KANSAS CITY -- Designated hitter Shin-Soo Choo and third baseman Adrian Beltre both hit noteworthy home runs to give the Rangers an early five-run lead against Royals starter Ian Kennedy in Monday night's 6-3 win at Kauffman Stadium.
The Rangers made that early lead stand up behind the pitching of Bartolo Colon and three relievers in the series opener. This is the first time they have hit multiple home runs in a road game since hitting three against the Indians on May 2.
"It was just the patience against Kennedy," manager Jeff Banister said. "Hunting pitches that they could drive, none better than the one Beltre hit out of the ballpark. String some at-bats together, making him get the ball up in the zone and putting good swings on it."
Choo extended his on-base streak to 32 games with a leadoff home run off Kennedy in the first inning. Choo's streak is the second longest in the Majors this season. Odubel Herrera reached base in 40 straight games for the Phillies earlier this year. It is also the longest by a Rangers player since Elvis Andrus had a 32-game on-base streak in 2012.
Choo also had a double and three walks on the night. During the streak, Choo is hitting .333 with a .483 on-base percentage and a .590 slugging percentage. He also has 34 walks and eight home runs in those 32 games.
"Honestly, I am not thinking about it," Choo said. "That's not healthy thinking about what you are doing. Good things happen when your mind is clear. I just keep telling myself every game -- just do your job and get on base. Every at-bat is important."
Choo's home run -- off of a 2-1 fastball -- was a high drive that just got over the right-field wall. The launch angle was 49 degrees, which ties it for the second highest launch angle on a home run since Statcast™ was introduced in 2015.
The highest was 50 degrees by J.D. Martinez when he was with the Tigers in 2015. Bryce Harper of the Nationals also had a 49-degree launch angle on a home run in 2015. The Rangers' previous high was 47 degrees by Mike Napoli and Choo's previous best was 44 degrees.
It was Choo's second home run to lead off a game this season -- and the 25th in his career -- with the other coming on June 8 against the Astros. Choo has 13 home runs on the season and this marks the fourth time he has hit exactly that many before the All-Star break.

Beltre hit a three-run home run in the third. It was his 147th homer as a Rangers third baseman, the most by a player at that position in club history. He was tied with Dean Palmer.
It also gave Beltre 465 home runs for his career, tying him with Dave Winfield and Jose Cabrera for 34th all time. Cabrera is currently on the disabled list with a ruptured tendon in his left biceps and is expected to miss the rest of the season. Next up for Beltre is Chipper Jones (468).
Beltre was playing in his 2,857th game, moving past Robin Yount and into 15th place all time. The three RBIs gave him 1,664 for his career, 27th all time and three behind Sammy Sosa.