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The Texas Rangers are in the Playoffs! Joey Gallo makes it happen with a clean sweep on “The Players’ League”

The Texas Rangers are in the Playoffs! Joey Gallo makes it happen with a clean sweep on “The Players’ League”

The postseason train is quickly arriving for Rangers’ Joey Gallo as the quest for the number one seed continued Sunday night. Joey entered the night 19-4, second behind Blake Snell (Snell has played two more games than Joey). The night also became a clinching scenario for the Rangers outfielder. Joey needed one win to officially stamp his name to the first-ever MLB: The Show Players’ League Postseason. The opponents on Sunday night included Cole Tucker of the Pirates (4-17), Tommy Kahnle of the Yankees (13-7), Jesus Luzardo of the Athletics (13-11), and former Ranger, Hunter Pence of the Giants (10-13). On paper, it looked like a smooth sailing night for Joey as his opponents combined for a 40-48 record during the tournament.

Game 24: Rangers (Joey Gallo) at Pirates (Cole Tucker)

“Hopefully, I can win this game and not have to worry about the rest of these games,” Gallo said before this game. First off, some recent nostalgia hit the first game of the night. Joey and Cole met up at PNC Park, the location of Joey Gallo’s 100th career homer. Unfortunately for Joey, he hit into a 4-6-3 double play as himself, but Willie Calhoun and  Rougned Odor picked up the slack with an RBI by Willie and a three-run homer by Rougie. The first inning barrage continued with a two-run homer by Todd Frazier to cap off a six-run first inning.

Joey showed some defense in the first as well; in the past few games, Joey moved himself to first base to get Shin-Soo Choo time in right (no DH in the players’ league). At the top of the second inning, “Big Willie” delivered with another RBI to extend it to a 7-1 lead. The extended lead came after Tucker struck with a run in the bottom of the first. Rougie’s productive game didn’t stop with the homer as Odor added a two-run triple to the mix to total five RBIs in the game. Gallo didn’t score in the third, and a closing effort by Brett Martin punched the ticket for Joey to the postseason.

Game 25: Yankees (Tommy Kahnle) at Rangers (Joey Gallo)

To begin the game, Joey chose his favorite uniform; the classic mid-2000s home white vests. In the first inning, Gallo’s defensive decision continued to work at first base. “My guy is unreal at first base,” Joey said, referring to playing himself at first instead of right field. Joey struck first against Gerrit Cole with an RBI double by Danny Santana and a sacrifice fly to grab a quick 2-0 lead. At the top of the second, the Yankees threat ended on a terrific 4-3 double play by Rougie, keeping the tying run off the board. Kahnle brought in the nasty sidearmer Adam Ottavino who retired the Rangers quickly in the second. Jose Leclerc closed out the game and shutout the New York Yankees. “Beat the Yankees, the team I wasn’t looking forward to playing,” Joey said after the final out and picked up his twenty-first win.

Game 26: Giants (Hunter Pence) at Rangers (Joey Gallo)

Two 2019 Rangers’ All-Stars went at it at Globe Life Field for a fun, entertaining matchup. For the first time in this tournament, I split my focus to two streams between Joey and Hunter. The first thing brought up, the uniform choice by Hunter Pence. “Is he wearing white pants with a grey jersey, that looks terrible. That’s something Pence would do,” said Joey. According to Pence, it’s his winning uniforms, and I wouldn’t doubt that for a second. Willie Calhoun did Willie things, a solo home run (his 12th overtaking Joey for the top spot). Willie entered this game with an OPS of over 2.000, which is unheard of (the three-inning contests have something to do with those type of stats). Hunter threatened with two on and one out in the second, but a flyout and a strikeout ended the Giants threat. Rougned Odor continued a fantastic night with another solo home run off Trevor Cahil to extend the lead. Gallo hit his third homer of the game with the seventh shot from the “Toddfather.” Gallo brought Luis Garcia on to save a 3-0 lead in the third. A Buster Posey double play ended the night as Joey was victorious. “[Buster’s DP] was the only bad swing of the game,” said Pence after the contact swing.

Game 27: Rangers (Joey Gallo) at Athletics (Jesus Luzardo)

Joey wasted no time verses Luzardo himself in the final game of the night. An Elvis Andrus double followed by a Danny Santana single quickly put the Rangers up 1-0. Luzardo and the Athletics promptly took the lead with back-to-back solo home runs to put Oakland on top 2-1. In the top of the second, a two-out rally struck with a double by Odor (surprise) and a single by Shin-Soo Choo, tying the game at two. Joey sent the Athletics down in the second allowing one base hit and an adventurous third out by Danny Santana, playing first base. The third inning began with two walks by Liam Hendricks, followed by Willie coming through with an RBI single to grab the lead late. Joey added three more runs to grab a 6-2 lead going to the final inning. In the bottom of the inning, Luzardo tacked on another solo home run by Matt Olson, but that’s all he could muster up.

 

Gallo’s  “regular season” comes to a close tomorrow night against Ian Happ of the Cubs (13-9) and Juan Soto of the Nationals (15-12). If Joey wins those two games, he should clinch the top spot in the tournament (if that matters), considering Gallo beat Snell on the first night. For those wondering, the postseason will air Friday, May 1st to Sunday, May 3rd, on ESPN, ESPN2, and FS1. Look on the bright side, a DFW sports team, or player, is making the postseason.

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Credentialed Media Staff Writer covering the Texas Rangers for Dallas Sports Fanatic | 2014 University of North Texas graduate with a Bachelor's in Radio, Television, and Film. I talk about things. Find me on the tweeter @aplinckTX

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