OAKLAND, Calif. — Eduardo Rodriguez lost a no-hitter in the eighth inning on Sunday when a ball struck him in the foot and went for an infield single. But the real pain was still to come for the Red Sox.

A walkoff error in the bottom of the ninth inning, somehow the fourth this season, sent the Sox to a 1-0 loss against the Oakland Athletics.

Four outs from history, the Sox instead fell out of a tie for first place in the American League East.

“Any time you’re walked off, there’s a deflating feeling in that. When you have a miscue involved in there, it stings a little bit more,’’ manager John Farrell said.

Maybe they should be used to it. The Sox have trudged off the field after wild throws and dropped catches. This time it was a misplay in the outfield.

Craig Kimbrel walked leadoff hitter Danny Valencia. Khris Davis then pulled the next pitch to left field for a double.

A loss may have been inevitable at that point but the Sox sped up the process.

The ball struck the warning track and caromed off the padded wall. Brock Holt turned and ran two steps trying to catch the deflection over his shoulder. The ball struck the heel of his glove and popped out.

Holt stumbled while picking the ball up and Valencia easily beat the relay throw to the plate.

“We could have held him there at third. It kicked off the wall harder than I expected,’’ Holt said.

The loss wasted what was a brilliant effort by Rodriguez. He walked two, struck out five, and threw 72 of 110 pitches for strikes. Never before, he said, had he taken a no-hit bid so deep.

“He had an explosive fastball today and as the game went on, he even picked up some power,’’ Farrell said.

For the first time this season, Rodriguez started the eighth. He got two outs on three pitches, both ground balls to third base. Marcus Semien was next and he hit a ball back at Rodriguez on one low hop.

The ball struck Rodriguez on the right cleat and he scrambled to pick it up and throw to first. Umpire Laz Diaz called Semien out but the call was quickly overturned on review.

“You can ask anybody who loses a no-hitter how that feels,’’ Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez was expecting bad news when Oakland challenged the call. It was evident to most everybody in Oakland Coliseum that Semien had beaten the throw.

“It was close but I knew he was going to be safe,’’ Rodriguez said.

First baseman Hanley Ramirez was not able to fully stretch to get to the ball, which may have contributed to Semien ultimately being called safe. Farrell felt that was an effect of the pitcher scrambling to get the ball.

Rodriguez got the final out of the inning — naturally on a cleanly fielded ball back to the mound. David Ortiz hugged him as he got back to the dugout.

“He said I did the best job I could do,’’ Rodriguez said.

There were a few nice defensive plays by his teammates, but Rodriguez diced up the Athletics with a mix of velocity and well-located off-speed pitches.

“Man, he was great,’’ second baseman Dustin Pedroia said.

Rodriguez came out of a no-hit bid in the fifth inning in Baltimore on Aug. 16 because of pain in his left hamstring. He did not pitch again for nearly two weeks and was shaky when he did, giving up five runs in 5⅓ innings against Kansas City.

That Rodriguez was at his best on Sunday was reassuring for the Sox.

“It is extremely important to us as we continue to build out this rotation going into the final 3-4 weeks here,’’ Farrell said.

Said Rodriguez: “I was able to do the best I could do . . . I feel normal with my body and I can just pitch.’’

Kimbrel replaced Rodriguez to start the ninth inning and walked Valencia on five pitches, missing badly four times. Davis then hit a fastball that was inside, as Kimbrel intended. Just maybe not enough inside.

“The fact that we walked off the field with a loss bothers me,’’ Kimbrel said. “Eddie threw such a great game. It’s disappointing. We should have had a sweep here.’’

Kimbrel (2-4) has put 27 runners on base over 17⅓ innings in non-save situations. With a save on the line he has put 20 runners on over 26⅔ innings. But Farrell wanted his best reliever in the game at that point.

“Where we were, in the middle of their order with the power that they had, Kimbrel was the guy to go to,’’ the manager said.

Oakland had already used its closer, Ryan Madson. So Farrell felt confident the Sox would be fine in extra innings.

As Rodriguez dispatched of the Athletics, the Red Sox hitters were turned aside by Oakland starter Kendall Graveman, Ryan Dull, and Madson.

After scoring 27 runs on 34 hits in the first two games of the series, the Sox were held to six singles and left nine men on base. They were hitless in seven at-bats with runners in scoring position.

Ramirez just missed a three-run homer in the fourth inning. Holt lined out to shortstop later in that frame with the bases loaded. Both Ortiz and Xander Bogaerts threw their bats down in disgust after leaving men on base.

The Sox are 7-38 when they score three or fewer runs.

Peter Abraham can be reached at pabraham@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @PeteAbe.