Gallo eclipses his own 40-home run mark
Rangers' No. 1 prospect breaks his personal record with a solo shot in ninth
In 2013, Joey Gallo became the first teenager to hit 40 home runs in a season in 52 years. Now 20 years old, Gallo eclipsed that total Wednesday, hitting his 41st homer of the season in Frisco's 5-4 victory at Corpus Christi in 11 innings.
Gallo, ranked No. 8 on MLBPipeline.com's Top 100 Prospects list, hit a solo shot in the ninth inning to tie the game and then drove in the go-ahead run with a groundout in the 11th. He finished the game 1-for-4 with a run, a walk and three RBIs.
The home run was Gallo's first in 10 days and just his fourth in August. He has hit at least eight home runs in every other month this season.
Gallo, the Rangers' No. 1 prospect, began the season with Class A Advanced Myrtle Beach. He hit 21 home runs in 58 games with the Pelicans and earned a promotion to the RoughRiders in June. In 64 games with Frisco, he is hitting .235/.328/.529 with 20 home runs. He still leads the Carolina League in homers and ranks second in the Texas League, one behind Corpus Christi first baseman Telvin Nash.
Among all Minor Leaguers, Gallo ranks second in homers, trailing only Cubs' No. 1 prospect Kris Bryant, who has hit 43. Gallo is the first player to hit 40 home runs in back-to-back Minor League seasons since Ron Kittle hit 40 home runs in 1981 and 50 in 1982.