Millions of Yankees fans will believe Joey Gallo when he says he sometimes closes his eyes and swings, hoping to hit something. After all, that’s what his offensive game plan looked like when he wore pinstripes.
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On Friday night, Gallo joked about a game-winning, two-run, ninth-inning home run that gave the Minnesota Twins a 5-4 victory over the Oakland Athletics. Gallo, while facing flame-throwing rookie Shintaro Fujinami, took a four-seam fastball for a strike, then launched the second pitch.
“I didn’t even see the first pitch,” Gallo said. “I was like, ‘I’m in trouble here.’ I’m just going to swing and see what happens, and somehow I ended up hitting the ball.”
Gallo’s 16th homer of the season broke a tie as the Twins snapped a three-game losing streak from before the All-Star break. Gallo avenged the ejection of hitting coach David Popkins, who was tossed in the seventh inning when he argued plate umpire Nic Lentz’s strike-three call on Gallo.
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“He did a good job of keeping it together and then going up there and being prepared to hit a 100-mph fastball,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He smoked it. He caught it right where he wanted to catch it. That’s a nice way to punctuate the beginning of the second half for Joey and for the team.”
Said Gallo: “I wasn’t going to say anything crazy. I knew we were short guys.”
The Twins, who played without third baseman Jose Miranda because of shoulder soreness, struck out 14 times and left 10 men on base before Gallo bailed them out.
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