On A Roll

Colby Lewis (above) did it all as the Rangers took the rubber-match against the Brewers 7-2. Texas took two out of three against Milwaukee, it's fourth straight series victory to start the month of June. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

For only the third time all season, the Texas Rangers (35-28) have won a series on the road. While it was against the team with the worst home-record in the National League, the Milwaukee Brewers (26-37), Texas can still hang it's hat knowing it's still a half-game up in the American League West.

It didn't go as smoothly as maybe Texas would have liked it, but starter Colby Lewis (W, 6-4) made sure in the final game of the series that these Rangers' would come out on top - both on the mound and at the plate. Lewis out-dueled Milwaukee Ace Yovani Gallardo (L, 6-3), pitching eight innings of two-run baseball while tying a career-high with 10 strikeouts. Not to mention Lewis went 2-4 from the plate with two RBI off Gallardo. One such situation came in the sixth inning after Gallardo intentionally walked Andres Blanco, loading the bases, to get to Lewis who subsequently belted a two-run single down the left-field line - culminating an eight-pitch at-bat.

"The last two years, I was able to swing the bat kind of like a National Leaguer over there in Japan," said Lewis, who spent the last two years playing baseball in Japan with the Hiroshima Carp. "I feel like it was a little bit of an advantage just to see a lot of pitches the last two years, just getting at-bats in Japan."

The Texas offense, led by Lewis, managed seven runs on nine hits and also drew seven walks - a season-high. Josh Hamilton chipped-in three RBI and Julio Borbon knocked in two more and, along with Lewis, combined to knock in all seven Texas runs.

Aside from dominating the final game of the three-game set, Texas struggled to pull out a split of the first two games of the series.

The first game of the series saw Rangers' starter Rich Harden (L, 3-3) lay an egg for the fourth outing in a row. Harden went six innings, gave up six runs on seven hits (four homers) and walked three batters as Texas lost 6-2. As a result, Harden is now on the 15-day D.L. as his inconsistent play has put Texas in a tough spot all-year long. It's being officially termed as a strained glute muscle, but I wouldn't expect him back in the starting rotation for the Rangers as Derek Holland and other young Texas pitchers are ready and waiting for the opportunity.

"He couldn't get the ball in on those right-handers," said manager Ron Washington after Friday's 6-2 loss in Milwaukee.

The Rangers' bats weren't exactly lighting it up in that first game either, managing only two runs on Brewers' rookie pitcher Chris Narveson (W, 5-3). It was only the second time in the month of June that Texas had scored less than three runs in a game, and only the fourth game scoring under five (out of 13 games).

Saturday's game saw the Rangers cruise into the eighth inning with a 4-0 lead, only to see it slip to 4-3 as Neftali Feliz blew it in the ninth inning. Texas starter Scott Feldman (W, 4-6) pitched six innings and didn't give up a run for the first time all season (13 starts), while striking out a season-high six batters.

"He threw really well," said Brewers' right fielder Corey Hart, who went two for three with a two-run homer off Harden the night before. "We looked at some of his previous starts and his curveball wasn't nearly as effective as it was tonight."

However, Texas found themselves clinging to a 4-2 lead with one out in the ninth and the bases-loaded. Chris Ray relieved Feliz and got Hart to ground into a fielder's choice, but Milwaukee still got another run in and had runners on first and third with Prince Fielder coming to the plate. Luckily for the Rangers, Ray was able to induce a pop-out to left from Fielder, and Texas was able to squeak out the win - 4-3.

The number four, five, and six hitters in the Rangers' lineup provided the pop, as Hamilton, Justin Smoak and David Murphy combined to drive in all four Texas runs. Even without Vladimir Guerrero, who will sit some games out on this National League road trip as a precaution, the Rangers cranked out four runs on nine hits to get the win.

Aside from the final game, it certainly wasn't pretty for these Rangers as they struggled mightily in the first two games of the series just to make sure there was a rubber match. But, any way you slice it, these Rangers have won every series they've played this month and are seven games above .500 for only the second time all season.

Texas gets it's first day off this month before traveling to Florida to take on the Marlins Tuesday night. Florida is 31-32 this season overall and 17-15 at home. C.J. Wilson (5-3, 3.52 ERA) is expected to make the start for the Rangers while Josh Johnson (7-2, 1.91) takes the hill for the Marlins. Johnson's 1.91 ERA is the third best in the Majors.

News and Notes:

• Texas is now 9-4 in the month of June after a 15-12 May.
• Julio Borbon has now hit safely in 11 straight games.
  
• Michael Young is one hit away from tying Ivan Rodriguez for the most hits in Rangers' team history (1,747).
• Colby Lewis and Josh Hamilton were named the American League Co-Players of the Week. It's the first time a player and pitcher from the same A.L. team have shared the award in nearly 10 years.
  

(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)