Treanor comes up big in a familiar place.

Matt Treanor was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in 1994 before being traded to the Florida Marlins in 1997.  He finally made his Major League debut in 2004 against the Cincinnati Reds.  Over parts of five seasons in 274 games he hit .237 with 8 home runs and 70 rbi’s.  Basically he has spent his entire career as a backup.

This year has been a little different for Treanor though, after being released early in spring training by the Milwaukee Brewers before the Rangers picked him up as insurance in case Jarrod Saltlamacchia or Taylor Teagarden were to falter.  Little did the Rangers know both would falter and Treanor would end up on the big league roster and Teagarden and Saltlamacchia would end up at Triple A.  Treanor was eventually pushed into the starting role.

Treanor’s backup Max Ramirez is the prospect who would have been in the Boston Red Sox Minor League System if Mike Lowell had been cleared by Ranger’s medical staff.  Lucky for the Rangers, Lowell did not because last winter the Rangers thought they had some depth at the catcher position, although that depth has deteriorated.  In this trade market the Rangers are looking for a hitter and a starting pitcher to supplement the current roster.  These two more pieces could be what it takes for the Rangers to make it deep in the post season.

The Rangers came up big in tonight’s game in the first inning on a Josh Hamilton single which scored second baseman Ian Kinsler and moved Designated Hitter Vladimir Guerrero to second base making the score 1-0.  C.J. Wilson pitched a quality start going six innings only giving up two earned runs with 6 walks and 6 strikeouts.  His only blemish was in the bottom of the six inning when he gave up a homer to Hanley Ramirez which scored Gaby Sanchez.

So until the ninth inning the score was 2-1 with the Marlins in the lead.  The Marlins sent closer Leo Nunez to the mound to face off against Josh Hamilton, Justin Smoak and David Murphy if he gets all three outs.  On a 0-2 count Hamilton singled to right field.  Justin Smoak then steps up to the plate to face off against Nunez.

While Smoak is at the plate, Hamilton stole second base to put a man in scoring position.  Smoak then popped out for the first out of the inning.  David Murphy pinch hit for catcher Max Ramirez and he grounded out to get the second out of the inning, but Hamilton advanced to third base.  Julio Borbon then walked on five pitches to put men on the corners.

On the first pitch Matt Treanor blasts a triple on a line drive to center field scoring Hamilton and Borbon from first base to put the Rangers in the lead with a score of 3-2.  Feliz picked up his sixteenth save of the season working a 1-2-3 ninth inning with one strike out.  With tonight’s win the Rangers currently have a  36-28 record and are two games ahead of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the West and four games ahead of the Oakland Athletics.

So far in June the Rangers have went 11-4 in 15 games.  They are learning how to play small ball and how to win games.  This year the Rangers look better every month and I am very excited about their performance for the rest of the season.