released from his contract after breaking a bone in the back of his hand during a game against the Detroit Tigers. Saltalamacchia played in 61 games that season, batting .253 with three home runs and 26 RBIs. One of those home runs was Saltalamacchia's first career grand slam, which helped lift the Rangers to a 13–9 victory over the Cleveland Indians on May 23, 2008. Laird recalled later that Saltalamacchia struggled with the pressure placed on him both by himself and by the Rangers, and that "[s]ometimes you could see he wasn't being himself". His season came to an end on September 1, when an injured elbow forced the Rangers to shut him down. After the regular season ended, Saltalamacchia spent time with the Leones del Escogido of the Dominican Winter League, batting .364 with nine home runs and 21 RBIs in 20 games before returning home. The Rangers traded Laird to the Tigers after the 2008 season, leaving the starting catcher role open for 2009. Saltalamacchia earned the position out of spring training after Taylor Teagarden showed poor pitch blocking and stamina and Max Ramírez suffered an injury. His time at the position was hindered, however, by tingling and numbness in Saltalamacchia's throwing arm and hand that got increasingly worse as the season went on. The symptoms worsened to the point that Saltalamacchia had to leave a game in the fourth inning, and he was placed on the 15-day disabled list on August 15. The symptoms were ultimately traced back to a car accident that Saltalamacchia had survived in June: the collision caused Saltalamacchia's top rib to pinch a nerve, a condition known as thoracic outlet syndrome, and he required surgery to remove the bone. Saltalamacchia was limited to only 84 games during the 2009 season, during which he batted .233 with nine home runs and 34 RBIs. He attempted to play once more in the Dominican Winter Leagues but had to be shut down after experiencing shoulder discomfort. Saltalamacchia opened the 2010 MLB season with the fourth opening day walk-off win in Rangers history, driving in David Murphy with an RBI single to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5–4. The back pain and shoulder inflammation that had bothered him during spring training, however, had returned in full by the second game of the season, and Saltalamacchia was placed on the 15-day disabled list on April 8 with upper