Amarillo's Ten-Run Outburst Leads to a Comeback Victory
September 13, 2024 - Texas League (TL)
Amarillo Sod Poodles News Release
AMARILLO, Texas - The Sod Poodles took a 2-1 series lead over the Frisco RoughRiders with a 10-7 victory Thursday Night. Amarillo trailed 6-2 before scoring in their last four offensive frames to secure the comeback win.
The bullpen gave up just one run in 5.1 innings in Thursday night's victory. Gino Groover, Ivan Melendez, and Kristian Robinson all had big flies in the ten-run outburst. Melendez hit his Texas League-leading 22nd home run of the season. Robinson added two doubles on top of the home run to end up with eight total bags on the night.
Joe Elbis started Thursday's affair coming off of a seven-inning appearance in Midland but struggled a bit giving up six runs in 3.2 innings pitched. In relief, the group of Gerardo Gutierrez, Conor Grammes, Taylor Rashi, and Listher Sosa combined for 5.1 innings of one-run baseball to allow the Sod Poodles offense to make a comeback.
On the offensive side of the ball, Ivan Melendez and Kristian Robinson both went deep in the second inning. Down 6-2 in the fifth, Amarillo scored one run, then scored two a piece in the sixth and seventh to make it a 7-7 game going into the eighth. Robinson doubled home the eventual winning run in the eighth inning and Neyfy Castillo added a two-out double to drive in two insurance runs to end the scoring at 10-7. Gino Groover hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie the game at seven a piece.
Amarillo will be back in action on Friday at 7:05 P.M. to take on the Frisco RoughRiders in their final weekend of baseball in 2024.
NOTES:
TEXAS LEAGUE TATERS LEADER: Ivan Melendez, the D-backs no. 23-rated prospect, took sole possession of the Texas League home run lead with his 22nd of the season on Thursday night. Melendez hit his second of the series and surpassed Tim Tawa for the outright lead. The blast was his 34th since reaching Double-A and his 55th career home run. Melendez led the D-backs farm system in home runs last season with 30 and is tied fifth in the organization this year.
GROOVY: D-backs' no. 9-rated prospect Gino Groover hit his third home run in 10 games with Amarillo and his second of the series after also hitting on Tuesday night. The former 48th overall pick out of NC State in the 2023 MLB Draft had seven home runs with High-A Hillsboro in 40 games played this year and sits on 11 career home runs after Thursday. Finishing the game with a pair of hits and RBI, Groover has three multi-hit games since joining Amarillo and two multi-RBI games while hitting .368 in his 10 games.
DOUBLE DIGIT DINGERS: With a towering solo shot in the second inning, Kristian Robinson reached double-digit home runs this year for Amarillo. The former no. 1-rated prospect in the D-backs system sits on 45 career home runs after Thursday and has reached 10+ home runs in a season for the third time in all three full seasons he has played in the minors since 2019. He had a 14-home-run season in both 2019 and 2023 after missing the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Robinson ended the night on Thursday with a team-high three hits and had all three go for extra bases as he added a pair of doubles to go with his solo home run.
GAVIN A DAY: Gavin Conticello, the D-backs' no. 25-rated prospect was one of five Amarillo players to have a multi-hit game on Thursday. It was his first since arriving in Amarillo and he added his first XBH with a triple in the sixth inning. Through his first three games in Double-A, the 21-year-old is hitting .364 (4-for-11) and has a hit in all three games.
LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN: Taylor Rashi worked two innings on the mound for Amarillo and had four strikeouts as he earned his seventh win of the year, the most by any Amarillo pitcher this year. The seven wins by Rashi are a new single-season high. His 10 total wins since coming to Amarillo during the 2023 season are the third-most by an Amarillo pitcher all-time, trailing Jeff Bain (12) and Jamison Hill (11). Only five pitchers have ever had eight wins in Amarillo threads in a single season since 2019.
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