Reed, Poodles knot Texas League Finals

There will be a winner-take-all Game 5 for the Texas League banner.
No. 25 San Diego prospectBuddy Reed went yard as Double-A Amarillo blanked Tulsa, 3-0, on Saturday night at ONEOK Field in Game 4 of the Championship Series.

Ivan Castillo put the Sod Poodles on the board in the first inning with a one-out laser over the right-field wall off Parker Curry (0-1). It was déjà vu in the second frame as Reed launched another one-out solo shot for a 2-0 lead.
The Drillers' 25-year-old right-hander yielded two runs on five hits and a walk across four innings. He struck out five.
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"I noticed he was throwing off-speed to lefties," Reed noted of Curry. "He started me off with a curveball, then a changeup. In the back of my mind, from the pitch sequence, he was pitching backwards.
"He left a changeup over the plate and I was able to square up the ball. Scoring early, in a game like that, you knew it would be big."

Meanwhile, Sod Poodles starter Jesse Scholtens (1-0) stymied Tulsa through five frames. He scattered five hits and three walks while whiffing one.
The righty stranded seven Drillers runners -- five in scoring position. He worked out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the fourth by fanning Jared Walker and inducing sixth-ranked Dodgers prospectJeter Downs to fly out to center.
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"A lot of times when the pitcher is in the zone, no one talks to them," Reed said. "It's usually just the pitcher, the catcher. But Jesse was loose. There wasn't a lot of talking, but we kept the vibe positive.
"We didn't have a lot of hits [six], but we squared up balls at people. We knew our bats were OK and our defense was on lockdown."
Amarillo upped its lead to 3-0 in the sixth without a knock. Tenth-ranked Padres prospect Owen Miller reached on a leadoff fielding error by shortstop Downs and Luis Torrens worked a walk off righty Jordan Sheffield. With one out, Peter Van Gansen grounded to second baseman Omar Estevez, who threw wide of second to allow Miller to scamper across the plate.

Travis Radke earned the save, allowing a hit while striking out two over 2 1/3 innings.
"One more," Reed said. "It's been a long season. We took both playoff series to five games. It's been a fun ride and we have a lot of momentum. It's an early game tomorrow, but we just have to stick to the gameplan. After that, the rest will take care of itself."
Game 5 will be at 2:05 p.m. ET on Sunday at Tulsa.