The first weekend of May completed a month and a half long journey for one of thirty players. Entering Saturday’s competition, Joey won seven of his last twelve games. The streak was good, but considering he won sixteen of his first seventeen, it created some concern (not really, but trying to add some drama). Ian Happ of the Chicago Cubs stood in the way of a semifinal against Lucas Giolito of the Chicago White Sox. 

SHOWtime. 🎮 pic.twitter.com/uwiKRT5rLL

— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) May 2, 2020

 

Quarterfinals (best of 3) versus Ian Happ (Chicago Cubs)

Joey Gallo’s first playoff opponent is a familiar one. Back on Monday, Happ took the game 6-5, but nearly blew a 6-0 lead in the final frame. In the first game on Saturday, Happ took the lead in the second with a Kyle Schwarber home run while Joey avoided any further damage. The lead came short-lived with two two-run home runs thanks to Rougned Odor and Ronald Guzman. Ian Happ brought Victor Caritini to pinch-hit, and he delivered with a solo shot to cut the lead to 4-2. “You live and die by the long ball in this game,” Gallo told MLB Network’s Robert Flores after the game one win.

Heatin' up! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/RoMI1Dzp0X

— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) May 2, 2020

In the second game, Gallo mustered up back-to-back home runs with himself and Todd Fraizer. Happ throughout the game was showing patience, taking some nice pitches (my approach). However, the filthiness combination of Gallo’s location and Lynn’s arsenal came too much for the Cubs offense in the first two innings. In the third inning, the roles reversed from the regular season. Happ got two hits off Nick Goody followed with a near homer by Kyle Schwarber, and then Wilson Contreras walked off game two with a 4-3 victory.

Tell me if you heard this before… @JoeyGallo24 homers as himself. Than goes back-to-back with @FlavaFraz21. Just your usual two homer game. #Rangers pic.twitter.com/rXyL4zz4ws

— Alex Plinck (@aplinckTX) May 2, 2020

Game three became a sudden death win or went home. Joey went with the ace combo with Corey Kluber and the baby blue uniforms. On the other side, Ian went to former Rangers ace, Yu Darvish. Both guys went quietly in the first inning, but Joey picked up an opposite-field single with himself, a rarity in real life, according to Joey. “I’ve got more oppo hits [in this video game] than in real life.” Jason Heyward broke the game open after Ian Happ (with himself) tired out Corey Kluber with a ten pitch at-bat. Jason Kipnis followed suit with another solo home run. Javy Baez added another homer followed by two more runs in the third as Joey needed a touchdown and an extra point to force overtime. After some virtual controversy, a lost network connection, the game resumed. Ronald Guzman doubled, but the deficit was too much to overcome, Ian Happ moved on to the semifinals with a dominating 7-0 win.

It's over, @ihapp_1 takes two of three from @JoeyGallo24. It'll be a Chicago crosstown rivalry in the semifinals. It was a good run for Joey and sported a lot of personality and entertainment. It was a fun distraction away from no baseball. Good series boys! #Rangers #Cubs

— Alex Plinck (@aplinckTX) May 2, 2020

It was a nice distraction away from baseball, and now the hope is that the baseball returns safely soon. It was great to witness not only the skillset these players have on the Playstation 4 but to see each of their personalities and give fans a direct insight into their favorite team and guy. It was a great idea from Major League Baseball and hopefully become an annual thing in the offseason