Amarillo Loses Fifth Straight

Frisco, Texas – The Amarillo Sod Poodles (15-15, 47-52) dropped their fifth game in a row on Thursday night after suffering a 4-3 loss to the Frisco RoughRiders (18-12, 54-45) at Riders Field.

The losing streak is Amarillo's longest of the season and has dropped them to third place in the Texas League South second-half standings, five games behind the first-place Midland RockHounds (20-10).

The Sod Poodles scored first and nearly tied the game in the 9th, but a four-run 3rd put the RoughRiders on top for good.

Both teams went scoreless in the 1st inning before Amarillo jumped on top in the 2nd. After Ti'Quan Forbes singled to lead off the inning, Nick Dalesandro swapped spots with him on a fielder's choice and promptly stole second base.

Andy Yerzy then put a ball in play and an error by the second baseman allowed Dalesandro to score. Danny Oriente a single before the inning closed, his first career hit in Double-A.

Sod Poodles starter Slade Cecconi struck out three in the first two frames before Amarillo doubled their lead in the top of the 3rd. Jorge Barrosa and Tristin English led off the inning with singles and a double play put Barrosa at third with two outs. He scored on another error by the second baseman to make it 2-0, Amarillo.

The RoughRiders jumped ahead with four runs in the 3rd. A leadoff double and a one-out walk put two runners on, and an RBI double scored one. Cecconi forced a flyout to record the second out, but a three-run homer put Frisco up, 4-2.

The Texas League South rivals combined for just two hits over the next two innings before Cecconi's night ended in the 6th inning. Arizona's No. 9 prospect finished with 5.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, BB, and 5 K, his first time allowing more than three earned runs since June 8 vs Frisco. RoughRiders starter Tim Brennan allowed just two runs on six hits in 6.0 IP.

Amarillo got two runners on in the 6th, but a double-play erased the threat. LHP Kenny Hernandez struck out two in the bottom of the inning in relief of Cecconi.

The Sod Poodles loaded the bases in the 7th but were unable to chip into the deficit. Yerzy led off the inning with a double, and a pair of back-to-back walks from Stankiewicz and Barrosa loaded the bags with one out. The following two batters went down with a popout and a strikeout to end the threat.

Hernandez recorded two outs in the 7th before he was relieved by Jeff Bain, who got a punchout to end the frame. Amarillo went down 1-2-3 in the 8th, and Bain tossed a scoreless bottom.

The Sod Poodles battled into the 9th inning and came within one run of tying the game. The first two batters were retired on three combined pitches, but Stankiewicz kept the game alive with a two-out double. Barrosa scored him on a hard-hit grounder through the infield, but that was all Amarillo could muster in the 4-3 defeat.

Amarillo out-hit Frisco 9-7 and scored two runs off of two RoughRider errors. The pitching staff racked up nine strikeouts with just one walk and held Frisco to 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position, but the bats went just 1-for-11 with RISP and left eight on base.

Down 0-3 in the series, the Sod Poodles will look to fight back in game four tomorrow, Saturday, August 5, with first pitch at 7:05 PM. Arizona and Texas' top pitching prospects Blake Walston (3-3, 6.71 ERA) and Jack Leiter (3-8, 5.80 ERA) will take the mound in their third head-to-head matchup of the season.

Notes:

Pitcher's Worst Nightmare: OF Jorge Barrosa continued his recent success at the plate tonight, reaching three times in a 2-for-4 effort with an RBI and a walk. He extended his active hitting streak to a lucky number 13 games, where he is batting a blistering .510 (26-for-51) with 13 runs scored and 12 walks. Tonight was the third time in four games that Barrosa has reached base at least three times, which he has done eight times over the streak.

Happy Oriente-tion: OF Danny Oriente made his Double-A debut tonight, going 1-for-3 with a single in his very first at-bat. The former Louisville Cardinal spent 58 games with Hillsboro this year after 10 games with them in 2021, batting .232 with 31 RBI and six doubles at the time of his promotion.

Flex The Arm Barn: LHP Kenny Hernandez and RHP Jeff Bain teamed up for a scoreless bullpen outing in tonight's game. Both allowed just one hit and struck out two over 3.0 combined innings. Bain is coming off of eight appearances in July with a combined 2.19 ERA (12.1 IP, 3 ER), and it was Hernandez's second scoreless effort in a row.

Team Effort: Eight of the nine starters for Amarillo recorded a hit tonight, led by Jorge Barrosa's two-hit night. The Sod Poodles out-hit the RoughRiders 9-7 but lost, just their fifth time losing while out-hitting their opponents this season. They started the year 33-0 in such games, but have fallen to 35-5 when collecting more hits.