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TL Amarillo Sod Poodles

Back-to-Back Wins in San Antonio

July 11, 2024 - Texas League (TL)
Amarillo Sod Poodles News Release


SAN ANTONIO, Texas - For the first time in the second half, Amarillo won back-to-back games with a 9-3 victory Thursday night. Billy Corcoran delivered a quality start and the offense came to life late.

Billy Corcoran got the win and produced his seventh quality start of the season, scattering six hits and two runs over the course of 6.1 innings. The Soddies smacked five extra-base hits led by Ivan Melendez, who homered and doubled. Tim Tawa and Jesus Valdez hit back-to-back triples in a five run ninth inning.

Andrew Pintar led off the game for Amarillo against Austin Krob, but was struck out swinging. Tim Tawa joined Pintar by striking out as well in a clean first inning. Billy Corcoran took the mound, looking to bounce back from his previous start. He gave up a leadoff hit and two one-out walks to load the bases. He collected his first strikeout to nearly escape the inning unscathed, but gave up a two-run single to Michael De La Cruz. De La Cruz was caught trying to extend his hit into a double.

It was 2-0 to start the second inning. Matt Beaty led off by getting hit by a pitch and a double to centerfield by Ivan Melendez put two runs in scoring position with nobody out. Back-to-back strikeouts led to Kristian Robinson getting a two-out infield single to make the score 2-1. Logan Warmoth walked to load the bases but a Pintar strikeout stranded the bases loaded. Corcoran bounced back in the second inning, only allowing a double and picking up his second strikeout.

Tawa and Beaty both had one-out hits but a Melendez ground ball to third turned into an inning ending double play. To start the bottom of the third, Melendez moved from third to first because Beaty had to come out. Jesus Valdez came in to play third. For the second straight inning, Corcoran picked up a strikeout and only allowed a double.

The Sod Poodles were set down in order in the fourth. Robert Perez Jr. showed off his speed with an infield single and then stealing second base. J.J. D'Orazio had enough, catching him trying to steal third for the second out of the inning. Corcoran then struck out Zach Reks to end the inning.

Krob set down all three Sod Poodles to make it seven in a row. In the bottom half, Corcoran kept cruising, retiring the side in order.

In yesterday's game, the Sod Poodles hit three homeruns in the sixth, in this one, they would only hit one. Ivan Melendez left his mark with a two-out solo homerun to tie the game at two. Another 1-2-3 inning from Corcoran sent the game to its final three innings all knotted up.

Raul Brito relieved Krob and allowed the first two baserunners to reach via a walk and an infield single. Both runners made it to scoring position because of a wild throw from the third baseman. Andrew Pintar cashed in, doubling in two runs for the second straight game and taking the lead. In the bottom of the seventh, Corcoran punched out his fifth Mission of the night before allowing a single. Will Mabrey came in for relief after 6.1 solid innings from Corcoran. His third pitch was bounced to short, where Warmoth fielded the ball, stepped on second and fired to first to complete the double-play.

After Amarillo went down in order, the Missions were able to manage a baserunner on a walk. With two outs, Kyle Amendt came in to get a four out save. The first one came easy, as he struck out his victim on four pitches.

The Soddies were an inning away from back-to-back victories and Carter Loewen came on to try and keep them from expanding the lead. He walked D'Orazio, Robinson and Warmoth to start the inning. Pintar struck out but then the offense exploded. Jancarlos Cintron battled off an 0-2 pitch into center field for a blooped, two-run single to make it 6-2. Tawa then smacked the second pitch he saw over the centerfielder's head. He flew all the way to third base with a two-run triple. With the score at 8-2, Bobby Milacki replaced Loewen and promptly gave up a triple of his own to Jesus Valdez. Valdez split the right centerfield gap and never stopped running. Melendez and Vukovich came up empty but the Soddies had a 9-2 lead with three outs to get. With no save needed, Amendt was replaced by Gerardo Gutierrez. He allowed the first two batters to reach on a single and a walk. He struck out his first batter before giving up another single and a walk. This made the score 9-3. He then struck out his second batter. He then got Ripken Reyes to line out to right to end the game.

After a 9-3 victory, the Soddies start the weekend in San Antonio looking to make it three wins in a row. First pitch against the Missions is at 7:05 P.M. on Friday.

Notes:

He did the Mash, He Did the Melendez Mash: Ivan Melendez mashed his Texas League leading 17th home run of the season today to tie the game up in the sixth inning. The top three in the league are all Sod Poodles, with Tim Tawa in second with 15 and Deyvison De Los Santos still tied for third at 14. Melendez is now two shy of 30 home runs for Amarillo and just one shy of 50 for his career.

Seventh Heaven: Billy Corcoran fired his seventh quality start in his tenth start for Amarillo. He went 6.1 innings, allowing six hits, two earned and striking out five. Across his seven quality starts, he is 4-1 with a 1.38 ERA. Across 45.1 innings during those starts, he allowed 25 hits, just seven earned runs, striking out 35 and walking just ten.

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