Rivas' One Swing Leads Sod Poodles to Series Victory over RockHounds
May 16, 2019 - Texas League (TL1)
Amarillo Sod Poodles News Release
ARILLO, Texas - Catcher Webster Rivas was the hero at the plate in the rubber match against the Midland RockHounds Wednesday night as he hit a go-ahead three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning with two outs in front of a HODGETOWN crowd of 6,007 to give the Sod Poodles the late lead and eventual 3-2 victory in the series finale.
Starting pitcher T.J. Weir was excellent as he tossed five innings and allowed just four hits and two unearned runs. Weir went on to strike out nine RockHounds batters during the contest but was dealt the no-decision on Wednesday night.
The Sod Poodles bullpen made up of Paco Rodriguez and Andres Munoz were lights out against the Midland lineup as they retired all 12 combined batters they faced. Rodriguez tallied three perfect innings and struck out three Midland batters. Then, in the ninth, Munoz closed the contest, striking out two of the three batters he faced with fastballs ranging from 101 to 104 MPH to preserve the 3-2 victory for the Sod Poodles and his third save of the season.
The Midland RockHounds struck first Wednesday night in the top of the second inning when Kevin Merrell reached on a throwing error by pitcher Weir which allowed two runners to score to give Midland the early 2-0 lead.
After the two Midland runs in the second inning, starter Weir settled in and pitched five innings of four-hit baseball and struck out nine RockHound batters. Weir would end up receiving the no-decision on Wednesday night.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Sod Poodles catcher Webster Rivas hit a monster three-run home run over the left field wall on a 1-2 pitch with two outs to put Amarillo ahead of the RockHounds by a score of 3-2.
On Thursday night, the Amarillo Sod Poodles and Frisco RoughRiders will begin a four-game series at Dr. Pepper Ballpark in Frisco Texas.
Game one of the series on Thursday night will air on Fox Sports Southwest with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Right-handed pitcher Lake Bachar will receive the nod from Sod Poodles manager Phillip Wellman. Bachar will face off against the RoughRiders southpaw Joe Palumbo as both starters will look for their first win on the season.
NOTES
Rivas Round-Up: Catcher Webster Rivas slugged his first home run of the season in big fashion Wednesday night in the final game against Midland. With two strikes, Rivas knocked a go-ahead, three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth.
Series Victory: The Sod Poodles secured their fourth series victory of the season and first over the Midland RockHounds this season. In 2019, the Sod Poodles hold a 4-5-2 win-loss-split season record.
Pitch 100: After taking a four-hit shutout into the sixth inning, Midland starter Brian Howard surrendered a two-out walk while an error followed. Webster Rivas took Howard to a 1-2 count and on his 100th pitch, Rivas launched a ball onto the left-field bar to give the Sod Poodles the late 3-2 lead.
Not Weir(d): In his sixth start of 2019, T.J. Weir kept his season pace, tossing five innings for a fourth time while allowing just four hits (tying a season-best) and just two runs (none earned). Weir also tied an individual and team season-high with nine strikeouts.
9 Up, 9 Down: Paco Rodriguez earned his first win of 2019 after tossing three perfect innings - nine up and nine down - while racking up three strikeouts.
Fire Away: In just 14 innings pitched (65 total batters faced), reliever Andres Munoz has struck out 30 batters. He improved to a 1.93 ERA Wednesday night while holding opposing bats to a .143 average.
104 on the gun: Flamethrower Andres Munoz tossed a 1-2-3 ninth inning Wednesday night to earn his team-leading third save. His final fastball on the gun was clocked at 104 MPH before he struck out Greg Deichmann with an 85 MPH slider.
Multi-Hit Nights: Owen Miller and Taylor Kohlwey both collected multi-hit nights with a pair of hits each. It marked their eighth and second respectively in Double-A this season. It also was each of their second multi-hit nights in three games.
