Lewis, Treanor Earn Their Keep: Rangers 2 Mariners 0

Colby Lewis officially showed what he was capable of Friday – why he is one of the few pitchers to successfully come back to the Major Leagues after a two-year randeveau in Japan.

During no doubt his best performance of the season, he pitched nine innings of scoreless ball, striking out 10 and only walking one. He didn’t allow a hit from the third inning on and kept the Rangers in the contest, which would remain scoreless for both sides until the 12th. It was the first time in 18 years a Rangers game saw no runs on the board through 11 innings. Lewis now leads the American League in strikeouts with 38 of them and a 2.76 ERA. His strikeout total also gave him another honor – the first Rangers pitcher since Nolan Ryan to put up three double-digit strikeout games in April. I thought Rich Harden was supposed to be the strike throwing machine.

Lewis upstaged the much-anticipated season debut of former Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee, who went seven innings and fanned eight for the Mariners. After Lewis left, the Mariners loaded the bases in the 10th after an intentional walk to Adam Moore set up the double play. Pinch hitter Mike Sweeney grounded the ball to Elvis Andrus, who started the 6-4-3 double play in Ian Kinsler’s first game back at second base.

But it was Lewis’s battery mate, catcher Matt Treanor whose quick thinking saved the game for the Rangers in the 11th. Ichiro Suzuki, who is obviously a speed threat, led off the inning with a single. Chone Figgins bunted for a hit and Jose Lopez walked. With Eric Byrnes pinch hitting and Ichiro at third, the Mariners attempted a suicide squeeze. But Byrnes pulled back at the last second and decided not to bunt, giving Treanor a heads-up to find the ball at home plate and tag Ichiro out.

After navigating two scary situations, the Rangers found a less than conventional way to score in the top of the 12th inning. Andrus chipped a ball that died behind the mound for a hit. Young singled but reached second on a throwing error. With Hamilton up, Mariners pitcher Brandon League threw a wild pitch to break the scoreless tie. Hamilton was intentionally walked and Julio Borbon hit a grounder to score the second run. Neftali Feliz threw a three up, three down ninth to secure the victory.

The Rangers used a combination of the Mariners misfortune and their own good fortune to win the game. Good to see.