TL Amarillo Sod Poodles

Soddies Take Series Lead in Extras

Published on May 12, 2022 under Texas League (TL)
Amarillo Sod Poodles News Release


Springfield, MO - The trend of the Amarillo Sod Poodles alternating wins and losses on the road so far in 2022 came to an end after topping the Springfield Cardinals in extra innings at Hammons Field on Thursday night.

D-backs' No. 10 rated prospect Brandon Pfaadt got the ball for the Sod Poodles. Making his sixth start of the season, Pfaadt needed just 11 pitches to get through the first three Cardinal batters he faced, striking them all out. He retired the side in order in the second inning as he appeared to have his game in cruise control early.

Amarillo finally broke the seal and was able to notch the first run of the game in the top of the fourth inning. Outfielder Eduardo Diaz led off the inning with a double and was followed on base by fellow outfielder Dominic Fletcher who was able to extend his hitting streak to 17 games. With runners on the corners, Sod Poodles Manager Shawn Roof called on the running game to plate the first run of the night. A delayed double steal was executed to perfection and allowed Diaz to trot home with Springfield catching Fletcher between first and second.

The Cardinals swatted a pair of singles prior to drawing a one-out walk to load the bases in the bottom of the fifth. The third single of the inning tied the game with the go-ahead run making his way home on a sac fly.

The Amarillo pair of Diaz and Fletcher once again teamed up to tie the game in the sixth. Diaz picked up his second leadoff double of the night and husted around third on Fletcher's second base knock of the night. Pfaadt's night came to an end after six quality innings.

It was the first quality start of the season for Pfaadt after racking up eleven during the 2021 season. Like last night's game, the Sod Poodles bullpen shut the door on the Cardinals. Right-hander Jeff Bain was the first man out of the pen for Amarillo on Thursday night and fired two hitless innings while adding three strikeouts. Fellow right-hander Blake Rogers came on for the ninth and surrendered a leadoff single to Springfield. Rogers induced a line out and then a ground ball turned double play to send the game to extra innings.

Blaze Alexander started the extra frame with a leadoff single before Juan Centeno drew a walk to load the bases. Jancarlos Cintron roped his team-leading 11th double of the year, scoring two and providing Amarillo its first lead since the second inning. Andy Yerzy pitched in with a bases-loaded single and a three-run cushion for Rogers. Ultimately, the stifling bullpen and defense proved too much for Springfield to overcome in extras, going down without being able to push a run across.

Game four of six will take place at 6:35 PM CT at Hammons Field on Friday the 13th. D-backs' No. 4 rated prospect Blake Walston gets his second crack at Double-A after making his debut last week at HODGETOWN against Midland. The Wilmington, NC native is the top-ranked prospect in the D-backs' farm system after being selected with the 26th overall pick in 2019. Fans can watch the action on MiLB.TV or by listening to Chris and Stefan Caray on the Sod Poodles Radio Network on News Talk 940 AM.

Notes

Pfantasic: RHP Brandon Pfaadt earned his first quality start of his 2022 campaign on Wednesday night after tallying 11 during his first professional season in 2021. The former Bellarmine product started his night retiring the first six batters he faced with four strikeouts including all three in the opening frame. The right-hander looked motivated to get off to a fast start dueling with a big-leaguer in Drew VerHagen on the mound in the other dugout. VanHagen was making a rehab start after dealing with a bit of a hip injury. VerHagen didn't allow a hit in his two innings of work either. Pfaadt's seven strikeouts on Thursday added to his D-backs' organizational lead, totaling 41 through his first six starts. His 41 punchouts not only lead the system but the Texas League as well.

Feeling 17: Dominic Fletcher notched ANOTHER multi-hit game, his 10th of the year and 7th during his current tear. He has a hit in 17 straight games, a career-high, and now the longest active streak in all minor league baseball after Leody Taveras (Triple-A Round Rock) went 0-for in his game tonight. During the streak, Fletcher is hitting .370 (27-for-73) with six home runs, three doubles, and 20 RBI. Fletcher's 32 RBI leads the D-backs' farm system, is tied for the lead in the Texas League, and is T-3rd most in all minor league baseball.

Extra WINnings: Amarillo's 5-2 win in 10 innings was their fourth win in extras this year, improving the record to 4-1 here in 2022.

Hello, Arm Barn: Over the last two games, the Amarillo bullpen has spun 8.1 IP and has allowed just one (1) hit and ZERO runs. Last night, Ryan Wiess, Junior Garcia, and Blake Workman combined for 4.1 IP of hitless baseball to give Amarillo the 9-4 win. Tonight, Jeff Bain and Blake Rogers allowed just one hit and no runs in four innings in relief of Brandon Pfaadt. The two runs allowed tonight were the second-fewest allowed as a pitching staff all year and the fewest in a nine-inning game. Bryce Jarvis and Weiss held Tulsa to one run back in game one of the doubleheader in Tulsa on April 16.

Double Machine: Amarillo took the lead in the extra frame thanks to Jancarlos Cintron's team-leading 11th double here in 2022. The INF is now hitting .308 with four homers and 23 RBI to go along with his 11 two-baggers. His 11 doubles are tied for the third-most in Double-A this year.

THIS IS SPARTA: Seven of the current 12 active position players are hitting above .300 for the year led by Leandro Cedeño's .380 average after 23 games played. Hitting .306 as a team, the Sod Poodles are the only minor league team hitting above .300 currently. The next best hitting team is Midland (.287), and has 27 fewer hits than Amarillo with the same amount of games played.

Small Ball: The Sod Poodles did their damage tonight without hitting a single home run. It broke a streak of four games with at least two home runs. The last time Amarillo went homerless was last Thursday (May 5) against Midland. Amarillo's 53 home runs are third-most in the minors and still 10 more than their next closest Texas League and Double-A competitors, the Tulsa Drillers.

Trend Breakers: The Sod Poodles finally ended their streak of alternating wins and losses in road contests to begin the 2022 season. Through their first 14 games on the road, Amarillo had traded wins in all 14 games. Thursday night's win in extra innings gave the Soddies back-to-back road wins since rattling off three straight road wins in San Antonio from September 2 - 4, 2021.

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