De Los Santos Four Hits Lift Sod Poodles to 12-7 Win

FRISCO, Texas (April 23, 2024) – The Amarillo Sod Poodles began their six-game series in the Dallas Metroplex with a 12-7 win on Tuesday night. Amarillo tagged Frisco pitching for 14 hits, including a four-hit night by Deyvison De Los Santos. Ivan Melendez added a home run, driving in three runners for the night along with De Los Santos.

Frisco made it an early 1-0 game as Kellen Straham led off the contest with a homer off Yu-Min Lin. It was just the second earned run the D-backs no. 4-rated prospect had allowed in 13 career innings pitched against the Texas Rangers Double-A affiliate.

It remained a 1-0 game into the top of the fourth inning. Tim Tawa began the Sod Poodles half with a walk and moved into scoring position on De Los Santos' second single of the night. Kristian Robinson drove in the tying run with a RBI single into shallow left field. With a pair on, Kevin Graham cleared the bases with a two-RBI double and then later scored on Logan Warmoth's RBI single to cap the four-run inning.

After a scoreless bottom of the fourth dealt by Lin, Tawa drew his second walk of the night. De Los Santos then made it 6-1 Amarillo with an opposite-field, two-run home, his third knock of the game. The Sod Poodles were unable to push any more runs across in the inning despite having two more in scoring position. Frisco used three consecutive hits to start their fifth trip to the plate to score their second run of the night. The fourth hit of the inning along with a wide pickoff attempt by Lin gave the RoughRiders two more runs and made it a 6-4 Amarillo lead.

In the top of the sixth, De Los Santos made it a 4-for-4 start to his night with a two-out RBI single. Melendez then provided the Sod Poodles with a bit more breathing room, hitting a three-run home run to make it 10-4. Lin started the bottom of the sixth on the bump but saw three more hits, including a RBI double make it 10-5 and the end of his night. Former Frisco RoughRider John Matthews came on in relief of Lin. The righty saw the end of Lin's line close as two more runs came across on an infield single that was aided by an error to make it 10-7. Matthews then got former teammate Straham to strikeout to end his only inning on the bump.

MLB rehabber Josh Sborz faced just three batters, bookending a pair of strikeouts around a J.J. D'Orazio single. Facing a new pitcher, Wilderd Patiño and A.J. Vukovich went single, double, the latter pushing across the night's final runs as Vukovich drove in the pair of runners to make it 12-7 in the seventh.

After Matthews, Jake Rice and Gerardo Gutierrez combined to throw the final three innings for Amarillo without allowing a hit. The Amarillo bullpen started the series with four strikeouts over the final 3.2 IP and allowed just one base runner.

The series will continue on Wednesday night with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at Riders Field. Frisco will send RHP Ben Anderson (0-0, 2.08 ERA) to the mound.

NOTES:

THAT'S TEXAS LEAGUE LEADER, TO YOU: Deyvison De Los Santos started his series in Frisco by turning in a 4-for-5 game, including a home run, three RBI, and three runs scored. His home run on Tuesday night was his fifth of the season, the most in the Texas League up to this point. The D-backs no. 14-rated prospect also ranks inside the top 10 in the league in Hits (T-1st, 23), Total Bases (1st, 42), SLG (2nd, .677), OPS (2nd, 1.095), XBH (T-2nd, 8), Runs (2nd, 18), and AVG (4th, .371). Over his last 71 Double-A games since July 14th (Inlc. Playoffs), De Los Santos is hitting .332 (97-for-292) with 19 HR, 17 2B, four triples, and 52 RBI.

RESI FOR SIX: Ivan Melendez extended his current hit streak to six games after turning in a 2-for-5 night at the plate. Of his two knocks on Tuesday night, Melendez hit his fourth home run of the season and third in his last four games as the D-backs no. 8-rated prospect continues to heat up. Over his last six games, Melendez is hitting .348 (8-for-23) with three homers, five RBI, seven runs, and three walks. Tuesday marked his third multi-hit game and his second multi-RBI effort of the campaign.

KRIST-HIM ROBINSON: Making his season debut after being reinstated from the IL earlier on Tuesday, D-backs no. 17-rated prospect Kristian Robinson went 1-for-5 with a RBI and a run scored. Robinson ended his 2023 season with Amarillo and appeared in all six Texas League Playoff games, hitting .368 with a pair of homers and seven RBI. His seven RBI were tied for the second most in a playoff run along with Ivan Castillo (2019). Robison ended the 2023 season with home runs in seven of his final 15 games and eight home runs during the stretch.

GRAHAMBO: Kevin Graham continues to tear the cover off the baseball to begin to start the year. After yet another multi-hit game where he went 2-for-5 with a double, a pair of RBI, and a run scored, Graham is hitting .410 through his first 10 games of the season. Graham leads the club with his five doubles and ended Tuesday's game tied for the second most in the Texas League. With five multi-hit games now, Graham ranks 3rd on the team, trailing Deyvison De Los Santos and Wilderd Patiño (6) for the most multi-hit nights through the first 16 games.

FRISCO HATES YU: Despite a career-high 10 hits allowed on Tuesday night, D-backs no. 4-rated prospect Yu-Min Lin earned the win to start the series. Lin earned his first win of the season and improved to 3-0 all-time against Frisco in as many starts against the Texas Rangers Double-A affiliate. In his three starts against Frisco, Lin holds a 2.98 ERA after entering his start on Tuesday with a sub-1.00 ERA against the RoughRiders. With four strikeouts on the night, Lin surpassed 250 career strikeouts for his minor league career.

SWIPE LEFT: Tim Tawa and Wilderd Patiño each began the series with a stolen base on Tuesday night. Tawa leads the team with four stolen bases in just 11 games. Tawa joined Amarillo this year with just 14 stolen bases through his first 176 games for the Sod Poodles. Tawa set a single-season career-high with 14 stolen bases during the 2021 season between the Arizona Complex League and Low-A Visalia. Patiño on the other hand has been one of the most prolific bag stealers in the D-backs organization since he was signed. He led the organization and finished 6th in Minor League Baseball with 67 during the 2022 season. Patiño was caught trying to steal his first two attempts in Double-A but has been successful in each of his last three attempts. Since the start of 2022, he has 117 stolen bases, 42 more than the next closest D-backs minor leaguer during the stretch (Jordan Lawlar, 75).