Breaking Down Career Night by Rangers Rookie Josh Jung

The third baseman had a big night in Tuesday's victory over Seattle, but it goes deeper than home runs and RBI.

Texas Rangers rookie Josh Jung had a career night against the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night. He finished 3-for-4 with two home runs, five RBI and two run scores. The Rangers won 5-0.

But just how historic was his game from a Rangers perspective? Here are all of the things that Jung did on Tuesday night.

First, Jung’s five RBI accounted for every run scored against the Mariners. According to STATS LLC, he became just the second rookie to ever have five or more RBI and account for all the runs scored in a game since 1920. The other was Cleveland’s Joe Carter, who did it on Aug. 12, 1984, against the New York Yankees. Carter had six RBI in a 6-0 win over the Yankees.

For the first time since the Rangers moved to Texas in 1972 a player posted five or more RBI to account for all of the Rangers’ runs in a victory. It’s actually happened five other times, but all of those other instances came in losses. The other Rangers to accomplish the feat were Dave Nelson on April 17, 1973; Juan Gonzalez on July 2, 1996; Mark Teixeira on Sept. 27, 2006; Nelson Cruz on July 28, 2007; and Adrián Beltré on June 4, 2014. All five had five RBI in a game.

Among Rangers rookies, Jung is the seventh player in history to have at least two home runs and at least five RBI in a single game, and the first to do it since 2010. The others are Roy Howell on Aug. 5, 1975; Bob Brower on June 21, 1987; Nelson Cruz on Sept. 4, 2006; Jarrod Saltalamacchia on Aug. 22, 2007; David Murphy on June 11, 2008; and Mitch Moreland on Sept. 26, 2010.

Jung is the second rookie to have at least two home runs, five RBI and three hits in a game this season. The other was Cleveland’s Oscar Gonzalez, who did it on Sept. 9.

Finally, Jung became the third Ranger to have three separate RBI hits in a single game this season. The others were Nathaniel Lowe on Aug. 24 and Mark Mathias on Sept. 13.


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Matthew Postins
MATTHEW POSTINS

Matthew Postins is an award-winning sports journalist who covers the Texas Rangers for Fan Nation/SI and also writes about the Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies. He also covers the Big 12 for HeartlandCollegeSports.com.