Oil-Pan Cup Recap: With a game three victory Wednesday, the Sod Poodles improve to a 3-6 series against the Midland RockHounds over their first nine games of 2019. After taking a loss in the Amarillo home opener on April 8 by a score of 4-9, they came back with a game two 8-2 victory. The Soddies lost game three and then were swept on the road in Midland. Amarillo and Midland will play each other 20 more times following this series.
Extra Bases: Sod Poodles outfielder Edward Olivares is second in the Texas League behind Naturals' Gabriel Cancel who has 19 extra-base hits in the 2019 campaign. Cody Thomas of Tulsa trails in third with 16 extra base hits.
Tomorrow's Preview: Amarillo will head to Frisco, Texas Thursday for the first time this season to face off against the Texas Rangers Double-A Frisco RoughRiders in a four-game series.
PREVIOUS NOTES:
Krushed: Taylor Kohlwey, who was added to Amarillo's roster on May 6 from Lake Elsinore, knocked his first Double-A home run of 2019 in the first inning of Monday's game one against Midland to tie the contest at 2-2. It marked just his 12th Minor League career home run. Kohlwey was taken by the Padres in the 21st round of the 2016 draft.
Lloyd's First Start: Right-hander Kyle Lloyd made his first start for the Sod Poodles Tuesday night against Midland, tossing an impressive five innings while allowing just one run on five hits with one walk allowed and a season-high six strikeouts.
100K+: With Tuesday night's announced attendance of 5,462, the Sod Poodles have welcomed 101,408 fans to HODGETOWN in just 17 home games, averaging just shy of 6,000 fans per game so far during the 2019 inaugural season. The Sod Poodles are the first team in the Texas League this season to reach over 100,000 in attendance at home.
Mr. Consistent: Edward Olivares continued his consistent ways, tallying two more RBIs Tuesday night to reach a total of 28 on the season in his 33rd game of 2019. His RBI count is good for second in the Texas League behind Abraham Toro's (Corpus Christi) 30 RBI.
Zunica's 7th: First baseman Brad Zunica collected his seventh home run of the season Tuesday night in his first at-bat on the first pitch. It marked his second in four days and he is now tied for second on the team with Buddy Reed in the category.
Morejon's Monday Outing: The San Diego Padres number-three pitching prospect and southpaw, Adrian Morejon, tossed two innings of two-run, three-hit ball while retiring five of his 10 batters faced by way of strikeout.
That One Stung: The Sod Poodles dropped their first game of the season when leading after eight innings. Coming into the night, the squad was 13-0 when leading after eight innings in a game.
Krushed: Taylor Kohlwey, who was added to Amarillo's roster on May 6 from Lake Elsinore, knocked his first Double-A home run of 2019 in the first inning of Monday's game one against Midland to tie the contest at 2-2. It marked just his 12th Minor League career home run. Kohlwey was taken by the Padres in the 21st round of the 2016 draft.
Team High: With their 16 hits on Monday night, the Sod Poodles set a new team high in hits in a game. The previous high was set at 14, a feat reached on May 5 against Arkansas.
New History: Owen Miller and Buddy Reed became the first and second Sod Poodles players respectively in franchise history to record four-hit games. On Monday, Miller knocked three singles and a double while Reed came just a triple shy of the cycle.
Lucky Number 7: Buddy Reed, who switched his number from number 1 to the number 7 before Monday night's game, slugged his seventh home run of the 2019 season in his first at-bat. It marked his first home run since April 14.
Scholtens Coming In Hot: Jesse Scholtens pitched in tandem with Adrian Morejon Monday night due to a pitch count set for Morejon. Scholtens, who entered into the game from the bullpen for the first time this season, tossed five and two-thirds innings while allowing three runs on seven hits with six strikeouts.
Texas League Stories from May 16, 2019
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- Pitching Legend Rowengartner to Join Drillers - Tulsa Drillers
- Cardinals Series Highlights: May 16 - May 19 - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- RockHounds Drop Series Finale to Sod Poodles - Midland RockHounds
- Rivas' One Swing Leads Sod Poodles to Series Victory over RockHounds - Amarillo Sod Poodles
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