Amarillo Defeated in a Pitchers Duel
June 2, 2024 - Texas League (TL)
Amarillo Sod Poodles News Release
Little Rock, Arkansas - Amarillo ended their two-week-long road trip with an afternoon game against the Arkansas Travelers.
Last Tuesday, Billy Corcoran and Blas Castano met on the mound, and both pitched excellently. The final score of that game was 2-1 and two runs would be enough to win another pitcher's duel today. Corcoran threw out another stellar performance, allowing just two hits and a walk in six scoreless innings. His E.R.A. dropped below 3.00 for the first time this year. Ivan Melendez had the only multi-hit performance for the Soddies, including his fourth double of the year.
Tim Tawa started this one with a bang, smacking the first pitch of the game for a double. Matt Beaty did his job by advancing Tawa to third on a ground ball. Unfortunately, Ivan Melendez struck out and was followed by a groundout from A.J. Vukovich to send the Soddies to the field without a run. Billy Corcoran has been great of late and continued to roll in this one. He tossed a scoreless first while allowing just one baserunner on a walk.
For the second consecutive inning, Amarillo led off with a hit. This time it was a single off the bat of J.J. D'Orazio. Wilderd Patiño reached on a fielder's choice and advanced to second on a wild pick-off attempt from Arkansas' pitcher, Blas Castano. After a flyout, Kristian Robinson singled to right field, but Patiño had to be held at third. With runners on the corners and two outs, Jesus Valdez popped out to leave a couple of runners on. Corcoran struck out his first batter, sandwiched between a flyout and a popout, for a clean second inning.
The top of the Sod Poodles order saw no success in the third, as they went down in order. Corcoran turned in his second straight 1-2-3 inning and struck out his second batter.
The offensive struggles against Castano continued as the Sod Poodles were once again put away in order. Corcoran was officially in cruise control as he retired his eleventh in a row to keep the game scoreless.
S.P. Chen got on base via a walk and stole second base on the same pitch that Robinson struck out on. Valdez flew out to left before Tawa hit another ball hard, but right at the second baseman. The Soddies once again spoiled a scoring opportunity. Corcoran gave up a leadoff single, his first hit allowed of the day, that didn't come until the fifth inning. A wild pitch put the runner in scoring position with nobody away. A deep flyout got the first out, but it also allowed the runner to advance to third. Corcoran didn't fret, getting a weak groundball to third that got the second out and kept the runner from scoring. A flyout to left ended the threat.
Garrett Davila came in to replace Blas Castano, who the Soddies had not been able to score an earned run off of in either of his two starts this week. A one-out double by Ivan Melendez put another runner into scoring position. A groundout and strikeout left another runner stranded. Corcoran gave up his second hit of the afternoon, a two-out single. That was all he allowed as he finished up his outing, allowing just three baserunners in six scoreless innings.
Two-thirds of the way through this game, neither team had scored. That didn't change in the Amarillo half of the seventh, as they went down in order. Kyle Amendt made his double-a debut in relief of Corcoran, and gave up his first hit to the first batter, Ben Williamson. After giving up that soft hit, Amendt collected his first double-a strikeout when he got Alberto Rodriguez swinging. During that at-bat, Williamson stole second on a delayed steal. A curveball in the dirt kicked to the backstop, putting the runner on third. A shallow pop-up to centerfield gave Patiño a chance to throw out Williamson at the plate, but the throw was a hair too late and the first run of the game scored. Just three pitches later, Jake Anchia blasted a solo shot inches over the glove of the leaping Robinson in right field. Amendt struck out his second batter of the inning to limit the damage to two.
Beaty and Melendez both singled with two outs, giving Vukovich a chance to put some runs up on the board. He grounded out to the shortstop to keep the Soddies scoreless. Conor Grammes came in to work the eighth inning. He worked around a couple walks while striking out two, to keep the deficit at just two runs.
The Soddies would face Troy Taylor in the ninth in their attempt to tie up the game, but it was futile. They went down in order to end the game with a score of 2-0. This marked the second time during the series that they were shut out.
After two long weeks away from the Pan Handle, the Soddies play at home on Tuesday for the first time in June. The first pitch against the Tulsa Drillers will be at 7:05 P.M.
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