Rangers Notes: Choo Hits for Cycle against Rockies

Shin-Soo Choo rounds the bases on his 12th home run of the season Tuesday at Coors Field.

Nearly 30 years to the date after Oddibe McDowell became the first Rangers player to hit for the cycle, outfielder Shin-Soo Choo accomplished the feat last Tuesday in Denver.

Choo drove in the first Texas run of the game with an RBI double off Kyle Kendrick in the second inning, then hit his 12th home run of the year leading off the top of the fourth.

One inning later, he greeted reliever Yohan Flande with an RBI single into right field, leaving him a triple shy of the cycle before the game was half over.

Following a groundout in the top of the seventh, Choo led off the ninth inning against left-hander Rex Brothers. With a count of 1-1, he drove a fastball over the head of center fielder Charlie Blackmon and off the wall, completing his historic performance with a headfirst dive into third base for the triple.

“I wasn’t thinking about it, because [Brothers] is not an easy pitcher” Choo said of hitting for the cycle. “A left-handed pitcher with pretty good stuff. I just tried to hit the ball hard. I hit it well, but I thought [Blackmon] might catch it.”

Choo became the first Korean-born player to hit for the cycle in the majors, as well as the eighth player to accomplish the feat in a Texas uniform. Outfielder Alex Rios was the last Ranger to hit for the cycle when he did so against the Houston Astros on Sept. 23, 2013.

Choo’s 4-for-5 evening came as part of a 9-0 Texas rout over Colorado in which Matt Harrison earned his first victory since May 2014, scattering seven hits over six shutout innings.

On Monday, the Rockies’ Ben Paulsen delivered a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth after Texas had rallied from a 7-0 deficit to tie the game, and the Rangers won the rubber match Wednesday afternoon, 10-8, behind three RBIs apiece from Mitch Moreland and Elvis Andrus.

Texas ran its winning streak to four games with close victories in Anaheim both Friday and Saturday, but the Angels prevented a series sweep by beating the Rangers, 13-7, in Sunday afternoon’s finale.

Odor Named Player of the Week

Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor was named the American League Player of the Week on Monday after batting .385 (10-for-26) with seven extra-base hits and nine runs scores over his previous six games.

Odor, 21, connected for three home runs during the week and ranked third in the A.L. with a .923 slugging percentage. On Wednesday in Denver, he tallied a new career high with four runs scored and came within a double of hitting for the cycle.

The honor comes after Odor, the club’s Opening Day second baseman, spent much of May and the first half of June refining his offensive approach at Triple-A Round Rock.

“He came into spring training thinking he was going to be a slugger, hit a bunch of home runs,” Texas manager Jeff Banister said of Odor.

“I think he’s come to the realization now that most home runs are mistakes by the pitchers. You still got to put a swing on it. You go up there trying to jerk everything into the seats, it doesn’t really work out for you.”

Martinez Recalled from Round Rock

Right-hander Nick Martinez was recalled from Triple-A to start last Monday’s game in Colorado, with swingman Anthony Ranaudo getting optioned to Round Rock in a corresponding roster move.

The 24-year-old Martinez returned to the Rangers’ rotation after making a pair of starts for Triple-A earlier this month.

In 16 starts for Texas this season, Martinez had posted a 5-5 record with an earned run average of 3.43 across 97 innings pitched.

Rangers Notes: Texas Upended by Red-Hot Rockies

Donnie Murphy (right) suffered a neck strain when he tried to beat out an infield single Wednesday against Colorado.

After enduring a home sweep at the hands of the division-leading Athletics last week, the Rangers rebounded well enough to take two of three from Los Angeles over the weekend. Things quickly went south from there, however, as Texas dropped each of its two games in Colorado before splitting a pair with the Rockies at Globe Life Park.

The Rangers managed to avoid a potential sweep on Thursday by winning the series finale in Arlington, but they appeared completely over-matched through the first three games. From Monday through Wednesday, Colorado outscored Texas by a 29 to 5 composite margin while racking up 50 hits along the way.

