Gallo reaching, scoring for Rangers, just not collecting hits

Joey Gallo had a direct hand in one of the Texas Rangers’ eight wins on their just-completed undefeated homestand, as he bounced a three-run walk-off homer off the right-field foul pole May 12.

He was on base nine times during the homestand. He drove in six runs and scored six more.

The third baseman seems to be going well, but he went 2 for 22 on the homestand to drop his average to .187 for the opener of a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers.

Gallo isn’t discouraged, nor is manager Jeff Banister. It’s a slump, just like anyone else would experience, and the six walks he drew on the homestand indicate that he’s not too far way from doing some damage again.

“Not much is going my way,” Gallo said. “That’s baseball. I think I’m just missing a few pitches right now that I wasn’t missing earlier in the season.”

Banister said that Gallo hasn’t been able to pull the trigger on a few pitches that have resulted in called strikeouts, but the 23-year-old has been able to largely lay off pitches out of the zone.

In the at-bat that ended with his first career walk-off hit, he fell behind 1-2 but stretched the at-bat to seven pitches before connecting off Santiago Casilla.

Gallo, while not getting hits, is not struggling he did last season.

“I don’t see that at all,” Banister said. “He’s not chasing. I still think that there are going to be some of those ripples that you get with Joe from time to time, but the other night he put the ball in play four consecutive times and didn’t come away with a hit.”

Gallo also said that he has been able to track down the girl who was struck in the face Thursday by a long foul ball he hit. Gallo said that he autographed a bat and a few items for her, and he wants to speak with her soon to see how she is feeling.

This story was originally published May 19, 2017 at 5:09 PM with the headline "Gallo reaching, scoring for Rangers, just not collecting hits."