(Reuters) - Texas Rangers starting pitcher Colby Lewis has signed a one-year contract to remain with the American League club despite having season-ending surgery in July to repair a torn tendon in his elbow, the team said on Monday.

Financial terms of the deal for the 33-year-old Lewis, who could have become a free agent following the 2012 Major League Baseball season, were not disclosed.

Lewis, the Opening Day starter for Texas this season, went 6-6 with a 3.43 earned run average (ERA) in 16 starts for the Rangers in 2012 and has compiled a 32-29 record with a 3.93 ERA since rejoining the club prior to the 2010 campaign.

A first-round draft pick by Texas in 1999, Lewis spent the first six years of his professional career in the Rangers organization before injuries and poor form sent him out of the major leagues.

Lewis regained his form and confidence after a two-year stint with the Hiroshima Carp in Japan and re-signed with Texas before the 2010 season.

The right-hander has thrived in the postseason for a Rangers team that represented the American League in the World Series the past two years.

Lewis has gone 4-1 in eight career postseason starts with a 2.34 ERA that trails only New York Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera (0.70) among active pitchers with 50 or more innings.

(Reporting by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Frank Pingue)