
Sod Poodles Out-Hit, But Don't Out-Score San Antonio
July 9, 2024 - Texas League (TL)
Amarillo Sod Poodles News Release
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Amarillo's comeback attempt fell short in the ninth inning, dropping the series opener in San Antonio, 6-5.
Yu-Min Lin set a season-high in pitches, 91, on his way to 6.1 innings allowing four earned runs and walking none. The Sod Poodles had five extra-base hits, including a double and home run from Matt Beaty. Ivan Melendez also left the yard with a solo shot, his 16th of the year.
Robby Snelling had a nice first inning against Amarillo, striking out a pair in a quick inning. Lin also had a 1-2-3 first inning picking up a strikeout.
Melendez started the second with his Texas League-leading 16th deep fly of the season. J.J. D'Orazio doubled right after. A wild pitch ensued, as well as a walk by Kristian Robinson however, they couldn't cash in any further. Lin got the first couple outs of the inning but then he hit a batter, allowed a single and two doubles to make it 3-1 heading into the third.
With one out, Tim Tawa doubled, and then Beaty smashed his fourth home run over the right-centerfield wall. This tied the game headed into the home half, where Lin set the side down in order.
Both teams went down in order in the fourth inning.
The Sod Poodles threatened in the fifth when A.J. Vukovich singled after a Jesus Valdez double. With two runners in scoring position and nobody out, Tawa struck out. Omar Cruz replaced Robby Snelling and struck out both Beaty and Melendez, extinguishing the threat. Lin continued to fill up the zone, allowing only a single in the inning.
D'Orazio singled and Caleb Roberts walked, before both moving up on a wild pitch. For the second straight inning, they had second and third and nobody out. Jancarlos Cintron singled in the go-ahead run, making it 4-3. Three strikeouts in a row ended the threat. Lin had another perfect inning.
Melendez and Beaty reached base via walks but couldn't score. Ray-Patrick Didder homered to lead off the Missions half of the inning, tying up the game. After getting an out, Lin was replaced by Conor Grammes. Grammws gave up a walk, a single, and a double to give San Antonio a 6-4 lead after seven.
Francis Pena came in to pitch and only allowed a soft single to Valdez. Jhosmer Alvarez was tasked with the eighth and worked a clean inning, with the only base runner reaching on a hit by pitch.
Ethan Routzahn came on to get the last three outs for the Missions. Tawa led off and reached on an error and scored on a double by Beaty the next batter. The Soddies only trailed by one. A wild pitch put Beaty at third base and he was pinch ran for by Kevin Graham. Melendez grounded out to second without allowing the run to score. With one out, D'Orazio hit a ground ball to third base and they were able to nab Kevin Graham coming home. Roberts struck out swinging to end the game with a 6-5 final.
The Sod Poodles will look to get back in the win column Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m. in San Antonio.
NOTES:
TITANIC BLASTS: Ivan Melendez added to his Texas League lead in home runs, hitting his 16th of the season off Robby Snelling in the top of the second inning on Tuesday night. The D-backs' no. 8-rated prospect is tied for the second-most homers in all of Double-A. In six at-bats against the Padres' top-ranked pitching prospect this season, both of Melendez's hits have left the yard. Melendez is up to 28 career home runs with Amarillo, two shy of becoming the fifth Amarillo player to ever hit 30 career home runs in an Amarillo uniform.
BATER TATER: Matt Beaty launched his fourth home run of the year and his third in his last 10 games played. Over his last 16 games since June 21st, Beaty has hit successfully in 14 games and is hitting .295 over the stretch. He has the longest active hitting streak on the team after Tuesday night, with a hit in four games. He finished the game 2-for-4 with the two-run home run and a double with three RBI and a walk.
DOUBLE D'ORAZIO: J.J. D'Orazio was one of two Amarillo players to have a multi-hit night in the series opener against San Antonio. The Amarillo catcher finished 2-for-5 with a double and run scored. It was his 10th double of the year after ending the 2023 season T-5th in the D-backs organization with 23 two-baggers. The Sod Poodles finished Tuesday with four doubles, giving them 27 through the first 13 games of the second half of the Texas League season which is third most in the Texas League and the fourth most overall in Double-A since June 25th.
JHOS PLEASE: Jhosmer Alvarez spun a scoreless bottom of the eighth for Amarillo to make it four straight scoreless appearances for the hard-throwing right-hander. Through his first seven appearances for Amarillo, Alvarez has five scoreless outings and has allowed just two earned runs, good for a 2.45 ERA and has allowed seven hits over 7.1 IP.
Cory Hilborne Director of Media Relations & Baseball Operations 2019 & 2023 Texas League Champion Amarillo Sod Poodles Baseball P: 806-803-9614 E: coryh@sodpoodles.com A: 715 S. Buchanan Street, Amarillo, TX 79101 www.sodpoodles.com FOLLOW US!
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