Amarillo Falters In Game Three Loss to Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi, Texas - The Amarillo Sod Poodles were held to just four hits in a 6-1 loss to the Corpus Christi Hooks on Thursday night. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak, which included two shutouts.

The Sod Poodles scored in the top of the 1st to take an early lead. Leandro Cedeño doubled with two outs and Tristin English scored him on an RBI single. A walk put two runners on, but they were left stranded to end the frame.

Ross Carver allowed two hits in the bottom of the 1st inning but held the Hooks scoreless, his first of four scoreless frames to begin the game.

After the early offense, nine Sod Poodles were retired in a row into the 4th inning. Roby Enriquez broke the cold spell with a two-out single but wasn’t advanced. Carver rolled through the Corpus Christi batting order, holding them hitless over the next three frames.

After Amarillo went down 1-2-3 in the top of the 5th, the Hooks took the lead with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Carver walked the leadoff batter before registering back-to-back strikeouts, but Corpus Christi rallied with two outs. A wild pitch put runners at the corners and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases. Quincy Hamilton came through with a bases-loaded single to make it 2-1, Hooks.

Brent Teller relieved Carver in the bottom of the 6th, ending Arizona’s No. 25 prospect’s night at 5.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, BB, and 6 K. His ERA on the year decreased to 8.02, and that number has shrunk in each of his five starts in Double-A.

The Hooks pounced on Teller for three runs in the 6th. After a leadoff single, a two-run home run made it a 4-1 game. Teller struck out two in return, but another solo home run pushed Corpus Christi’s lead to four.

Mack Lemiuex pitched a scoreless 7th in relief and Blake Rogers allowed a run in the 8th. He walked the first two batters and hit the third, and a bases-loaded walk scored one. He also bounced back with back-to-back strikeouts before ending the inning while trailing 6-1.

After the Enriquez singe in the 4th, 12 Soddies were retired in a row through the 8th inning. Enriquez proved to be the only baserunner Amarillo could muster after leading off the game with a run until Eduardo Diaz led off the top of the 9th with a six-pitch walk. He was promptly retired on a double-play, and a pop-out ended the game.

Amarillo was out-hit 7-4 tonight and only put two runners in scoring position. The pitching staff racked up 11 strikeouts and held the Hooks to just 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position, but Carver suffered his third loss of the year.

The Sod Poodles and Hooks will face each other tomorrow in game four, with Amarillo’s Deyni Olivero scheduled to face Corpus Christi’s Misael Tamarez.

Notes:

Not Our Night: The Sod Poodles were held to just four hits and one run in tonight’s loss. They are 2-13 when being held to under five hits this year and 6-26 when scoring three or fewer runs. The offensive stall out was a recent rarity, as the Soddies had double-digit hits in each of the first two games of the series.

Mack Attack: LHP Mack Lemiuex was the only pitcher to have a scoreless outing for Amarillo tonight. He allowed just one hit with one strikeout in a scoreless 7th, lowering his ERA to 3.44 on the year. The southpaw has four scoreless appearances in his last five outings and just seven earned runs in 18 games for Amarillo this year.

Two For English: 3B Tristin English went 2-for-4 tonight with an RBI. He plated Amarillo’s only run of the game in the 1st inning and was responsible for half of the team’s hits. The utility infielder has a hit in 13 of 18 games played in August with six multi-hit games and seven total RBI. Tonight was his first multi-hit game since he had three of them in his six-game hitting streak from August 13 - 21.

Strong Effort: RHP Ross Carver (1-3) took the loss tonight despite a strong starting effort. He allowed two hits in the 1st inning before dominating the Hooks through the early innings, only allowing one baserunner over the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. A pair of walks and a hit-by-pitch got him into trouble in the 5th, but he ended his night with a respectable 5.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, BB, and 6 K. His ERA on the year decreased to 8.02, and that number has shrunk in each of his five starts in Double-A.