TL1 Amarillo Sod Poodles

Sod Poodles Ninth-Inning Rally Falls Short in 9-7 Loss to Travelers

August 31, 2019 - Texas League (TL1)
Amarillo Sod Poodles News Release


AMARILLO, Texas - The Sod Poodles fell by a final score of 9-7 in game two to the Travelers in front of 7,150 at HODGETOWN. Ivan Castillo led the Sod Poodles Offense going 2-for-5 with a double and three RBI. Soddies starter Ronald Bolaños picked up the loss Saturday night. Bolaños tossed one inning and allowed one run on two hits. Bolaños struck out two of the six batters he faced. Amarillo is now in a tie for first with the Midland RockHounds in the Texas League second-half South Division standings with two games to go in the regular season.

The Travelers struck first in the top of the first inning when they plated one run on two hits. Leadoff batter Donnie Walton doubled down the left-field line and came around to score on an Evan White single up the middle to give Arkansas the 1-0 lead.

In the second inning Arkansas tacked on one run to take a 2-0 advantage. After a pair of singles from Luis Liberato and Mike Ahmed to open the inning, Dom Thompson-Williams flew out to right field which allowed Liberato to move up to third base. One batter later, Walton hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Liberato. The inning came to an end when White grounded out. Amarillo responded in the bottom of the inning to cut the deficit to 2-1. The run came via a Hudson Potts solo home run to left field.

Arkansas extend their lead to 3-1 in the fourth inning when the second batter of the inning Ahmed hit a solo home run to left-center field.

In the fifth inning, the Travelers plated six runs to stretch their lead to 9-2. Jarred Kelenic and White hit back-to-back singles to start the inning followed by a Jordan Cowan walk to load the bases for Arkansas. Cal Raleigh, Liberato, and Ahmed then worked consecutive walks bring across three free runs. After a Dom Thompson-Williams strikeout, Walton hit a two-RBI double to right field. While Kelenic was at the plate, Ahmed came in to score on a wild pitch before a strikeout would end the half.

The Sod Poodles narrowed the Travelers lead in the seventh inning when they plated two runs on two hits. The second batter of the inning Ruddy Giron singled to left-center field followed by Buddy Reed reaching on a fielding error by centerfielder Liberato. One batter later, Taylor Trammell singled through the hole at second base to score Giron and advanced Reed to third base. Ivan Castillo then grounded into a double play but before the play was complete Reed scored to make the score 9-4.

Amarillo made things interesting in the ninth inning when Potts singled to shallow left field to spark a rally. Overstreet followed with a double to right field advancing Potts to third base. Two batters later, Reed grounded out to the third basemen which allowed Potts to score. Trammell followed by working a six-pitch walk. With runners on first and second base, Castillo roped a two-RBI double to left-center field. With Castillo on third base after advancing on a wild pitch, Edward Olivares, who represented the tying run, belted a line drive to right field but was caught by Thompson-Williams to end the threat and the ballgame.

The Sod Poodles continue their last regular-season series Sunday against the Arkansas Travelers. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.

NOTES

Tomorrow's Preview: The Sod Poodles continue their final regular-season homestand with game three against the Seattle Mariners Double-A affiliate, the Arkansas Travelers, Sunday in downtown Amarillo. First pitch at HODGETOWN is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.

Playoff Picture Is Clear: The Sod Poodles head into their first-ever Texas League Postseason in their inaugural season beginning Wednesday, September 4 at HODGETOWN against the Midland RockHounds in the South Division Championship Series. Amarillo will host the first two games on Wednesday, September 4 and Thursday, September 5.

Magic Number: The Sod Poodles magic number to clinch the second-half South Division heading into Sunday is two games since Amarillo holds the season series and tiebreaker over Midland. If Midland loses Sunday and Amarillo wins Sunday, the Sod Poodles will clinch the second-half.

Huddy Power: Infielder Hudson Potts launched his 15th home run of the season Saturday night. He now ranks tied for second on the team in the category with Brad Zunica.

