Joey Gallo injures the baseball for a two-run homer, his seventeenth, to put the Rangers up 2-0. He left the game with an injury next at-bat.

Joey Gallo felt something in his side when he was in centerfield. Then, he felt it again on a check swing.

He was immediately taken out of the game.

It’s not good when you’re removed mid-game. It’s really not good when you’re removed mid-at-bat.

Gallo has a strained oblique muscle. It’s like a hamstring but in the ribs. And it takes just as long to heal, mainly because there are so many ways to reinjure it. Like breathing.

The Rangers ran an MRI and strength tests after the game. Now it’s all about seeing what they find.

It could be nothing. They sit him out today, and with the off-day tomorrow, he’s back in Tuesday for the three-game series against Baltimore. They could sit him out against Baltimore as well, just to be safe. It’s like playing the Double-A team in a scrimmage. Why risk it? They could actually not have a centerfielder and still sweep the Orioles.

Or it could be a legitimate oblique strain, which might take him out for four to six weeks.

He injured his wrist last Tuesday in Seattle and missed only one game, which he was supposed to be off anyway.

Too early to tell. Too early to agonize. Too early to worry. If Gallo is out for a while, at least it won’t have any immediate effect.

They are at home.

The offense is deep.

And, Baltimore.

*****
TODAY’S GAME:Brad Keller (3-6, 4.56) vs. Adrian Sampson (3-3, 4.53)
Game time: 2:05