindly flip it to him, that's as hard as it gets."
It all made for a remarkable night in Houston, where he continued his dominance of the Astros in his 100th career win. Ten of those have come against Houston, with a 10-1 overall mark and a 2.39 ERA in 94 1/3 innings.
Lewis is also 7-0 now in Minute Maid Park, and none of those wins were more memorable than his wild time on Friday night.
Chris Abshire is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
101-mph liner caroms from P to 2B for out!
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