Gallo Makes Rangers Debut
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ARLINGTON, Texas — The top prospect in the Texas Rangers’ organization showed folks why he is so valued.
Third baseman Joey Gallo homered and drove in four runs in his major league debut, powering the Rangers to a 15-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night at Globe Life Park. The four RBIs are a franchise record for a player in his first big-league game.
The Rangers (27-25) opened the three-game series with their 11th win in 13 games. Texas is two games above .500 for the first time this season.
Gallo, 21, was the story coming into the game after being called up earlier in the day from Double-A to replace injured third baseman Adrian Beltre in the lineup. The sweet-swinging lefty stole the show with a single, a homer and a double in his first three at-bats before finishing 3-for-4.
“I didn’t expect it to be like this, but I’m extremely excited,” Gallo said. “It was great. I was pretty nervous coming out, so it was good to get the first game under my belt.”
Each of Gallo’s first two hits drove in two runs, including a monster homer to
right in the third. Gallo nearly hit another out in the fifth, doubling off the right field wall.
“He looked pretty good to me from what I saw,” White Sox starter Jeff Samardzija said. “He definitely likes the ball in. I threw three in there, and he hit every single one of them.”
Gallo hit at least 40 home runs in each of the last two minor league seasons. The hype, at least for his first game, seems justified.
“Incredible evening for a young man,” Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. “Really rarely do they come up and meet all the expectations in their first night. All you have to do is listen to the crowd by the third time he came up to the plate.”
Samardzija (4-3) couldn’t figure out the rookie — or many other Rangers for that matter. The right-hander gave up season highs in runs (nine) and hits (12) in five innings, which matched his shortest stint in 11 outings.
“They took advantage of some balls that stayed on the plate in, and they were pretty aggressive all day,” Samardzija said. “I thought we had some success in, but it seemed every time we got it in, we didn’t get it in far enough.”
Texas set a season best with 19 hits and tied its high for runs. Eight Rangers had multiple hits, with right fielder Shin-Soo Choo joining Gallo with three.
“They hammered us,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said.
Choo and catcher Carlos Corporan added homers for Texas. Corporan drove in five runs.
Chicago (23-27) managed six hits in seven innings against Texas starter Colby Lewis, who improved to 5-3 after bouncing back from his worst showing of the year.
The White Sox, last in the American League in runs allowed in the first inning, found themselves in another early hole thanks in large part to Gallo.
The Rangers jumped out to 4-0 lead in the opening frame by stringing together five hits after Samardzija got the first two outs of the inning. Samardzija has now allowed 14 earned runs in the first inning this season in 11 starts.
Included in Texas’ barrage was the Gallo’s first major league hit, a blistering two-run single that White Sox first baseman Adam LaRoche couldn’t get in front of. The hit put the Rangers on the board.
Rangers center fielder Leonys Martin drove in next two runs with single to right.
The White Sox cut the deficit in half against Lewis on center fielder Adam Eaton’s two-run blast into the right field upper deck in the third. Eaton battled Lewis for nine pitches before launching his third home run.
Gallo went even deeper in the upper deck in the bottom of the inning, a two-run shot that also scored shortstop Elvis Andrus. Gallo came out for a curtain call.
“It was a pretty spectacular night for a young man in his debut,” Banister said.
