Maybe the Chicago Cubs shouldn't have been so hesitant in calling up prospect catcher Kyle Schwarber. His bat has been excellent and he proved it last night, while Texas Rangers outfielder Shin-Soo Choo hit for the second cycle this MLB season.
Schwarber stepped up to the plate in the top of the ninth inning with a runner on first. The Cubs trailed the Cincinnati Reds 4-2 and had one last opportunity with closer Aroldis Chapman resting on Tuesday night. Schwarber capitalized on that.
The rookie took Reds' reliever J.J. Hoover deep to right field on a full count and tied the game to give Chicago another life. The Cubs' bullpen got the job done in the bottom half of the inning and the game continued into the 13th. At that point, Schwarber had had enough.
The 22-year-old belted a solo home run in the top of the 13th off of Nate Adcock to give the Cubs the 5-4 lead and the eventual win. He finished the game 4-for-7 with two runs scored, two home runs and four RBIs. He's now batting .410/.439/.744/1.183 with10 runs scored, 3 home runs and 10 RBIs in 11 games with the Cubs.
"He's pretty impressive," manager Joe Maddon said, via ESPN. "You focus on the hitting, but he did a really good job behind the plate. Offensively, there's a different kind of thing about him."
Check out both of his home runs below:
In Texas, the Rangers crushed the Colorado Rockies 9-0 behind Shin-Soo Choo's career night. The outfielder became the second player to hit for the cycle this season and the eighth in franchise history. Alex Rios was the last to do it back in 2013.
Boston Red Sox utility man Brock Holt became the first to hit for the cycle back in June. And like Holt, Choo achieved the feat in dramatic fashion with a triple in his final at-bat of the game.
Here's a video of each of his hits from last night:
Choo finished 4-for-5 with 3 runs scored, 1 home run and 3 RBIs. Despite his historic night, the veteran is having another down year and is batting just .235/.314/.413 with 41 runs scored, 12 home runs and 42 RBIs in 83 games.
Texas and Choo hope to rebound in the second half and catch up to the Los Angeles Angels, who lead the AL West by nine games, and Minnesota Twins, who hold the second wild-card spot by six games.
