TL Amarillo Sod Poodles

Sod Poodles Power Past Missions in 10-2 Win

Published on June 13, 2023 under Texas League (TL)
Amarillo Sod Poodles News Release


Amarillo, Texas - Amarillo kicked off the pivotal six-game series against the San Antonio Missions with a 10-2 win behind four home runs and two doubles on Tuesday night. Jordan Lawlar led the way with three hits, one of seven Amarillo starters to collect multi-hit games.

San Antonio gave themselves an early lead off RHP Jamison Hill. Following a two-pitch first out of the opening frame, a one-out solo home run put the Missions up by a run. Hill buckled down, limiting the damage to just one run after working around a two-out walk and double.

The top of Amarillo's lineup quickly picked up their man on the mound. Ryan Bliss led off the game with his ninth homer of the campaign to knot things up for the time being. Lawlar then jumped on the first pitch he saw and laced a single into left field. The D-backs' no. 1-rated prospect swiped second to put himself into scoring position for Adrian Del Castillo who plated Lawlar with a RBI single to put Amarillo up 2-1 after their first trip to the plate.

Hill had his full repertoire working in the second inning as he struck out the side, leaving a one-out double stranded in scoring position. Missions' starter Jackson Wolf held serve, retiring Amarillo in order as both starters worked a clean frame in the second. Both hurlers retired the side in order in the third inning as the game quickly moved to the fourth.

Former Sod Poodle Michael De La Cruz collected his second hit of the night to start the Missions' fourth inning, but would be cut down attempting to steal third for the second out of the inning. A single, hit batter, and walk loaded the bases for the top of their order. All three Missions were left stranded as a Lawlar fielded a grounder and stepped on second himself to end the threat and keep Amarillo's one-run advantage intact.

A two-out fielding error kept the Sod Poodles up to bat in the home half of the fourth, however, the inning would end with a runner left stranded in scoring position. Hill worked into the fifth inning and found himself in a bit of trouble after a walk and single put two aboard. The right-hander responded with three straight outs, although the first two were enough to move the runners over and score one as San Antonio tied the game at 2-2.

Just as they did in the first, Amarillo responded. A leadoff single and Neyfy Castillo's third home run of the season put Amarillo up by two. Two hits followed in the inning, but none were able to extend Amarillo's lead.

Mitchell Stumpo was the first one called upon out of the bullpen for Amarillo. The right-hander ended his one inning of labor with his second strikeout, leaving a pair of runners stranded after the Missions tallied two hits off him.

Castillo added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning. After loading the bases on a pair of singles and a walk, Castillo scored Amarillo's fifth run of the game with a sac fly into center field. Austin Pope took over on the mound for Amarillo for the seventh inning and quickly picked up his first strikeout of the night. Two quick groundouts followed and the Sod Poodles would head to the seventh-inning stretch with a three-run lead at 5-2.

The offense poured it on after the stretch, racking up a five-run inning highlighted by back-to-back home runs by Del Castillo and Deyvison De Los Santos. Del Castillo's two-run blast brought home Seth Beer who doubled ahead of him. Bliss capped off the five-run frame with his second RBI of the night with a single into left field.

Pope was back to work in the top of the eighth and left the 10th and 11th San Antonio baserunners stranded after he earned three-straight outs after a single and walk started the inning. Amarillo was unable to capitalize on a bases-loaded situation with nobody out in the bottom of the eighth with the game staying at 10-2.

Left-hander Jake Rice entered the game in the top of the ninth for Amarillo. He worked an easy 1-2-3 inning to close out the game, punctuating the series-opening win with a strikeout.

Now just a game back of the Missions in the Texas League South Division, Amarillo will play on Wednesday for a share of the first-half lead. RHP Chad Patrick (3-5, 4.94 ERA) gets the ball for Amarillo. In his lone start this year against San Antonio, Patrick earned Texas League Pitcher of the Week honors after shutting out the Missions for seven innings back on May 27th when this run of 13-of-15 wins got started.

