Texas Rangers: Shin-Soo Choo Sparks Win in Minnesota

Don’t look now but the Texas Rangers have won six games in a row after they breezed by the Minnesota Twins, 8-1, on Friday.

The Texas Rangers are the hottest team in baseball. You read that right, Hottest team in baseball. Following a decisive 8-1 victory in Minnesota, the Rangers have now won six in a row. Pitching, hitting and defense have come together on this nice streak that brought Texas back to .500 in the month of June. Unfortunately they are still just 33-44 overall but the Texas Rangers are definitely trending in the right direction.

Shin-Soo Choo: What Can We Say?

The hottest team in baseball is following the lead of the hottest hitter in baseball. Shin-Soo Choo has now extended his on-base streak to 35 games and he did so in style. Choo bombed a 2-run homer in the 5th inning for his 14th of the year. Choo’s homer doubled the Rangers lead to 4 and was more than enough for Texas to hold on for the win.

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Choo has done nothing but impress in this 35 game streak where he has reached base more than 70 times. On the season, his batting average is an impressive .280. Pair that with .391 on-base percentage and Choo has taken a firm grip on Texas’ leadoff spot. Over the month of June, Choo is hitting .333 which is among the best in baseball. However his prowess at the plate has many wondering if he’s playing his way into trade discussions.

Recap

The common theme in this win streak has been scoring first and it was more of the same tonight. Texas scored 2 in the 4th inning and Shin-Soo Choo added 2 more in the 5th to give the Rangers a commanding 4-0 lead. Mike Minor, who got the start on the mound, gave up one run in the 6th but that was all the Twins would get in the game as the bullpen would come in and shut them down. Just for insurance however, Texas manufactured 4 insurance runs in the 9th to come away with the decisive 8-1 win.

Notables

Shin-Soo Choo (TEX) 2-4, HR (14), 3 RBI

Nomar Mazara (TEX) 2-5, 2 RBI

Adrian Beltre (TEX) 2-5, 2 RBI, 2B (10)

Joe Mauer (MIN) 1-4, RBI, 2B (9)

WP: Mike Minor (5-4) 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 K

LP: Fernando Romero (3-3) 6 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 4 K

SV: Jesse Chavez (1) 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 SO

Next: Adrian Beltre to the Philadelphia Phillies?

Next Game

The Texas Rangers will look to continue their win streak tomorrow in Minnesota. First pitch is set for 1:10 CT. Texas will send Yovani Gallardo to the mound to face Twins starter, Jake Odorizzi.