Corcoran Spins Another Quality Start in Sod Poodles Win
Amarillo, Texas (June 9, 2024) – The Sod Poodles took a series lead over the visiting Tulsa Drillers on a blustery Saturday night at HODGETOWN. Consistent offense and another dominant start on the mound propelled the Sod Poodles in their 6-3 win. A leadoff walk issued by Billy Corcoran came
Amarillo, Texas (June 9, 2024) – The Sod Poodles took a series lead over the visiting Tulsa Drillers on a blustery Saturday night at HODGETOWN. Consistent offense and another dominant start on the mound propelled the Sod Poodles in their 6-3 win.
A leadoff walk issued by Billy Corcoran came around to score on a RBI double from the Driller's three-hole hitter Dalton Rushing. The Amarillo starter worked around another walk in the inning to leave two Drillers stranded after catching Diego Cartaya looking at strike three to end the top of the first. However, it didn't take long for Amarillo to storm in front. Three pitches into the bottom of the inning Caleb Roberts hit a two-run home run to push Amarillo into the lead. The catcher jumped on the first pitch he saw of his at-bat after Jancarlos Cintron led off the night with a single. A.J. Vukovich kept the inning alive with a two-out double but was left stranded. Corcoran worked a much more efficient second frame, retiring the side in order on just 10 pitches.
That didn't take long!
— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) June 9, 2024
3 pitches into the bottom of the first and the lead is ours! pic.twitter.com/MT0gcNqU6W
After four straight scoreless half-innings, Tulsa knotted things up in the fourth. A leadoff double came around to score on Damon Keith's RBI single. Like he did in the first, Corcoran limited the damage to just one. He picked up consecutive strikeouts before inducing a ground ball to get himself out of the inning and keep the game tied. Kevin Graham ended Hyun-il Choi's run of nine straight Sod Poodles retired with a two-out single in the home half. J.J. D'Orazio followed him on base with a single of his own to keep the inning alive and move Graham into scoring position. Both were left on as Choi got S.P. Chen to pop out into shallow center field.
Corcoran worked his third 1-2-3 inning of the night by retiring the Drillers in order in his fifth inning of work. Kristian Robinson started Amarillo's half of the fifth with a single. Cintron bunted his way aboard but Robinson's wide turn around second put him in a rundown between second and third. The out allowed Cintron to replace him in scoring position for Roberts. His second extra-base hit of the night put the Sod Poodles back in front as he laced a RBI double into the right-field corner.
Corcoran worked another quick inning to make it four straight quality starts for the right-hander before turning the ball over to Francisco Morales. He struck out the side but a single, fielding error, and wild pitch in between his three strikeouts allowed the Drillers to even the score in the top of the seventh.
Cintron's third hit of the night led off Amarillo's half of the seventh. An errant pick-off attempt helped him advance into scoring position before Roberts' third hit of the night gave Amarillo runners on the corners. Tim Tawa and his friends all got to trot around the bases as Tawa's 10th home run of the year gave the Sod Poodles a 6-3 lead. Three straight outs followed before Morales headed back to the mound. He made it four straight strikeouts before a ground ball sent the Drillers back to their dugout in order. After nothing came of a Robinson two-out walk in the bottom of the ninth Mitchell Stumpo headed to the mound from the bullpen.
The right-hander worked a clean frame to close the door on the Drillers in the ninth for his fifth save of the season and provided Amarillo a 3-2 series lead with a chance at the win in the finale on Sunday night. RHP Cole Percival (3-4, 4.75 ERA) will start for the Sod Poodles against RHP Jared Karros (1-1, 5.23 ERA) in a pitching rematch of the series opener from Tuesday night which the Sod Poodles won.
NOTES:
GONE-BERTS: Caleb Roberts hit his second home run in three games after jumping on the first pitch he saw in his at-bat in the bottom of the first. He provided Amarillo the lead for the second time in three games with his first-inning homer. It was his fifth of the season and 22nd all-time as a Sod Poodle, moving him ahead of current teammate Ivan Melendez and into a tie with Dominic Fetcher. He finished Saturday night 3-for-4 with three RBI, and two runs scored. His three RBI moved him into fourth all-time in RBI with 94 in his 150th career game as a Sod Poodle.
BILLY THE KKKKKKKID: Billy Corcoran made it four straight quality starts after turning in 6.0 IP while allowing three hits, two earned, and set his Double-A high with a seven-strikeout night. Over his last four games, Corcoran has worked 25.0 IP while allowing just nine hits, three earned runs, has 21 strikeouts, and boasts a 1.08 ERA. His stretch comes after a tough Double-A outing where he went just 2.1 IP and allowed nine hits and a career-high seven runs against the Frisco RoughRiders on May 16th.
Thinking of starting a petition to change the spelling to ꓘKKKKorcoran pic.twitter.com/9X4L5RqULo
— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) June 9, 2024
TIMMY TATERS: Tim Tawa extended his Sod Poodles all-time HR lead to 37 after swatting his 10th of the year to give the Sod Poodles a 6-3 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. He now holds a two home run lead over recently departed Deyvison De Los Santos, and a five homer lead over current teammate A.J. Vukovich. Tawa ended the game 1-for-4 with the home run. He is currently the Amarillo all-time leader in hits (203), runs (131), total bases (352), XBH (74), and is second in RBI (128).
TIMMY TANKS pic.twitter.com/4dnLh9iZ4t
— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) June 9, 2024
THREES COMPANY: Amarillo had two players finish the game with three hits. Jancarlos Cintron finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored. Caleb Roberts ended 3-for-4 with two XBH, and two runs scored. They were the 28th and 29th three-hit game by a Sod Poodles player this year. It was the second and third three-hit game for Cintron and Roberts respectively.
MORALES HIGH: Francisco Morales made his Amarillo debut after being transferred from Triple-A Reno earlier in the week. After finishing with five strikeouts in two innings of work, the right-hander eclipsed 500 career minor-league strikeouts. He earned the win in his Sod Poodles debut to give him his 19th win in 163 career minor league games split between the Phillies and now Diamondbacks organizations.