Everyone Contributes to a Soddies' Win
July 30, 2024 - Texas League (TL)
Amarillo Sod Poodles News Release
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The Sod Poodles started the series in Corpus Christi with an 11-5 win and gained ground in the playoff race. They had contributions up and down the lineup to help Yu-Min Lin get his second win of the year.
Tim Tawa stayed hot with a three-hit game and Neyfy Castillo had his third consecutive multi-hit game. He has had multiple hits in every game since his return to Amarillo and added a trio of RBIs. Taylor Rashi worked 1.1 innings and retired all four batters with two strikeouts. A.J. Vukovich hit his 11th home run of the season, a two-run shot to help Amarillo pull away.
The series started with a pair of strikeouts by Hooks' starting pitcher Aaron Brown. He allowed a single to Tim Tawa and allowed him to second on an errant throw to first base on a pick-off attempt. Matt Beaty grounded out to first to end the inning. Yu-Min Lin started on a great note, retiring the side in order.
The Soddies would get one in the second on a hit by Neyfy Castillo, a walk from Kevin Graham, and an RBI double from Jean Walters. The Hooks wouldn't waste any time getting that run back, scoring a run off of a pair of singles and a hit-by-pitch.
With the game tied at one, the Sod Poodles struck for four in the third. Five straight Sod Poodles reached base, highlighted by an Andy Weber double and a Graham triple. The Hooks closed the gap in the bottom half of the inning. A leadoff triple promptly scored on an RBI bunt and a solo shot to left field by Tommy Sacco Jr. made it a 5-3 game.
Tawa added another hit to his ledger but that's all Amarillo had going in their half, while Corpus Christi got another run back with a Collin Barber homer to dead center field.
The Sod Poodles went down in order in the fifth but Lin also delivered a scoreless inning while picking up his fourth strikeout.
Graham started the sixth inning with a walk and Walters laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance him to second. In a two-strike count, A.J. Vukovich hit a line-drive home run to left field to extend the lead to three. Roberts and Tawa had back-to-back hits, Tawa's third of the game. A wild pitch would score Roberts for the eighth run of the game.
After a leadoff double, Lin got his fifth strikeout and another out before walking a batter on his 100th pitch to end his day. Taylor Rashi got the final out of the inning on a popout.
Ivan Melendez reached to start the seventh on a throwing error but went down hard while stepping on the bag. He was removed from the game and Jancarlos Cintron pinch ran for him. Andy Weber and Castillo walked to load the bases with nobody out. Graham grounded into a double play that scored the ninth Amarillo run. Rashi settled into his first full inning of work, striking out two batters in a 1-2-3 inning.
The Soddies went down in order in the eighth, with the final out being a deep fly out to the warning track by Tawa, who was vying for his fourth hit. Jhosmer Alvarez worked a 1-2-3 inning on three flyouts.
Back-to-back hits by Beaty and Cintron started the ninth. Both would score later in the inning as Jean Walters had an RBI single. Gerardo Gutierrez gave up a walk, a wild pitch, and a two-out single to give up a run but that's all as the Soddies closed out the series-opening win.
After an 11-5 win to open the series, the Sod Poodles will face Ethan Pecko, who is making his Double-A debut on Wednesday night. First pitch is set for 6:35 P.M. in Corpus Christi.
NOTES:
TIMMY TIMES THREE: Tim Tawa continued his hot-hitting in the series opener against the Hooks on Tuesday night. Tawa led Amarillo's offense collecting three hits as part of the 15 overall as a team. He extends his hitting streak to three games and is hitting .400 (12-for-30) over his last seven games with hits in six of the seven.
BAY BOMBS: A.J. Vukovich hit his 11th home run of the season and third in his last six games after a sixth-inning two-run home run on Tuesday night off Luis Angel Rodriguez. The D-backs no. 14-rated prospect is second all-time in Amarillo history with 37 career regular season home runs.
MEAN JEAN: Switch hitter Jean Walters delivered one of five different multi-hit performances for Amarillo on Tuesday night. Walters picked up his first multi-hit game of his Double-A career and his first double as he finished 2-for-4 with two RBI.
NEY NOW: Neyfy Castillo recorded his third straight multi-hit game for Amarillo after going 2-for-4 with three RBI, a walk, and two runs scored on Tuesday night. Castillo went his first 14 games of the season without a multi-hit game but has gone 6-for-11 (.545) with a double, four RBI, two walks, and five runs scored in his first three games back in Double-A. Castillo had 14 multi-hit games with High-A Hillsboro in his 61 games with them this season.
STREAKY GOOD: Jancarlos Cintron extended his current hitting streak to eight games after going 1-for-1 with two runs scored after taking over as a pinch runner in the top of the seventh inning. His eight-game hit streak is tied for the longest by an Amarillo player this year (Jesus Valdez) and the third-longest currently in the Texas League behind Midland's Cooper Bowman (11) and Corpus' Brice Matthews (9). During his eight-game stretch, Cintron is hitting .429 (12-for-28) with a home run, double, five RBI, three walks, and eight runs scored.
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