Percival Strikes Out Eight as Sod Poodles Even Series

AMARILLO, Texas (May 1, 2024) – Amarillo evened the series against the Midland RockHounds Wednesday night at HODGETOWN. Cole Percival had his complete pitch mix working on the mound as he struck out a season-high eight batters en route to helping the Sod Poodles earn a 7-3 win over their Oil Pan Cup rivals.

Percival was in complete command from the jump in his HODGETOWN debut. Seeing the first two Midland batters double, then single, the right-hander had some early traffic to deal with. He proceeded to fan each of the next three RockHounds to leave the pair of runners stranded in scoring position after Cooper Bowman stole second. Percival then made much quicker work in the top of the second inning, registering three more swinging strikeouts, giving him six consecutive in the early part of his outing.

Lucky number 6⃣ pic.twitter.com/e8xfWdiZUk

— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) May 2, 2024

The Amarillo bats were able to send him back to the mound with a lead after the bottom of the second. Caleb Roberts reached base safely with the help of the first Midland error of the night. Singles by two of the next three Sod Poodles would have loaded the bases, however, the second RockHound error of the frame allowed Roberts to trot home for the night's first run.

Percival worked another 1-2-3 inning in the third. This time inducing a pair of groundouts before adding his seventh strikeout of the game to send his teammates back to the plate. Each of the first three Sod Poodles reached base to begin the inning, the third once again aided by a Midland miscue. Tim Tawa made the most of the bases-loaded opportunity, driving in the second Amarillo run with a RBI single to keep the bases full. After seeing the first out of the frame, Roberts added to the advantage with a RBI knock of his own to pass the baton down the order. A wild pitch scored the third run of the inning before a walk re-loaded the bases. Wilderd Patiño capped the four-run frame with a sac fly to build a 5-0 lead for Percival to work with.

The right-hander got the first two batters to ground out once again. Back-to-back two-out walks helped to keep the RockHounds at the plate. The free passes came back to cost him with a two-out triple bringing home both runners as Midland was finally able to push runs across the plate. His eighth strikeout was the final out of his HODGETOWN debut. He worked a stellar 4.0 IP with just three hits allowed, a pair of runs, and two walks.

Deyvison De Los Santos continued his offensive heater when he stepped to the plate in the bottom of the fifth. The D-backs no. 14-rated prospect pulled an 0-1 pitch down the left field line for his eighth home run of the season. Tonight, it was a two-run shot to extend Amarillo's lead 7-2. After the De Los Santos home run, Amarillo managed just two more hits for the night, the last of which was the second hit of the night by De Los Santos with a single in the bottom of the seventh.

The five-run lead was plenty for Amarillo's relievers to work with. Zach Barnes, Jake Rice, and Taylor Rashi combined to work the final five innings in relief of Percival and allowed four hits, walked one, and added four strikeouts. Barnes and Rice worked two innings each with Rashi finishing the game on the mound for the Sod Poodles. Midland was able to sneak an unearned run across in the top of the ninth before Rashi secured the win with his second strikeout.

Amarillo and Midland will continue their series on Thursday night when RHP Yilber Diaz (0-3, 5.50 ERA) and Midland's Blake Beers (2-1, 5.79 ERA) take the ball for the two sides. First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m.

NOTES:

A TOAST TO DE LOS: Deyvison De Los Santos recorded his team-leading 10th multi-hit effort of the season after going 2-for-4 on Wednesday night with a pair of RBI. The D-backs no. 14-rated prospect launched his Texas League-leading eighth home run of the 2024 campaign. The two-run blast in the bottom of the fifth inning also pushed him to 20 RBI on the year, also tops in the Texas League. Through the first 23 games of the season, De Los Santos leads the League or is tied for the lead in seven offensive categories including HR (1st), RBI (1st), hits (1st, 34), total bases (1st, 63), SLG (1st, .708), XBH (T-1st, 12), and runs (T-1st, 19). He is second in AVG (.382) and OPS (1.141), and fourth in OBP (.433). In all of Double-A, he ranks 2nd in HR and RBI, is T-1st in hits, 1st in total bases, 2nd in SLG, T-2nd in XBH, T-1st in runs, 3rd in AVG and OPS, and 7th in OBP. His .708 SLG is the fifth-best in the minors where he ranks inside the top 10 in six total offensive categories.

