Sod Poodles Blank RoughRiders to Secure Series

Amarillo, Texas (July 16, 2023) – The Amarillo Calf Fries blanked the visiting Frisco RoughRiders 8-0 on Sunday to secure a series win in the first series back from the All-Star break. Yu-Min Lin was terrific in his Amarillo debut, firing six shutout innings as Amarillo pitching held the potent Frisco offense to just three hits.

The 20-year-old left-hander Lin made his Double-A debut for Amarillo on Sunday afternoon. He retired two of the first three batters he faced with strikeouts in the first. His next trip to the rubber would be with a one-run lead after Caleb Roberts began the Sod Poodles half of the first with a leadoff double. Two productive outs pushed across the plate as Amarillo took an early one-run lead.

Lin surrendered the first hit of his debut on a two-out single but kept Frisco off the board as he induced a ground out to end the top of the second. The offense gave him more run support in the second inning, tacking on a five spot including a pair of mammoth home runs. Neyfy Castillo hit a two-run shot off the scoreboard in left-center field. Jordan Lawlar then greeted a new Frisco pitcher with a three-run home run on the first pitch of his at-bat to put the Calf Fries up 6-0.

Another 1-2-3 inning on the mound by Lin included his fourth strikeout of the game. Juan Centeno was left stranded on second base for Amarillo after a one-out double in the bottom of the third as the game saw its first full scoreless frame. Lin worked his third inning without a baserunner through the first four innings as he quickly retired the RoughRiders in order in the top of the fourth.

The Amarillo young left-hander worked his fifth scoreless inning as he added his sixth and seventh strikeouts after allowing just his second hit of the game. Following the second-straight inning in which the Calf Fries were retired in order, Lin was back to work in the top of the sixth. He saw two baserunners reach in the same inning for just the first time of the night as a walk and a fielder's choice ground out switched places on first base. Lin ended the mini-threat with his eighth strikeout to send Amarillo back to the plate.

A walk and a single put runners on the corners for the Calf Fries with two outs ahead of a Frisco pitching change with Roberts coming to the plate. The first pitch plunked the leadoff man to load the bases. The Frisco hurler then balked in the seventh run of the game for Amarillo.

Lin's debut came to a close as Austin Pope took over on the bump in the top of the seventh. The right-hander proceeded to strike out the first man he faced and then added his second to close his first inning of work. Amarillo added another run in the bottom of the seventh with a two-base error and a ground-rule double off the bat of Deyvison De Los Santos extended Amarillo's lead to 8-0.

Jake Rice was called upon to get one out in the top of the eighth in relief of Pope before turning it over to Kyle Backhus in the ninth. The southpaw worked an inning where he allowed just one hit and a walk and got a strikeout to close the series in Amarillo's favor.

Amarillo is still tied with Midland at 10-5 atop the Texas League South in the second half, but now holds the best overall record in the South Division in 2023 at 44-40. The Wichita Wind Surge come to town starting Tuesday, July 18th for the start of a six-game series. It'll be Wichita's first trip to Amarillo since the 2021 season. The Minnesota Twins Double-A farm club will come to town with a 35-48 overall record this season.

NOTES:

LIKE PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY: Jordan Lawalr pairs perfectly with the Calf Fries uniforms. The D-backs' top-rated prospect launched his third home run in the first four games the team has donned the alternate uniforms. For Lawlar, the 3-run shot in the second inning was his 13th home run of the year and his first since July 5th on the road in Springfield. Over his last 36 games, Lawlar has notched eight home runs and has added 23 RBI while hitting .307 (46-for-150).

GOTTA LET THE NEY DOG EAT: Neyfy Castillo has hit a home run in consecutive times for the first time in 2023 after hitting a two-run home run on Sunday. His recent power surge now includes six home runs over his last 17 games played dating back to June 13th. Over the same span, Castillo is hitting .317 (20-for-63) with four doubles and 18 RBI.

SUPER YU-MIN: In his Double-A debut, LHP Yu-Min Lin dazzled with six scoreless innings as he earned the win in his first Amarillo start. The lefty also matched the season-high by an Amarillo pitcher with his eight punchouts in his first start and also collected a quality start. Through his first 14 starts of the 2023 season, the D-backs' no. 10-rated prospect has recorded five 8+ strikeout games. Sunday marked his third start of at least 5.0 IP without allowing a run. He now moves to 2-3 on his campaign with a 3.12 ERA.

J NOW: J.J. D'Orazio put up a 2-for-4 night at the plate, his first multi-hit game since his promotion to Amarillo. D'Orazio has recorded a hit in each of his first two games in Amarillo, going 3-for-7 against Frisco. He now ranks 6th in the D-backs organization with 83 hits this season. The right-handed bat also ranks 7th in AVG among all qualified full-season players, hitting .311 in 2023. He is SLG .491, which is good for ninth best in the org with his 18 doubles being fourth-most in the system.

POPE SAYS NOPE: Austin Pope spun a hitless 1.2 IP to help Amarillo secure the series win on Sunday. The right-hander struck out two of the five batters he faced without allowing a single base runner. Sunday was his 11th appearance over his last 12 games allowing one or fewer runs against him. 16 of his 25 games pitched in this year have resulted in zero runs coming across. Pope's 3.10 ERA is the lowest among all active Amarillo pitchers with at least 20 appearances. Only new-promoted right-hander Josh Green had a lower ERA with 20+ games played this year for Amarillo.

PUT FIVE ON IT: Deyvison De Los Santos is now riding a five-game hit streak with Amarillo. The D-backs' fourth-rated prospect has logged a hit in 18 of his last 25 games and hasn't gone more than two games without a hit since May 16th.