ARLINGTON -- The Rangers are hoping outfielder Joey Gallo will be out no longer than two weeks after being placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained left oblique muscle on Sunday. The Rangers medical staff told Gallo that he’s fortunate that, as a left-handed hitter, the injury is

ARLINGTON -- The Rangers are hoping outfielder Joey Gallo will be out no longer than two weeks after being placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained left oblique muscle on Sunday.

The Rangers medical staff told Gallo that he’s fortunate that, as a left-handed hitter, the injury is on the back side of his swing. Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, a right-handed hitter, has been sidelined since April 21 with a strained left oblique. But that’s on the front side when he hits.

“We feel we were fortunate and got lucky that it was on the back side,” manager Chris Woodward said. “It’s not on the front side. It should be a lot easier. They are saying 10-14 days. I’m hoping for 10 days, but it’s probably going to be more like two weeks. He puts so much torque in his swing, you don’t want him coming back too early. You don’t want it to turn into a 6-8 week deal.”

Gallo spoke with Judge by phone on Saturday after coming out of the Rangers game in the fifth inning and then undergoing an MRI.

“I talked to Judge yesterday because I was concerned,” Gallo said. “I wanted to know what he felt when he got his MRI. He said it’s better to be on the back side, and all the trainers said that too. His was more significant than mine. His was, he said, a tear, mine was a strain. I’m not going to miss time like he did.”

Gallo felt the injury during Saturday’s game against the Royals during the top of the fifth inning when he tried to make a throw from the outfield. Gallo mentioned the injury when he returned to the dugout for the bottom of the fifth.

The third batter up in the frame, Gallo fouled off a 2-1 pitch and was visited at the plate by Woodward and trainer Matt Lucero. Gallo stayed in the game for one more pitch and checked his swing on a slider in the dirt. At that point, Woodward came back out on the field and convinced Gallo to come out of the game.

“First time I felt it was in the outfield,” Gallo said. “When I came up to throw to third base, I felt a little tweak. I wasn’t sure what it was. Then throughout the at-bat, when I was swinging and taking is when I could feel that this was more than just a tweak.”

Gallo had home runs in his last two games and is now hitting .276 with 17 home runs, 41 RBI and a .653 slugging percentage on the season. He still is a strong candidate to make the American League team in the All-Star Game on July 9.

“It stinks because I want to help the team win,” Gallo said. “There is never a good time to get hurt, but playing well is the worst time to get hurt. I don’t think it will be a lot of time, couple of weeks and I’ll be back in there.”

The Rangers replaced Gallo by calling up outfielder Delino DeShields from Triple-A Nashville. DeShields was the Rangers Opening Day center fielder, but was optioned to Nashville after hitting .182 in his first 30 games.

DeShields was hitting .274 with a .357 on-base percentage and a .468 slugging percentage in 14 games with Nashville. Danny Santana started in center field for the Rangers on Sunday, but Woodward said DeShields will likely get most of the playing time while Gallo is down.

“I know Danny has been playing really well, but if I was guessing, I would guess that Delino would get most of the reps in center,” Woodward said. “I want to see what Delino’s got. He has done everything we have asked of him. We want to see where he is at and see what his swing looks like.”