Scoring early and often against Martin Perez and the Rangers bullpen Monday, the Rockies tallied 10 extra-base hits en route to an 8-2 win at Coors Field.

Colorado cruised to an even bigger margin of victory on Tuesday, beating Texas 12-1 and forcing the Rangers to use designated hitter Mitch Moreland in an emergency pitching situation.

Starter Robbie Ross lasted into the sixth inning before giving way to a weary Alexi Ogando, who had already appeared in an A.L.-leading 17 games this season. Ogando retired just one batter while surrendering four runs on six hits and a walk.

When relievers Shawn Tolleson and Neal Cotts also proved ineffective, Rangers manager Ron Washington elected to have Moreland – a former college closer at Mississippi State – pitch the bottom of the eighth rather than use another bullpen arm.

As it turned out, Moreland tossed the only perfect inning of the night for Texas, retiring the side in order on two fly balls to Alex Rios and a broken-bat grounder back to the mound hit by Charlie Blackmon.

On Wednesday, the Rangers returned to North Texas only to experience similar results as they had in Denver, getting hammered again as the Rockies pounded out 16 hits (including three apiece by Nolan Arenado and DJ LeMahieu) on the way to a 9-2 victory.

Right-hander Colby Lewis lasted just three and two-thirds innings against a balanced Colorado lineup, and Adrian Beltre homered for the second straight night to provide the Rangers with their only real highlight of the game.

Although the Rockies’ Nolan Arenado extended his hitting streak to a club-record 28 games Thursday, Texas finally ended its three-game losing skid with a 5-0 win over Colorado, marking the Rangers’ league-leading seventh shutout this season.

Matt Harrison earned his first victory since undergoing multiple back surgeries on Thursday, tossing five and one-third scoreless frames before turning it over to the bullpen procession of Nick Martinez, Aaron Poreda, Jason Frasor and Joakim Soria.

Last Friday in Anaheim, Texas rebounded from an early deficit by scoring three times in the sixth inning and two more in the seventh, led by home runs from Shin-Soo Choo and Alex Rios while paving the way for a 5-2 win.

The Rangers again cut into an early Angels lead on Saturday after C.J. Cron delivered an RBI single on the first pitch he saw in the majors. Los Angeles battled back, however, as Cron later drove in the go-ahead run with a sixth-inning single to seal a 5-3 victory for the Halos.

Yu Darvish finally received a surplus of run support in Sunday’s rubber game, as Texas plated nine runs while he was on the mound and another five in the top of the ninth, part of a 14-3 win at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

Germano in, Baker out in ‘Pen Shuffle

With their bullpen in relative shambles following the two games in Colorado, the Rangers on Wednesday optioned outfielder Dan Robertson back to Triple-A and purchased the contract of right-hander Scott Baker from Round Rock.

The veteran Baker did exactly what he was expected to do in his first appearance for Texas, limiting the damage against the Rockies while eating up five and one-third innings of needed relief.

Less than 24 hours later, however, Baker was designated for assignment as the club added right-hander Justin Germano to its active roster on Thursday, a difficult decision on the heels of Baker’s great outing the night before.

“It stinks,” Texas general manager Jon Daniels said. “He did everything we asked. Unfortunately we are at a spot where the bullpen is taxed because our starters are not getting deep into games.”

Prospects Odor, Sardinas to Platoon at Second

Infielder Donnie Murphy was placed on the 15-day disabled list Thursday with a strained neck, which was the result of a tumble he took at first base trying to beat out a ground ball on Wednesday.

Murphy had split playing time at second base with Josh Wilson this season while Jurickson Profar recovers from a shoulder injury, but Wilson was designated for assignment Thursday as the Rangers called up Rougned Odor and Luis Sardinas from Double-A Frisco.

Odor and Sardinas, both 20 years of age, are the two youngest players in the majors this season, and Odor will be looking to make his big-league debut this weekend against the Red Sox.