Soddies Blast Five Homers, Comeback Effort Falls Just Short
May 7, 2022 - Texas League (TL)
Amarillo Sod Poodles News Release
Amarillo, TEXAS - The Amarillo Sod Poodles hit a season-high five home runs on Saturday night, but fell just one run short of the comeback in a 12-11 defeat to the Midland RockHounds on Saturday, May 7 at HODGETOWN.
The Sod Poodles went down 8-0 after two innings and scored five over the final two, but the winning run was left stranded in the well-fought battle. Corbin Carroll and Eduardo Diaz each hit two home runs and Juan Centeno added one as well. Amarillo battled from behind all night and scored five in the 5th and four in the 8th.
On the mound for Amarillo tonight was the left-handed Blake Walston, who made his Double-A debut as the top pitching prospect in the Diamondbacks farm system. He is the No. 4 overall prospect for Arizona, and the No. 95 overall MLB prospect.
Walston's highly anticipated Double-A debut went sideways in the 2nd inning, en route to allowing a career-high eight runs (seven earned) over two innings pitched. He allowed a hit to the first batter he faced, but caught a lineout and turned a 1-3 double play in a scoreless first inning.
The first two batters of the 2nd reached for Midland, and Jordan Diaz scored them both on an RBI double. The RockHounds then rallied with two outs with a walk and back-to-back singles plating three more runs.
Midland batted around in the five-run 2nd and batted around once again in a three-run 3rd. Walston allowed a run to score on back-to-back doubles to kick off the inning, and a two-run home run by Diaz ended his night with the Sod Poodles trailing 8-0. His final line in his first Double-A start was 2.0 IP, 8 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 2 BB and 1 K.
Josh Green was transferred to Amarillo from Reno just this morning and made his Sod Poodles debut in the 3rd, relieving Walston. The RockHounds loaded the bases on him off of a walk, hit by pitch and an error, but Green escaped the inning without allowing another run. He tossed two scoreless innings with one walk and two strikeouts.
With a tall hill to climb, the Sod Poodles began to chip away in the bottom of the 3rd. Corbin Carroll belted a 398-foot solo home run with two outs to make it 8-1, Carroll's 6th home run of the year.
Kai-Wei Lin came on in relief in the top of the 5th. He struck out the first two batters he faced before a Kyle McCann solo home run pushed the RockHound lead back to eight runs.
The Amarillo offense came to life and made it a game with five runs in the 5th. The first three batters of the inning singled, capped by an RBI base hit from Juan Centeno. A walk loaded the bases, and Eduardo Diaz scored them all with a 405-foot grand slam to left field to make it 9-6. The grand slam was the first for Amarillo this season.
The RockHounds responded with three runs of their own in the top of the 6th to make it 12-6. Jordan Diaz hit his second two-run homer of the night to collect his sixth RBI, ending Lin's night at 1.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB and 1 K. He was relieved by Brett de Geus, who allowed a sacrifice fly before ending the inning.
The Sod Poodles put runners in scoring position in the 6th and 7th before batting around and scoring four in the bottom of the 8th. After the first two batters were retired, Amarillo went on a two-out rally and got on the board with a three-run home run by Carroll and a solo homer from Diaz. The duo of outfielders had an outstanding day at the plate, combining for four home runs and nine RBI.
De Geus was relieved by Ryan Weiss after 1.2 scoreless innings, and Weiss did not allow a run to bring the Sod Poodles to the 9th trailing 12-10.
Amarillo was fueled all night by a passionate crowd at HODGETOWN, and they nearly completed the comeback by scoring in the bottom of the 9th. After the first two batters went down swinging, Juan Centeno launched a solo shot to bring the Soddies within one. With two home runs already on the game, Corbin Carroll struck out to end the game.
Midland out-hit Amarillo 16-13 and the teams combined for eight home runs. Amarillo had four batters with multiple hits, led by Centeno's three. Diaz had five RBI, Carroll had four, and Centeno had two. The pitching staff struck out six and walked five, and the Sod Poodles also left eight runners on base.
The Sod Poodles have now dropped three in a row to Midland, and will fight for a split in the series finale tomorrow, Sunday, May 8 with a 1:05 first pitch. RHP Slade Cecconi (0-1, 5.66 ERA) will be on the mound for Amarillo to face Midland's RHP Matt Milburn (1-2, 7.50 ERA).
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