ARLINGTON -- Rangers first baseman Joey Gallo hit his 11th and 12th home runs in the Rangers' 6-5 loss to the Red Sox on Saturday, and the first one on the night made a little history.
Gallo's second-inning home run -- coming with one out off Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez -- had an exit velocity of 116.8 mph. That's the hardest home run hit by the Rangers since Statcast™ began measuring in 2015.
It's also the second-hardest home run by a hitter in a lefty-vs.-lefty matchup since 2015, behind only Franchy Cordero's 116.9 mph shot off Jason Vargas on April 28.
Gallo saw a changeup from Rodriguez in a 2-2 count, and he crushed it down the right-field line, into the opening between the foul pole and the upper deck, landing on the main concourse beyond.
The projected distance was 466 feet, tying for the third-longest by a Rangers player. Nomar Mazara's 491-foot home run on May 25, 2016, is the longest, and Gallo had a 490-foot shot on Sept. 17, 2017. Gallo also had a 466-foot home run last year, as did Rougned Odor.
Gallo then cracked another solo homer with two outs in the sixth inning, again off Rodriguez. That marked the fifth two-homer game of his career and his first this season. All five have come at Globe Life Park.