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Break it! Choo hits 21st HR of season, one shy of career-high

September 29, 2015

Choo Shin-soo has his sight on breaking his single season home run record. (AP)

Choo Shin-soo has his sight set on breaking his single season home run record. (AP)

Texas Rangers’ Korean outfielder Choo Shin-soo hit his 21st home run of the season early in the game against the Detroit Tigers at home Tuesday night.

The 33-year-old $130 million left-handed batter has five games left to set new personal record. He hit 22 home runs in 2010 while he was with the Cleveland Indians.

He was in a similar situation with the Cincinnati Reds in 2013, but went without a homer for the last 13 games.

The Rangers fell behind right away in the top of the first inning, by allowing a two-run home run to J.D. Martinez of the Tigers, but Choo immediately tied the score at 2-2 with a two-run shot of his own in the bottom half of the first inning. Martinez’s 38th home run of the year came off Rangers ace Cole Hamels, and Choo hit one against Tigers’ rookie left-hander Daniel Norris.

Choo also hit a double in the fourth inning and scored on Adrian Beltre’s ground-rule double to give the Rangers a 7-6 lead. That turned out to be the winning run as the final score did not change.

After struggling to hit less than .100 in April, Choo has recovered nicely. His batting average is all the up to .276.

His power is still there, but his speed appears to have left him. Choo has stolen only four bases this year, after registering only three last year. He was also caught stealing to end the eighth inning in this game.

Choo has also stuck out more than 130 times for the fourth consecutive year.

The Rangers (85-72) have a two-game lead in the American League West division race over the streaking Los Angeles Angels (83-74) who have won seven straight. They are also 2.5 games ahead of the Houston Astros (83-75) for the last AL Wild Card spot.

The Rangers and the Angels each have five games remaining, while the Astros have only have four games left.

The Minnesota Twins (81-75) also remain in the hunt.

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**This article has been updated and corrected.