Royals at Rangers
Given how well Shin-Soo Choo has been seeing the ball lately, it is more than a bit ironic he put his name in the record book on what was little more than an educated guess. One day after hitting a milestone home run, Choo looks to lead the Texas Rangers to their second straight series victory Sunday when they wrap up a four-game home set with the Kansas City Royals.
Choo is 9-for-27 with 14 walks over the last nine contests and has clubbed solo homers in each of his past two games, including his third career walk-off blast in the 10th inning in Saturday's 4-3 victory to give him 176 for his career and pass Hideki Matsui for the most home runs by an Asian-born player in major-league history. "It was tough seeing the ball. … The ball was really dark (because of shadows covering the infield) and I couldn't see the spin. But it was a 3-1 count so I looked in just one area and swung hard," Choo told reporters. While Texas has won four of five, Kansas City dropped back-to-back contests after a three-game winning streak to fall back into last place in the American League Central. The Royals went 3-for-8 with runners in scoring position in the setback, but they are still only batting .197 in such situations over the last eight contests.
TV: 3:05 p.m. ET, FS Kansas City, FS Southwest (Texas)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Royals RH Jason Hammel (1-5, 5.70 ERA) vs. Rangers LH Cole Hamels (3-4, 3.38)
Hammel ended a run in which he dropped his last eight decisions dating back to last season with Tuesday's victory in St. Louis, yielding one run on nine hits while striking out six in seven frames. The outing ended a brutal five-game stretch in which he went 0-4 and surrendered a total of 29 runs (28 earned) over 27 2/3 innings. Choo (5-for-14) and Nomar Mazara (2-for-6) are hitting at least .333 against Hammel, who is 1-3 with a 4.66 ERA in eight appearances (six starts) versus Texas.
Hamels extended his unbeaten streak to four starts after opening the season 1-4 with Tuesday's win over the New York Yankees, striking out seven over as many innings while giving up a pair of solo homers among the four hits he allowed. The four-time All-Star has permitted two earned runs or fewer in each of his last five turns, posting a 2.08 ERA over that span. Salvador Perez (0-for-11) is one of several Royals who have struggled versus Hamels, who is 3-1 with a 2.86 ERA in five starts against Kansas City.
WALK-OFFS
1. Royals 2B Whit Merrifield is 5-for-13 with three doubles - one in each game - and four RBIs in this series.
2. Three of the Rangers' four wins over the last five contests have come when the opposing team scored first. They went 2-22 over their first 24 such games.
3. Kansas City placed LHP Eric Skoglund (left ulnar collateral ligament sprain) on the 10-day disabled list and recalled LHP Eric Stout from Triple-A Omaha on Saturday.