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Salty Performance In Ninth Inning Helped Texas Rangers To 10-Inning Win Over Houston Astros

ARLINGTON - The Ballpark fans stood and cheered as the tribute to Pudge Rodriguez played on the Jumbotron before the Houston Astros took the field in the bottom of the third inning on Wednesday night. The other catcher, first up for the Rangers, backed away and left the dirt area around the batter’s box to allow Mr. 2,227 Games Played his due.

“I wanted to let him enjoy every moment,” Jarrod Saltalamacchia said.

Salty at this point can only claim the all-time major league record for letters in a surname at 14. But he was instrumental in the Rangers’ 5-4 win with a third-inning home run and two critical throws to second base in the top of the ninth to keep the Astros scoreless after they got the leadoff man aboard. Maybe it’s coincidence his performance came a day after putting in some extra work on throws to second in the early afternoon heat. Maybe not.

Here’s what Saltalamacchia specifically worked on early Tuesday: “I got lackadaisical as far as getting my butt up and standing up. When I stand up, the ball goes straight down. I was working on staying down and throwing through the bag.”

After Hunter Pence’s eighth-inning homer pulled the Astros even, Houston put its leadoff man on in the ninth when No. 9 hitter Jason Michaels singled to left field off C.J. Wilson. That put left-handed hitting Michael Bourn in a bunting situation. His bunt on a 1-0 pitch barely covered any ground, and Saltalamacchia was able to grab it and fire to shortstop Omar Vizquel to force Michaels.

“He [Wilson] threw a good slider,” Saltalamacchia said. “The bunt stayed right in front of me, so I had plenty of time to make the throw down to second.”

That brought up Jeff Keppinger with Bourn, the National League leader in steals with 22, on first. Bourn took off on a fastball, and Saltalamacchia-to-Vizquel clicked again.

“Omar did an unbelievable job of catching that ball,” Saltalamacchia said. “It was sinking down and into the runner. Most guys kind of tend to let that ball slide or something. He caught it.”

Vizquel, who in the fifth inning tied Luis Aparicio for the most career hits by a Venezuelan big-league native, said there really wasn’t much for him to do at his end of the equation: “You have get in in advance there to the bag and know where it is and try to catch the ball.”

Saltalamacchia also homered leading off the third inning to give the Rangers a short-lived 2-1 lead. That ended a personal 15-game homerless streak dating to the Rangers’ visit to Houston in late May, when he homered in the first and third games of the series.

“I’ve got to steal a little bit of the spotlight [from Pudge], let him know there’s an up-and-comer,” he said.

With Matt Harrison returning from the disabled list for his first start since May 25, having Saltalamacchia behind the plate ended the short-term Harrison-Taylor Teagarden arrangement that appeared to work well during the first half of May. But Saltalamacchia probably knows Harrison better than anyone else, going back to their days together in the Atlanta organization – both signed in 2003 – and coming to Texas together in the ‘07 Mark Teixeira trade. Harrison worked five innings, throwing 86 pitches and left with a 4-3 lead, negated by the Pence homer.

“I kind felt back on the [same] page with him,” Harrison said. “He caught a good game. I just didn’t get ahead as much as I wanted to, kind of limited what we could do.”

Manager Ron Washington has said he doesn’t see matching catchers to starters, though Teagarden will be matched again Thursday with Vicente Padilla after being credited with steadying him through his last start. And Washington has said the summer heat will mean Teagarden will start more than once a week to ensure Saltalamacchia doesn’t get worn down.