Amarillo Slugs Their Way to Victory

Amarillo, Texas (August 20, 2024) – The Sod Poodles hit a season-high six home runs on Tuesday night to earn an 11-6 win over the Corpus Christi Hooks. Six different players got in on the action with the 2 through 7 hole hitters in the lineup all doing damage.

Dylan Ray and Miguel Ullola needed a combined 23 total pitches to get through the first inning on Tuesday night. The second was more labor-intensive for both. Ray walked the tightrope, allowing two hits along with a walk as the Hooks loaded the bases. The D-backs no. 16-rated prospect avoided a four-pitch walk and what would have been the first run of the game by battling back and eventually getting Austin Deming to line out and end the threat. Matt Beaty took first base after being hit by Ullola to start Amarillo's half and let the power bats behind him do the heavy lifting. Ivan Melendez and Caleb Roberts went back-to-back to give the Sod Poodles a 3-0 lead.

Ray surrendered his first run of the night when a leadoff ground-rule double came around to score on a two-out RBI single before Ray could work himself out of another jam. The Sod Poodles got that run right back with Beaty collecting a RBI single in the bottom of the third.

Amarillo responded to a Corpus run in the top of the fourth by scoring four of the next five runs of the night. A.J. Vukovich hit a solo shot in the fifth. Kristian Robinson followed suit with a solo blast of his own in the sixth, and Beaty joined the home run party with a two-run shot in the seventh to make it 8-3 Amarillo.

The Hooks made things a little closer with three runs in the top of the eighth. As they did throughout the game, Amarillo kept mashing. Andy Weber hit the Sod Poodles sixth home run of the game to push the lead back to 11-6.

Jhosmer Alvarez took over pitching duties in the ninth for the Soddies. The right-hander issued a leadoff walk but induced a double play right after. The Hooks kept things alive briefly with a two-out single. Alvarez ended things with a strikeout of Pascanel Ferreras to secure the Tuesday night win.

Amarillo and Corpus will continue their series on Wednesday night. LHP Spencer Giesting (2-6, 5.70 ERA) will get the start for Amarillo against the Hooks and LHP Julio Robaina (1-1, 3.89 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

NOTES:

MELENDEZ MASH: Ivan Melendez hit his 19th home run of the season while collecting his 40th and 41st RBI of the year with a two-run shot to open the game's scoring. It was the first home run for Melendez since July 21st against Springfield. With the departure of Tim Tawa to Triple-A Reno before Tuesday's game against the Hooks, Melendez takes over as the active leader in the Texas League in home runs. It was the 31st home run of his Amarillo career as he and the guy behind him in the Sod Poodles order on Tuesday broke a three-way tie with Leandro Cedeno for the fourth-most home runs all-time by an Amarillo player.

BACK-TO-BACK, JACK: Caleb Roberts is the only player to be involved in both back-to-back home run instances the Sod Poodles have had this season. Roberts and Tawa were the first pair of teammates to do it for Amarillo this year when they did so on July 10th on the road in San Antonio. Roberts followed Melendez's lead on Tuesday night, hitting a solo home run off Miguel Ullola in the bottom of the second to put Amarillo up 3-0. The home run for Roberts helped him keep pace with Melendez in the all-time home run category. Both sit at 31 career home runs.

VUKE NUKE: A.J. Vukovich joined the home run party with a solo shot in the fifth. It was the 15th of his season, making him tied for the fifth-most in the Texas League this year. It was his 41st in his Sod Poodles career as he trails Tim Tawa by eight for the most ever by an Amarillo player. Vukovich also hit a home run in the series opener against San Antonio last week and has four in his last 11 games played.

BOHEMIAN BLASTOFF: Kristian Robinson hit his seventh home run of the season and second in his last six games after also hitting one against San Antonio last Wednesday. Robinson has hit three of his seven home runs for the season in his last 17 games since the calendar turned to August. Robinson also ended the 2023 season with a flurry of home runs, hitting seven in his final 13 games of the season.

BATER TATERS: Matt Beaty was one of three players to have a multi-RBI game, finishing 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI. It was Beaty's fifth home run with Amarillo and his first since July 9th on the road in San Antonio. He spent eight games with Triple-A Reno to begin the month. After his 12th multi-hit effort in 45 games played, Beaty is hitting .297 with five homers and five doubles with 20 RBI, 14 walks, and 18 strikeouts.

GRILLED TOTS: Andy Weber was the sixth and final Amarillo player to hit a home run on Tuesday night, hitting a three-run home run to right field in the bottom of the eighth. It was Weber's lone hit for the night as he finished 1-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored. He now has three home runs in 25 games played for Amarillo with his last coming on August 6th at home against NW Arkansas.

SIX SHOOTER: Weber was the final piece of the puzzle in helping Amarillo have a franchise-first; it was the first time in Sod Poodles history that six different players all homered in the same game. The franchise-high for home runs hit in a game is seven which happened on June 5, 2021, at Frisco. Michael De La Cruz and Luis Angel Basabe each hit two as five different Sod Poodles hit home runs that night. Tuesday night was just the third time in team history that Amarillo had hit six home runs in a game. The first came on September 11, 2021. The second happened on Mother's Day in 2022 when Corbin Carroll, Dominic Fletcher, and Blaze Alexander each had multi-HR games.

RAY DAY: Dylan Ray earned his second win of the year on Tuesday night. Both wins for the D-backs' no. 16-rated prospect have come against Corpus Christi. Ray set his season high for strikeouts with eight on Tuesday night, topping the six that he previously had done twice, including in his first appearance against the Hooks back on August 2nd. Ray is now 2-0 with a 2.82 ERA in August. Over 22.1 IP after Tuesday night he has 24 strikeouts while allowing 16 hits and seven earned runs.