Sod Poodles Drop Game Four Against San Antonio

Amarillo, Texas (June 16, 2023) – Ryan Bliss' three-hit, three RBI night highlighted an Amarillo order that scored nine runs on nine hits as the Sod Poodles dropped game four on Friday night 12-9 at HODGETOWN.

Amarillo starter Jeff Bain kept a leadoff walk and two-out double stranded as he hurled a couple of strikeouts in the night's opening inning. A.J. Vukovich was left on base after reaching on a two-out, two-base throwing error for the Sod Poodles' only runner to reach base in the bottom of the first.

The Missions pieced together a pair of hits, and were given a couple of free passes to strike first. The Missions plated a pair in the second but once again left a couple aboard to limit any further damage.

Adrian Del Castillo jumped on the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the second, swatting his ninth home run of the season. A subsequent walk and single put runners on the corners. A swinging bunt of sorts tied the game at two a piece. The second Amarillo home run of the inning came off the bat of Bliss as Amarillo used a four-run inning to take an early lead.

San Antonio added one in the top of the third and then used four extra-base hits including a pair of home runs to retake a 7-4 lead after the top of the fourth.

A walk, hit by pitch, and single helped to load the bases for Amarillo in the bottom of the inning. The two-out bases-loaded walk drawn by Jordan Lawlar brought Amarillo within one.

The third home run hit by the Missions added three-more runs as they extended the lead to 10-5 halfway through the game.

The Sod Poodles continued to respond. Four hits and as many runs highlighted by doubles from Caleb Roberts and Bliss and a sac fly from Roby Enriquez cut the Missions lead to just a run once again. In his second inning of work, Blake Workman retired the Missions in order. Amarillo was subject to the same fate in the bottom of the sixth.

A fourth San Antonio home run pushed their lead back to three runs at 12-9. Amarillo was unable to match the runs by San Antonio and sent Austin Pope to the mound for the top of the eighth. The right-hander made quick work in his first inning, getting the Missions to go three-up-three-down. It was the same in the bottom of the eighth for the Sod Poodles, unable to chip away at the deficit. Pope kept it at a three-run game after spinning his second hitless inning on the bump for Amarillo.

The heart of the Sod Poodles order was retired in order to end game four of the series.

Amarillo will look to close out the series strong, needing wins in each of the final two games to secure a series split and keep San Antonio at a striking distance before the first half comes to a close. Saturday night is Star Wars Night at HODGETOWN with specialty jerseys and other memorabilia to be auctioned off postgame. All of the proceeds will go to the Amarillo Area Foundation Disaster Relief Fund to assist with ongoing relief efforts in the Texas panhandle after recent severe weather has affected so many.

RHP Luke Albright (5-2, 4.80 ERA) will take the mound for Amarillo. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

NOTES:

HE'S BAD TO THE BONE: Ryan Bliss continues to terrorize Texas League pitching. His three-hit night was a triple shy of the cycle, collecting his 19th double and 10th home run of the season. He continues to lead the Texas League in a number of categories including: AVG (.371) with the next closest being Midland's Chase Calabuig at .329. Bliss ranks first in OPS (1.015), SLG (.608), hits (86), XBH (32), total bases (141), and runs scored (50). He is second in the league in doubles and fifth in OBP (.407). Friday was his 10th three-hit game, seven more than the next closest on the team. He extended his on-base streak to 19 games, the most by a Sod Poodle this season. His current seven-game hit streak includes a RBI in each game, the second-longest by a player in the Texas League behind Springfield's Chandler Redmond who had an eight-game streak with a RBI.

DEL (NOT OPPO) TACO: Adrian Del Castillo swatted his ninth homer of the year when he launched the first pitch he saw of the game. Over his last 20 games since May 19, nobody in the Arizona farm system has a better AVG (.366), more HR (6), a better OBP (.477), a higher SLG (.676) or OPS (1.153) than the former second-rounder.

MEET ME AT HOME: Tim Tawa's hit streak ended at 10-games, matching his previous career-long after going 0-for-2 with a walk and hit by pitch on Friday night. However, Tawa did score three runs , tying the most by an Amarillo player this season, and first since Jordan Lawlar scored three runs in Midland on June 10.

BERTS & ERNIE: Caleb Roberts picked up his 10th multi-hit game of the year and ninth two-hit game, going 2-for-3 with a double and RBI on Friday. It was his second-straight multi-hit effort after going 2-for-4 on Wednesday. In the series, Roberts is hitting 4-for-10 with a double, RBI, three walks, and five runs scored for Amarillo.

BAIN & GAIN: Jeff Bain pitched four innings and struck out a season-high eight batters, doubling up his previous season-high of four. It was just his sixth start since being moved into the starting rotation. The eight punchous were his most in a game since he struck out eight on July 7, 2021 when he was with Visalia. The eight strikeouts tied the season-high by an Amarillo pitcher, matching Chad Patrick's eight strikeouts he had on Wednesday. It is the fifth time an Amarillo pitcher has struck out eight in a game this season.

MORE LIKE AUSTIN NOPE: Austin Pope extended his scoreless streak to six games after spinning 2.0 IP without a hit allowed and two strikeouts. His recent stretch is tied for the third-longest on the team, tying Kyle Backhus' stretch from April 15-May 3. Over his last six games, Pope has allowed just six hits while striking out 11 of the 35 batters he has faced.