NOTES:

SEVEN HEAVEN: With their seventh-straight win, Amarillo has a new franchise-high for consecutive victories. The team had previously won six straight games twice (9/10-16, 2022 & 6/6-11, 2023).

STREAKS SURVIVE: Jordan Lawlar extended his current hitting streak to seven games with a single in the bottom of the first inning. His seven-game stretch with at least one hit is currently tied for third in the Texas League. As he would later be rewarded with scoring a run, he also extended his league-leading streak of nine straight games crossing the plate. Ryan Bliss' leadoff homer also extended his on-base streak to 16 games, good for second-best in the League right now. The blast also gave Bliss back-to-back games with a home run and four straight games with a run batted in.

CAN'T START ANY BETTER: Ryan Bliss' leadoff home run was his fifth of the year and adds to his lead in franchise history. Bliss overtook Alek Thomas (3, 2021) for the most leadoff home runs in franchise history when he started Saturday's game in Midland with a blast to begin the game. Bliss' five leadoff home runs are currently tied for the most among any minor leaguer this year, as he joined Jonatan Clase (Seattle Mariners) who also has five leadoff blasts between High-A Everett and Double-A Arkansas.

BEVERLY HILL'S WHO I WANT TO BE: Jamison Hill earned the win after working a season-high 5.0 IP and 89 pitches. It was the first time Hill pitched at least 5.0 IP since his last start to end the 2022 season in San Antonio. Tuesday's win for Hill also marked his first since that Sept. 18, 2022 game against the Missions. In his three starts in June, Hill owns a 2.55 ERA with 14 strikeouts over 14.1 IP.

N.C. HAMMER: Neyfy Castillo turned in a 2-for-3 night that included his third long ball of the year as well as three RBI. It was Castillo's first home run since May 11 vs. Midland and the D.R. native tied his season-high with his three-RBI night, his first since April 18 at NW Arkansas. Tuesday marked his second-straight multi-hit game this year and he is hitting .350 (7-for-20) with three XBH and five RBI over his last five games.

BACK-TO-BACK, JACK: Adrian Del Castillo and Deyvison De Los Santos teamed up for the third back-to-back home run tandem of the season as they each launched in the seventh. For Del Castillo, it was his eighth total on the year and his third in his last four games dating back to June 8 at Midland. For De Los Santos, it was the seventh of the year and the second in his last four games. The duo capped a four-home run night for Amarillo, tying the most in a game this season, a number they last set just two games ago on June 10.

MULTIPLIED: Jordan Lawlar led the way offensively, turning in one of seven multi-hit nights by a Sod Poodle. Lawlar earned his third three-hit night of the season after going 3-for-4 with a double and a pair of singles. Among the starters who tallied a pair of hits, Juan Centeno pitched in with his 13th multi-hit game of the season. Ryan Bliss leads the club with 27 multi-hit games of the 50 he has appeared in.

ARM BARN: Dating back to May 27, the Amarillo bullpen has the lowest ERA among all 30 Double-A teams at 3.32. Over their last 130.0 IP, the relievers had surrendered just 48 earned runs. They are tied for the fewest hits allowed by a bullpen over the stretch along with Akron (Cleveland), allowing just 109 hits. Over the last 24.2 IP since the start of the Midland series, Amarillo relievers have allowed just three earned runs on 14 hits. The 11 runners left on base Tuesday were the sixth-most LOB in game this year. Amarillo set their season-high with 14 runners left on during the May 26th game in San Antonio.

HOT, HOT, HOT: Over the last seven games, Amarillo boasts a +33 run differential and leads the league, hitting .357 as a team and boasts the second-best team ERA in the Texas League at 3.43 with just 24 earned runs over these last 63.0 IP. Since Amarillo's hot stretch began with the two wins in San Antonio to close out the series on May 27th & 28th, nobody in Minor League Baseball has more wins than Amarillo's 13. Triple-A Sugar Land (Houston) and Omaha (Kansas City) are each currently riding six-game hit streaks, tied for the second-longest active winning streak in MiLB behind Amarillo.

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Texas League Stories from June 13, 2023


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