Amarillo Drops Extra Inning Contest Against San Antonio

San Antonio, Texas (August 22, 2023) – The Sod Poodles began a six-game series in San Antonio on Tuesday night against the San Diego Padres Double-A ball club. Amarillo had the offense going early, scoring six of the first eight runs combined in the game. The Missions would plate six of the final seven to take game one 8-7 in 10 innings.

After getting one aboard in the top of the first with one out, an inning-ending double was how the first would come to a close. Amarillo fared better in the second, getting a pair of hits with Neyfy Castillo carrying over his hot bat. The outfielder doubled in his first trip to the plate to put runners on second and third with two outs. An errant throw allowed J.J. D'Orazio to reach base and Deyvison De Los Santos to score the game's first run. A wild pitch then allowed Castillo to push Amarillo's advantage to 2-0.

Yu-Min Lin worked his first two innings without allowing a base runner with three strikeouts of the first six batters he faced. With the offense retired in order in the top of the third, Lin was right back to work on the mound. In his first Double-A at-bat, San Diego Padres' top-rated prospect Ethan Salas was a popout victim to Lin. The left-hander then induced a groundout before ending the bottom of the third with his fourth strikeout and made it nine-up-nine-down to begin his night.

With Seth Beer drawing a one-out walk in the fourth, there was one aboard when De Los Santos stepped to the plate for his second at-bat. The D-backs' no. 5-rated prospect hit his 14th home run of the season to the opposite-field gap to double Amarillo's lead to 4-0. Consecutive two-out singles put runners on second and third after Camden Duzenack was able to trot into second with the throw trying to nab the runner going to third. The second wild pitch of the game by Gabe Mosser allowed D'Orazio to make it 5-0 before the inning was over.

The first hit surrendered by Lin was a leadoff single in the bottom of the fourth. A one-out double put two runners into scoring position for the Missions. After picking up his fifth strikeout, a two-out single scored both runners to cut into the Amarillo advantage. Lin's second punchout of the inning left the runner standing on first.

A shallow pop-up into center field was lost in the lights and dropped for a single. With Ivan Melendez moving on contact, he was able to make it all the way home to give Seth Beer a RBI single. De Los Santos picked up his second hit of the night with a double to the left-center field gap. Two men were left stranded with the Sod Poodles up 6-2.

Lin set a new high for strikeouts in Double-A as he struck out three in the fifth to give him nine in the game. He kept one stranded after issuing a one-out walk - his first of the game. A two-out double off the bat of Tim Tawa would be the only baserunner the Sod Poodles would get in the sixth before turning it back over to Lin on the mound. The fourth hit of the game allowed by the southpaw was a leadoff single to Jackson Merrill, the Padres' no. 2-rated prospect. The Missions' third straight single helped to plate their third run of the game and place runners on the corners. Lin induced a double play to clear the bases for Conor Grammes who was brought on to take over pitching duties in a two-run game. Back-to-back free passes plus a pair of stolen bases on consecutive pitches for Ripken Reyes put him on third. A wild pitch then allowed Reyes to come in to score to make it a one-run lead.

Melendez was able to pick up a one-out double but was left stranded in scoring position with each of the next two being sent back to the dugout. Grammes earned his first strikeout in relief of Lin but with the ball getting away from D'Orazio behind the dish, the runner was able to reach first safely. A stolen base put the potential tying run into scoring position before Grammes was able to catch him trying to steal third for the first out in the bottom of the seventh. The third walk of the game for Grammes came around to score on a two-out RBI double to knot the game at 6-6.

Christian Montes De Oca replaced Grammes in the eighth and saw each of the first two batters he faced reach base. A pair of flyouts followed before a walk loaded the bases for the Missions with two outs. A pop fly ended the threat and kept all three Missions stranded with the game headed to the ninth tied at six a piece. Amarillo was sent back in order in the top of the ninth, sending Montes De Oca back to work in the home half. The righty struck out the first man he faced after working back from a 3-1 count. He then pitched a couple of fly balls to send the game to extra innings.

Beer lined out to right field, preventing Melendez from tagging up from second. A deep charge into straight away center field off the bat of De Los Santos was hauled in at the warning track with Melendez was once again caught in between second and third, having to retreat to second base. Castillo delivered the go-ahead RBI single with a chopper back up the middle into center field. After advancing to second on a misplay on the ball the center fielder, Castillo was left stranded on second base with the game headed to the bottom of the 10th.

Mitchell Stumpo was called upon to face the Missions in the bottom of the inning. A leadoff single was enough to tie the game back up with a pinch runner being used at first. After an unsuccessful bunt attempt resulted in the inning's first out, a stolen base moved the winning run for San Antonio into scoring position. Salas doubled over the head of Castillo who was playing in for a chance at a throw to the plate in case of a single. With the ball getting over his head, the run came around from second to give the Missions the walk-off win in extras in the first game of the series.

The series will continue from San Antonio tomorrow with RHP Peter Solomon taking the mound for the Sod Poodles. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Nelson Wolff Stadium.

NOTES:

MAKE IT EIGHT: Deyvison De Los Santos extended his current hit streak to eight games after a 2-for-5 night at the plate. His night included his 14th home run of the year with a two-run opposite-field shot in the fourth and then a double in the fifth. It was his 27th multi-hit game and the 12th multi-RBI performance of the year. 12 of his 27 multi-hit games have come over his last 30 games since July 14th when he returned to the active roster. Over the same span, De Los Santos ranks 7th in the Texas League in hits with 39 while his 70 total bases rank 4th in the league. He also finds himself T-7th in the league with his 16 XBH and 9th in SLG at .565 post-All-Star Break. The D-backs' no. 5-rated prospect now has hit streaks of 12 and eight games this season.

BLUE MIN LIN: D-backs' no. 4-rated prospect Yu-Min Lin set a new Double-A high with nine strikeouts in just 5.2 IP. The lefty cruised through the first five innings, allowing just three hits and a pair of runs before getting to the sixth. Three-straight singles began the sixth before a double play brought an end to Lin's night on the mound. Lin is now up to 46 strikeouts through his first 38.2 IP since his promotion from High-A Hillsboro, good for a 10.8 K/9 rate in Double-A.

REIGNING HITS: Fresh off his Texas League Player of the Week honors, Neyfy Castillo added a hit in the series opener in San Antonio, going 2-for-4 with his 14th double of the season. He then came up with the go-ahead RBI single in the top of the 10th. The outfielder has eight extra-base hits over his last seven games played since the start of the Arkansas series last week. He has hits in each of his last four games played.

EXTRA, EXTRA: Playing in their first extra-innings game since June 30th, the Sod Poodles came out on the losing end, making the team 2-4 in their six extra-innings games played this year. It was also the fourth walk-off loss the team has suffered in 2023.