Sod Poodles Earn First Win of Series in San Antonio

San Antonio, Texas (August 24, 2023) – Behind 13 hits, the Sod Poodles outlasted the San Antonio Missions 4-2 on Thursday night at Nelson Wolff Stadium. The Sod Poodles got five scoreless innings from Luke Albright on the mound and were paced in hits by D-backs' no. 8-rated prospect, Ivan Melendez, and Seth Beer who each chipped in with three hits a piece.

Albright worked the first three innings with just one hit allowed, working around a trio of walks to keep the Missions off the board. The Sod Poodles earned a couple of singles in the top of the second but left both on base when the inning came to an end. A two-out double off the bat of Tim Tawa in the third was Amarillo's third hit of the game but was also left stranded with the game moving to the fourth without a run.

Melendez started the top of the fourth with a single ahead of Beer who doubled to put both into scoring position for Deyvison De Los Santos. He picked up his fourth RBI of the series as he grounded out to the San Antonio second baseman, but allowed Melendez to score the night's first run. With two outs, Jancarlos Cintron singled home Beer to double Amarillo's lead after the top of the fourth. Albright allowed his second hit of the game, but it was quickly erased after the Soddies turned their second double play before a strikeout sent the offense back to the plate. More two-out hitting helped Amarillo build a 3-0 lead with Caleb Roberts doubling to right field and then scoring as Melendez picked up his first RBI of the series with a single into left.

The bases were loaded for the Missions in the bottom of the fifth with three free passes putting them aboard. Albright struck out two in the inning and then induced a ground ball to leave all three stranded and preserve the three-run advantage for the Sod Poodles. With each of the three Sod Poodles hitters being sent back in order, Dillon Larsen was called upon to relieve Albright. The Amarillo starter finished the game with five scoreless innings despite six walks after surrendering just two hits. Larsen got all three of the Missions' hitters he faced to ground out as he worked quickly in his first inning of work, needing just nine pitches to retire the side in order.

Camden Duzenack doubled with one out in the seventh, later scoring to extend Amarillo's lead to 4-0 after Roberts picked up his second hit of the game with a two-out RBI single. Raffi Vizcaino took over on the mound after Larsen's lone inning on the bump. Vizcaino worked around a leadoff single and two-out walk to leave runners on first and third as Amarillo pitchers fired seven scoreless innings combined.

A passed ball strikeout allowed the leadoff man for San Antonio to reach in the eighth before a double put runners on second and third and sent Sod Poodles manager Shawn Roof from the dugout. Kyle Backhus made his way from the bullpen and a four-pitch walk loaded the bases once again. The lefty induced the Sod Poodles' third double play of the game to get the first two outs of the inning with the first San Antonio run coming across on the play. A two-out RBI single then cut Amarillo's lead in half. The second single of the frame had runners on first and second before Backhus got a fly ball to end the inning and left two more runners stranded for the Missions. The Sod Poodles final of 13 hits came via a two-out double off the bat of Duzenack - his second double of the game.

Backhus was back on the mound for the bottom of the ninth and picked up his first strikeout of the night to start the inning. A groundout was followed by a two-out single to extend the game by another batter. No more damage was done as Backhus pitched a ground ball to give the Sod Poodles their first win of the series. The left-hander collected his 10th save of the year in the process, working two scoreless innings with just three hits allowed.

With a win under their belt in the series, Amarillo looks to even the series in game four on Friday night. The Sod Poodles are back to 10 games above .500 in the second half of the season, still leading the division by a game in front of Midland who are winners of three straight. RHP Jamison Hill (6-6, 5.08 ERA) is the scheduled starter for Amarillo on Friday with first pitch from The Wolff scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

NOTES:

DOUBLE DIGIT DE LOS: Deyvison De Los Santos made it 10 straight games with a hit after collecting an infield single in the top of the eighth inning. The D-backs' no. 5-rated prospect is now 5-for-12 with two home runs, a double, four RBI, and four runs scored in three games to start the series. De Los Santos has hit in 28 of his last 32 games since July 14th. He is hitting .321 (42-for-131) with eight home runs, eight doubles, a triple, and 24 RBI over his last 32. He continues his tear post-All-Star break, ranking tied for the third most hits in the Texas League since July 14th, while also being T-3rd in home runs, XBH (17), total bases (76), and runs scored (28). He is also tied for the eighth-most RBI and holds the ninth-highest SLG (.580) across the league during the span.

MIGHTY MELENDEZ: With just one hit through the first two games of the series, Ivan Melendez racked up three hits on Thursday night for his third three-hit game in Amarillo. The D-backs' no. 8-rated prospect also picked up his first RBI of the series with a single in the top of the fourth inning. Through his first 31 games with Amarillo, Melendez is hitting .288 (36-for-125) with four doubles, a triple, 12 home runs, and 33 RBI. He is tied for first in all of Double-A in home runs, is 3rd in RBI, 4th in SLG (.624), T-5th in total bases (78), and T-9th in XBH (17) since his arrival to Amarillo.

CHEERS TO THREE: Seth Beer finished the game 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored. It was Beer's 20th multi-hit game this season and he improved his AVG to .274 through 65 games played. Beer has played in two of the first three games to begin the series with multi-hit efforts in both, making him 5-for-8 with a double, two runs, RBI, and a walk this week.

ALBRIGHT, ALBRIGHT, ALBRIGHT: Making his 24th start of the season, Luke Albright worked five scoreless innings allowing just two hits - both singles - with three strikeouts. The right-hander worked around a career-high six walks to keep the Missions off the scoreboard. Two of his three strikeouts came in his final inning of work after loading the bases. Albright leads the D-backs' farm system with 134 strikeouts while also leading the Texas League this season in the category. He picked up his eighth win of the year, placing him in a tie for third-most in the league this season. It is his second of the month and first since August 1st against Corpus Christi.

ROBERTS RAKES AND RANKS: Caleb Roberts finished the game 2-for-4 with a double, RBI, and run scored on Thursday night. On the year, Roberts now ranks T-4th in the Texas League in XBH with 42, still leads the league in triples with eight, and is one shy of setting the Amarillo single-season record. The lefty bat is also fifth in SLG (.530), and seventh in OPS (.909) in the league in 2023. Among all qualified and active players on the roster, Roberts leads the team in AVG (.272), OBP (.379), SLG, OPS, doubles (20), walks (49), is second in XBH and runs scored (66), third in total bases (160), T-3rd in RBI (55), fourth in hits (82), and fifth in home runs (14).

SIX SHOOTER: Kyle Backhus made it six-straight scoreless appearances with his 2.0 IP as he added his 10th save of the season on Thursday night. The left-hander has now worked 10.1 IP without allowing a run charged to him. Four of the seven longest streaks without an earned run allowed this season by Amarillo pitchers now belong to Backhus, his fourth time this year with stretches of 6+ games without a run charged to him. His 10 saves are tied for the second-most in the Texas League this year, and fourth-most by any Sod Poodle in a single season. He has 13 overall in his Double-A career and 16 since the start of last season - good for the second-most in the D-backs' farm system over the span. His 13 saves as a Sod Poodle are already the third-most in franchise history behind Blake Rogers (26) and MLB All-Star David Bednar (14).

DOUBLE DOSE OF DUZ: Camden Duzenack went 2-for-5 with two doubles, giving him 14 as a Sod Poodle this year. Through 47 games played in an Amarillo uniform in 2023, Duzenack is hitting .333 (57-for-171) with 20 XBH and 33 RBI.