Amarillo Splits Double Header
September 6, 2024 - Texas League (TL)
Amarillo Sod Poodles News Release
Midland, Texas - Amarillo split their doubleheader against Midland on Thursday night, winning game one 5-4 and dropping game two 4-3. The game two loss clinched the 2nd-half South Division title for the Rockhounds.
Game One:
Gino Groover blasted a solo shot to open the scoring on the day, his first at the Double-A level. Yu- Min Lin started his excellent outing with a clean first inning.
Lin would dominated the first six innings of the game, giving up just three hits, although one of them was a solo home run.
A.J. Vukovich, Jean Walters, Kristian Robinson and Neyfy Castillo all picked up singles in the first four innings, but the score stood at 1-1. Amarillo was able to break the tie in the fifth when Jancarlos Cintron walked and scored on a Gino Groover double.
After striking out the side in the 6th inning, Lin went out in the seventh to try and seal a complete game win. He gave up a leadoff double and single to put runners at second and third. He picked up his sixth and final strikeout before allowing a deep fly ball to right field that Robinson leaped and took away a game winning home run. It resulted in a sacrifice fly to tie the game at two. Mitchell Stumpo came in to get the final out and send it to extras.
Vukovich started extras with an RBI double and he would score on a Walters single to make it 4-2. Stumpo struck out the first batter and got a routine ground ball to second base, but the ball took a nasty hop off the chest of Walters for an infield single. A pop out was the second out but a two-out double tied the game and sent it to the ninth.
Groover grounded out to first to move the runner over and Roberts hit a sacrifice fly to take a 5-4 lead. Will Mabrey struck out the first two batters and got a groundout to get his second save of the year and secure a 5-4 win.
Game Two:
Groover lined a single up the middle to extend his hitting streak to nine games across two levels in the first inning, but the scoring wouldn't start until the third inning. Christian Cerda led off with a single and Cintron doubled to put two in scoring position with nobody out. Cerda was thrown out at the plate on a groundout by Groover. A wild pitch scored Cintron and put Groover at second base. Roberts grounded out and Groover advanced to third and then scored on yet another wild pitch. Amarillo led 2-0 through three.
Listher Sosa made his first start of the season and was amazing. He struck out six batters and allowed just one hit across his three scoreless innings.
In the bottom of the fourth, Jamison Hill came in to pitch and gave up four hits and two walks to relinquish three runs and the lead.
Zach Barnes would throw a scoreless inning, which gave Amarillo a chance after Caleb Roberts blasted his 19th home run of the season over the bullpen in right field to tie the game at three in the sixth.
Barnes came back out to the mound and gave up a leadoff single before setting down the next two batters. Junior Perez doubled home the go ahead run with two outs.
Down 4-3, Jesus Valdez singled and Robinson walked to put the first two runners on in the seventh. Cerda failed to get a bunt down and Cintron grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the game. The win clinched the 2nd half, South Division title for Midland.
After splitting the doubleheader, Amarillo will be back in action for game four of the series at Midland on Friday night at 7:00 P.M.
Notes:
BLISTHERING HEAT: Listher Sosa dominated in his first start of the season. He went three innings, giving up one hit and no walks across three scoreless innings. He struck out six batters and his fastball touched triple digits on multiple occasions. His E.R.A. is down to a 2.70 after his first four appearances for Amarillo.
ROCKET IS CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF: Caleb Roberts homered for the second consecutive day to tie the game in the sixth inning of game two of the double header. It was his 19th home run of the year. He is in sole place of third for home runs in the Texas League this season. He trails his teammates, Tim Tawa (21) and Ivan Melendez (20), with the latter being the only active player above him. He also passed Deyvison De Los Santos in career home runs for Amarillo to be alone in third place.
LET'S GROOVE TONIGHT : Gino Groover smacked his first career Double-A home run in game number one of Thursday night's double header. It was apart of a 3-5 effort that added two doubles to go along with his homer. He went 1-3 in game two to extend his hitting streak to nine games dating back to his time in Hillsboro. His 4-8 effort on the day has his batting average at .529 through four games with Amarillo.
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