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.
Nate's Notes 
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