Adios! https://t.co/hJ3KkzowBp pic.twitter.com/b5BvwUr3kQ

— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) May 2, 2024

COOL, CALM, AND COLE: RHP Cole Percival bounced back from his Amarillo debut last Thursday in Frisco with a dominant night on the mound in his first start at HODGETOWN. The right-hander surrendered consecutive hits to the first two batters he faced before rattling off six straight swinging strikeouts. He finished the game with a season-high eight strikeouts, one shy of tying his single-game career-high which he set on July 5th, 2023 when he was High-A Tri-City in the Los Angeles Angels organization. His eight strikeouts on Wednesday night were the most in a game for Percival since setting his career high and are the second most he has had in a game over his 93 career games.

TIMMY TWO KNOCKS: Tim Tawa has put together consecutive multi-hit games after a 2-for-4 night at the plate on Wednesday that included a RBI and a pair of runs scored. It was his fifth overall multi-hit game of the season as he has now started the week against Midland 5-for-8 with a home run, double, two RBI, and four runs scored. He is riding a three-game hit streak after Wednesday and continues to add to his franchise lead in a handful of offensive categories. Tawa's two knocks give him 173 for his Sod Poodles career while he now sits just four bases away from 300 for his career with Amarillo.

FIVE SPOT: Kevin Graham extended his hitting streak to five games with a 1-for-5 night out of the leadoff spot for Amarillo. It was Graham's second time leading off for Amarillo and just the second time anyone other than Wilderd Patiño hit at the top of the order. Over his last five, Graham is hitting .375 (6-for-16) with a triple, double, three walks, and four runs scored. His five-game hitting streak is the longest active on the club and tied for the fourth-longest active streak in the league. Through 16 games, Graham is hitting .373 on the season, good for the third-highest AVG in the Texas League. He also holds the third-best OBP at .439 and ranks inside the top 10 in the league in OPS (6th, .998) and SLG (8th, .559).

Kevin Graham quite literally came out of left field... 🤯 pic.twitter.com/AAcATOAQta

— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) May 2, 2024

JAKE THE SNAKE: LHP Jake Rice extended his current streak without an earned run allowed to seven games after navigating 2.0 IP on Wednesday night with a pair of hits and a walk issued. The southpaw is tied for the fourth-most consecutive games without allowing an earned run in the Texas League, just one off the lead currently held by Midland's Grant Holman, Tulsa's Jack Dreyer, and Frisco's Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa. Holman made it to eight games on Wednesday night after working an inning against Amarillo where he worked around a walk and a hit of his own. Rice's streak extends back to April 12th and has covered 11.0 IP where he has allowed just seven hits and has worked around four walks with eight strikeouts. Rice's run began after allowing three earned in each of his first two appearances, carrying a 27.00 ERA after Opening Weekend against San Antonio. The former 9th-round pick has since lowered it to 4.15 through his first nine appearances (13.0 IP) of the season.

BARNES AND NOBLE: RHP Zach Barnes earned the win on Wednesday night, his first of the season and first since September 3, 2023, when he was with High-A Hillsboro. The right-hander worked his Amarillo season-high with 2.0 IP. Barnes was transferred back to Amarillo from Triple-A Reno before the start of this series against Midland after opening the season with Amarillo. Wednesday was his fourth Sod Poodles appearance of the year, and three have now come against Midland. Against the RockHounds, Barnes is now 1-1 with a 4.15 ERA over 4.1 IP. In four relief appearances in Triple-A, he was 0-0 with a 2.57 ERA over 7.0 IP.