54 Inaugural Players: In the Sod Poodles inaugural season so far, Amarillo has welcomed 54 different players - 21 position players and 33 pitchers. On Saturday, Aaron Leasher marked the 33rd pitcher to appear and 54th player overall on the Amarillo all-time list.

400K Reached: In the Sod Poodles 64th home game, HODGETOWN welcomed its 400,000th fan. In the span, Amarillo's community gathering place has seen a total of 414,425 fans.

39th Sellout: HODGETOWN saw it's 39th sellout of the 2019 season in their 66th home game.

The Newest Guy: Lefty Aaron Leasher was transferred to Amarillo Saturday and made his Double-A debut the same day. He finished after 2.1 innings of work and allowed seven runs on four hits and four walks.

Position Players On the Mound: Brad Zunica made his first professional pitching appearance Saturday night against Arkansas, tossing a scoreless inning. A position player has yet to be charged with a run this season.

Starting to Heat Up: Outfielders Taylor Trammell and Buddy Reed are heating up. Trammell, who joined the Padres organization in the beginning of August, has collected multi-hit performances in three of his last six games. Since August 26, he is batting .409 (9-for-22) with five runs, a double, home run, three walks, and two RBI. Reed is batting .333 (6-for-19) on the week with four runs, a double, two home runs, and six RBI.

Hitting Stats: The Sod Poodles currently rank tied for first in Double-A baseball with a .263 team batting average. Amarillo sits second in all of Double-A with 651 runs scored total.

PREVIOUS NOTES:

Career First: In his first professional start and second appearance at the Double-A level, Sam Williams allowed three runs and three hits early on, but settled in quickly, allowing just one hit after with seven strikeouts over three total innings of work.

Hits For All: Friday night marked the fourth time during the 2019 season where every Sod Poodles player collected a hit. It was the first time since July 4 against Frisco. They have met the feat every month since May.

Five Spot: The five spot for Amarillo Friday night in the third inning marked the 9th time the team met the feat. It was the first time since 7/19 versus Northwest Arkansas.

First Time in Double Digits: Friday night marked the first time Arkansas pitching has allowed double digits by an opposing game during the 2019 season. The highest amount of runs Travelers pitching had allowed previously was 8.

Hit Parade For Amarillo: Amarillo's 18 hits Friday night marked the most hits by the Sod Poodles in one game this season and came just one night after Amarillo set a new high of 17 on Thursday. The previous high before Thursday was 16 which they reached three times this season.

They Were Runnin': The Sod Poodles set a new season-high in runs scored in a game as a team with 15 total of Friday night at HODGETOWN. The previous high was 13 which was recorded on May 26 against Midland.

The Street: Kyle Overstreet collected his second four-RBI game of the season Friday night after his 3-for-5 performance with two doubles. His first four-RBI game was recorded on July 16 against Springfield when he hit an inside-the-park grand slam at HODGETOWN.

Bednar's Brilliance: After 13 consecutive scoreless appearances, Amarillo reliever David Bednar allowed his first run Friday night after allowing a two-out, solo home run. Since the start of June, he has a 2.17 ERA in 28 appearances (37.1 innings) while striking out 54 batters in that span with just five walks.

Far Out: Amarillo bats combined for four home runs for the second time in a week (Wednesday and Friday) to tie a team season-high in a game (4th time overall in 2019). Last three: 5/5 vs. ARK and 8/3 vs FRI, 8/28 vs. TUL.

Welly Voted Best: The Texas League announced Thursday that Amarillo Sod Poodles manager Phillip Wellman has been named the 2019 Texas League Manager of the Year. It marks the veteran skipper's second Manager of the Year honor in three seasons (2017 - San Antonio). Pete Woodworth, pitching coach of the Arkansas Travelers, was selected as the Mike Coolbaugh Coach of the Year. The awards were voted on by the league's managers, staff and media.

Hundred Mark: Buddy Reed reached the 100 career stolen base mark on Thursday. Against Tulsa, he stole two bases and now has accrued 101 stolen bags as a minor leaguer.

GONE: In the series with Tulsa, both teams set a new HODGETOWN high of 21 total home runs in the four-game series. Tulsa hit 16 of the total with five coming off the bats of the Sod Poodles.

