Jones, Fletcher Homer In Sod Poodles 8-2 Loss To Drillers

Wednesday, May 5, 2021 @ Tulsa Drillers [LAD]

Amarillo Sod Poodles (1-1) | Tulsa Drillers (1-1)

TULSA, Okla. – The Sod Poodles fell to the Tulsa Drillers Wednesday night by a final score of 8-2 at ONEOK Field after a long-ball affair. Ryder Jones and Dominic Fletcher highlighted Amarillo's offense with solo home runs but tallied the Soddies only hits of the night. Tulsa evened the series with eight runs on 10 hits, including four home runs.

For a second consecutive night, the Sod Poodles struck first in Tulsa. Following a hitless first, Soddies first baseman Jones knocked a two-out home run to right field to make it a 1-0 matchup.

The momentum shifted quickly in the bottom half however when Tulsa fired by with six runs. Following a leadoff walk to Ryan Noda and a one-out walk to Carlos Rincon, Drillers left fielder Romer Cuadrado took his first pitch deep to left-center field to extend Tulsa to a 3-1 advantage. Hunter Feduccia restarted the frame with a single and a walk after would knock Soddies starter Tommy Henry out. With reliever Justin Vernia in, Michael Busch took his first hand and pushed their lead to 6-1 after hitting the second home run of the frame.

In the 3rd, Noda led off and added Tulsa's third home run of the night to make it a 7-1 game.

The Soddies added one back in the top of the fourth after Fletcher belted his first homer of the season and his Double-A career on the first pitch tossed with two outs.

After just three total hits allowed by Amarillo arms Vernia and Matt Gage through the next three frames, Drillers' Rincon tacked on the team's fourth long ball of the night off of Brandyn Sittinger to make it a final 8-2 score.

Henry, southpaw and D-backs No. 12 prospect, took the loss in his Double-A debut after tossing 1.1 innings (3 H, 5 R, 4 K).

The Sod Poodles continue their six-game series with game three against the Drillers tomorrow at ONEOK Field. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

NOTES:

Tomorrow's Preview: The Sod Poodles head into game three of the 2021 season against the Los Angeles' Dodgers Double-A affiliate, the Tulsa Drillers, on Thursday evening at ONEOK Field. Ryan Weiss will take the mound tomorrow for the Sod Poodles and will face off against Drillers righty Michal Grove. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. in Tulsa, OK.

DOM-BOMB: *The D-backs No. 15 prospect Dominic Fletcher, slugged not only his first home run of the season but also of his Double-A career in his second game at the level. The Arkansas product and SoCal native collected five long balls in 2019 in Kane County.

Going, Going, Gone(x6): Wednesday night marked the most home runs allowed in a contest by Sod Poodles arms this season and marked the first Sod Poodles team multi-home run game of the season. On August 29, 2019 at HODGETOWN, Tulsa, as a team, knocked seven home runs which are the most home runs hit by an opponent in a game against Amarillo.

First Go For Henry: Southpaw Tommy Henry made his first start of 2021 and his Double-A career Wednesday night, taking the loss after allowing five runs on three hits, including a three-run home run. The D-backs No. 12 prospect was drafted as the 74th overall pick in 2019.

Fewest Since Last Year: The Sod Poodles two hits mark the lowest of the season, but also tied the lowest amount of hits from 2019 for Amarillo. The Sod Poodles team in 2019 tallied just two hits over three separate occasions.

Long(est) Relief: Justin Vernia tossed his longest outing of relief in his career Wednesday night in Tulsa. His three and two-thirds innings outmatched his previous long of three and one-third innings pitched almost two years to the date with Visalia (5/9/19 @ Lake Elsinore).

First of the Season: The first hit of the 2021 Sod Poodles season came off the bat of D-backs No. 3 prospect Alek Thomas in the top of the first inning in Tulsa Tuesday night.

Raise the Roof: *Sod Poodles manager Shawn Roof earned his first win in his Double-A manager debut. Roof is in his fourth season with the D-backs organization as a team manager. In 2019, he led Visalia to an 83-53 record and the franchise's first Cal League Championship since 1978. The Illinois native has earned the title of "Manager of the Year" the last two seasons (Visalia 2019, Hillsboro 2018).

Upcoming Series: The Sod Poodles head to Wichita following this week's series with Tulsa. The Soddies will match up against the Wind Surge for six games before heading back to Amarillo for their home opener on May 18 at HODGETOWN against Midland.