KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Right fielder Shin-Soo Choo missed the final six weeks of the Texas Rangers' 2014 season with a left elbow bone spur and started slowly this year.

Lately, Choo has amped up his offense, and the Rangers are on a tear.

Choo had two hits, drove in two runs and scored and Wandy Rodriguez tossed seven effective innings as the streaking Rangers topped the Kansas City Royals 4-2 on Saturday.

Choo singled and scored in the first inning and added a two-run double in the second.

"A healthy Choo is capable of drawing a walk but is also driving the ball to the wall, driving in runs for us, getting on base. He is significant," Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. "He's one of the core guys that this offense needs to go out and be a force daily. It's not just one guy, but all of them."

Rodriguez (3-2) stymied the Royals on six hits, allowing one run and striking out four. He is 3-0 with a 1.89 ERA in five road starts.

"He's just a veteran presence in that rotation," Banister said. "He can get in a rhythm and do exactly what he did today. He moved his fastball around, got the breaking ball in play. The two-seamer and changeup have also been pitches for him that showed up very well."

The Rangers (30-26) have won seven of eight and 15 of 19, while the Royals (30-23) lost for the ninth time in 11 games.

"Good defense and we're hitting very, very well," Rodriguez said. "We're playing very good right now."

Kansas City right fielder Jarrod Dyson went 3-for-4 and catch Salvador Perez had two hits, including a solo home run.

The Rangers jumped on Royals right-hander Yordano Ventura for four runs in the first two innings.

Choo, designated hitter Prince Fielder, first baseman Mitch Moreland and third baseman Joey Gallo stroked successive singles off Ventura with one out in the first. Moreland's single scored Choo. Shortstop Elvis Andrus brought home Fielder with a sacrifice fly.

Catcher Carlos Corporan was hit by Ventura's pitch to lead off the second and advanced to third on second baseman Hanser Alberto's double. Choo got both home with a double to left-center. Alberto had a career-high three hits.

Ventura threw 58 pitches in the first two innings and was pulled after the third. He allowed four runs on six hits and two walks. He also committed a throwing error on a pickoff move. It was Ventura's shortest outing of the season and bloated his ERA to 4.62.

"He just started to get a little frustrated, I think," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "I think he felt like he was fighting his command and was just missing. Then the next pitch was catching a little too much of the plate."

Right-hander Joe Blanton, who replaced Ventura, pitched for the third consecutive day. He gave up three hits and struck out four in 3 1/3 innings.

Meanwhile, the Royals' offense could not touch Rodriguez.

"He really started using his breaking ball the second time through," Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer said. "Any time we got guys on base, he went to it and made some really good pitches."

Third baseman Mike Moustakas singled home Dyson, who had doubled, in the sixth. It was the Royals' first run since center fielder Lorenzo Cain hit a two-run homer against Cleveland in the third inning Thursday.

Shawn Tolleson worked the ninth to log his seventh save, but he did give up a home run to Perez to snap his scoreless streak at 13 2/3 innings.

NOTES: Royals LHP Danny Duffy threw a bullpen session Saturday with no problems. He likely will be sent out soon on a rehab assignment. ... Rangers RHP Chi Chi Gonzalez, who shut out the Royals on three singles Friday, is the fourth pitcher since the division era began in 1969 to go 2-0 without allowing a run and pitch at least one shutout in his first two major-league starts. The others are Dan Schatzeder (1977, Montreal Expos)