30 Combined: The combined 30 hits between Amarillo and Tulsa on Thursday night marked the most by two teams during their inaugural campaign. The most previously was set on May 13 when the Sod Poodles and RockHounds combined for 28 hits.

Lots of Runs: The combined 23 runs by Amarillo and Tulsa on Thursday at HODGETOWN set a season-high. The previous high was 21 set on May 26 with Midland.

Series #40: In their 40th series of the 2019 season, the Sod Poodles dropped to Tulsa 1-3. It marked their 18th series loss. Overall in 2019, they hold a 19-18-3 series record.

New High: Kyle Lloyd allowed a career-high six home runs in his 115th career minor league start. His previous high in a start was three home runs allowed, which happened three times. Two of the starts he allowed three home runs happened this season on June 3 and June 27, both at HODGETOWN.

Postseason Stars of the Soddies: The Texas League revealed Wednesday its 2019 Postseason All-Star team, featuring a league's second-highest four (4) Amarillo Sod Poodles players. The postseason selections highlight the league's best throughout the 2019 season at each position. Sod Poodles players selected to the Postseason All-Star team are: Catcher Luis Torrens, Infielder Ivan Castillo, Outfielder Edward Olivares, and Right-Handed Pitcher Lake Bachar.

Drillers Recap: The Sod Poodles finished their regular season with the Tulsa Drillers to HODGETOWN. Amarillo finishes with a record of 5-9. At home, the Sod Poodles went 3-4 against Tulsa with two walk-off wins on June 16 and August 28. The Sod Poodles did not fare too well in Tulsa as they went 2-5 at ONEOK Field. Eight of the 13 matchups against the Soddies and Drillers were decided by two or fewer runs this season.

Reed's Big Blast: Outfielder Buddy Reed knocked his 13th home run of the season Wednesday. It was his first since July 25th at Springfield and marked his first walk-off hit of 2019.

WALK-OFF: The Sod Poodles collected their seventh walk-off victory this season and second against Tulsa this season. The team's last came on August 12 against Midland at HODGETOWN in extra innings.

Long-Ball Parade: Amarillo and Tulsa combined for the most home runs by two teams in a game at HODGETOWN with nine total round-trippers. On Wednesday, Tulsa collected a total of five while Amarillo knocked four of their own.

Back-to-Back: Brad Zunica and Ruddy Giron became the 4th Amarillo duo to collect back-to-back home runs in a game this season. The last duo to do it was Luis Torrens and Hudson Potts on August 3 against Frisco at HODGETOWN.

Out-hit W: The Sod Poodles collected their 11th victory in a game this season when they were outhit. On Wednesday, they were outhit 13-11 by Tulsa. Amarillo is now 11-45 in the category.

Pitchers Who Rake: Starter Lake Bachar helped his cause with a hit and RBI in game three against Tulsa, marking his second consecutive at-bat where he collected a hit and RBI. On Tuesday, reliever Blake Rogers slugged his second hit this season in big fashion with a two-out, two-RBI double in game two against Tulsa. It marked his first career extra-base hit and the ninth hit overall by a Sod Poodles pitcher this season.

Day Games Are Good: The Sod Poodles improved to an 11-8 record in day games overall in 2019 with Wednesday's walk-off win. In the Soddies' first morning contest this season, on May 22, Amarillo won 7-6 over Corpus Christi.

Big 6: Amarillo's big six-run frame in the third inning came one short of tying a season-high for runs scored in an inning. The Sod Poodles plated seven in an inning two times this season. The first time the Sod Poodles accomplished the feat was on April 11 vs. Corpus Christi with the second time coming on August 22 in Tulsa.

Largest Deficit: Monday night's game set the largest deficit the Sod Poodles have faced against Tulsa this season (seven runs). The previous largest was only two runs which came on June 23 at ONEOK Field.

Deep Into Monday: Monday night's contest marked the longest game at HODGETOWN to date. The game one of the series with Tulsa lasted 3:35. The previous longest was 3:30 set on July 22 against Northwest Arkansas.

Check out the Amarillo Sod Poodles Statistics



Texas League Stories from August 31, 2019


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