Choo Shin-soo of the Texas Rangers enjoyed his first three-hit game of the season.
The Korean outfielder went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, as the Rangers defeated the Boston Red Sox 6-2 at Globe Life Park in Arlington on Sunday (local time). It was his first three-hit effort since September last year.
(Yonhap)
The productive night raised Choo's batting average to .270. The right fielder has missed a big chunk of the season in the early going with hamstring and calf injuries. This was only his 18th game in 2016.
Batting leadoff, Choo hit a single off Boston starter Clay Buchholz to begin the game and to extend his mini hitting streak to four. After Choo got the ball rolling, the Rangers put up three runs on the board in the first inning.
Choo grounded out to second to start the second, but came back with a single off Buccholz in the fifth. He was caught stealing second later in the inning Choo capped off his day with a double in the seventh off Heath Hembree. Choo reached third on a passed ball and came home on a single by Adrian Beltre.
The Rangers improved to 49-27, the best record in the American League. They lead the Houston Astros by 10 games at the top of the AL West. Elsewhere the major, Lee Dae-ho of the Seattle Mariners went 2-for-5 with a run scored in a 11-6 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at home. Batting sixth, the Korean first baseman had his 13th multihit game of the season and raised his batting average to .282.
The much-anticipated, all-Korean showdown between Lee and the Cardinals' South Korean reliever Oh Seung-hwan didn't materialize in this three-game series. Lee and Oh have faced each other in the Korea Baseball Organization and also in the Nippon Professional Baseball. The Mariners and the Cardinals won't play each other again in 2016.
Oh, who has held down setup duties, is expected to get some save opportunities after struggling closer Trevor Rosenthal was removed from his ninth-inning role. Oh warmed up in the bullpen in the bottom eighth with the Cards up 9-6, but sat down after they scored two more runs in the top ninth and made it a non-save situation. (Yonhap)