Sod Poodles Erase 8 Run Deficit, Fall 14-12

Amarillo, Texas – After falling behind in the early stages, a Sod Poodles comeback fell just short on Wednesday night. Amarillo tallied 15 hits in a losing effort including a multi-home run game from Blaze Alexander and a career night at the plate from outfielder Jorge Barrosa.

Sod Poodles' starter Blake Walston surrendered two hits in his first two innings of work on Wednesday night, his 11th start in Double-A. The lefty pitched around a single in the first and another single and a walk in the second with back-to-back strikeouts to end the second frame.

Amarillo plated the first run of the game in the bottom of the second inning. Nick Dalesandro crushed a double off the deepest part of the outfield wall allowing him to score on a bloop single into shallow left field. Jorge Barrosa skied a fly ball that turned around the San Antonio third baseman, allowing the ball to drop into shallow left field. A throwing error by the left-fielder helped advance Barrosa to third base on the play but he was left stranded.

San Antonio jumped out in front in the top of the third. A leadoff double was followed by consecutive sacrifices - one a bunt to move the runner to third and then a fly to score him - tying the game. A pair of singles with two outs and a walk loaded the bases. A grand slam capped a San Antonio five-run inning and created a four-run deficit for Amarillo.

Blaze Alexander got two of those runs back with his ninth home run of the year. The D-backs' No. 23 rated prospect saw the leadoff man walk ahead of him in the bottom of the third and then hammered a first pitch-breaking ball to left-center field. The 465-ft home run was his second in his last five games.

San Antonio used consecutive five-run frames to increase their lead to seven runs. Walston was responsible for all five runs in the inning which included two doubles as the left-hander had his outing come to an end after 3.1 IP. The 12 hits and 10 runs allowed were all season-highs for the former 26th overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft. San Antonio tacked on a RBI single in the top of the 5th for an 11-3 lead.

Alexander's second hit of the night put him aboard for the third straight plate appearance after a walk in the first inning. Right-hander Junior Garcia retired San Antonio in order for the first time of the night in the top of the 6th.

A four-run sixth built some steam for Amarillo and was assisted by a fielder's choice that didn't result in an out along with a four-pitch walk to load the bases for Barrosa. The switch-hitter hitting from the right side of the plate lined a double into the left-center field gap, clearing the bases. A pair of productive outs scored Barrosa and drew Amarillo within four of the San Antonio lead.

San Antonio scored one in the seventh before Amarillo was sent back to the plate.

Leading off the bottom of the seventh was Alexander. The second pitch he saw was belted over the right-field fence for his second home run of the night. It added to an already stellar outing, making him 3-for-3 with two home runs and three RBI. He started a string of seven total hits in the inning. Amarillo pieced together six singles to pair with Alexander's home run for a five-run eighth to erase the eight-run deficit they faced entering the bottom of the sixth. Alexander came back around in the order, drawing his second walk of the game.

THE BL💣NDE B💣MBER STRIKES AGAIN @BAlexander52

He's 3-for-3 with tw💣 home runs and three RBI. pic.twitter.com/ch0mYgMyBP

— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) July 14, 2022

In the top of the eighth, HODGETOWN suffered a power outage resulting in a 24-minute delay trying to restore the power.

Once play resumed, the Missions were aided with the go-ahead run on a two-out error to keep the inning alive. The Missions added another run, taking a two-run lead into the bottom of the eighth. Amarillo was retired in order in the eighth. Right-hander Blake Rogers came on for the ninth and hurled two strikeouts against the four batters he faced.

In the bottom of the ninth, Barrosa singled to start the home half. A one-out single pushed him into scoring position and sent Eduardo Diaz to the plate. A game-inning double play sealed the Sod Poodles' fate after battling back from eight down.

With the series even at a game a piece, the focus turns to Thursday night's tilt against the Missions. Right-hander Deyni Olivero will take the mound still in search of his first Double-A win since being promoted from High-A Hillsboro on April 28. Olivero enters the contest 0-6 with a 7.08 ERA but has spun a couple of quality outings since joining the Sod Poodles rotation. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 P.M.

Notes:

Blazing Baseball: SS Blaze Alexander launched two home runs tonight in a 3-for-3 effort with 3 RBI, his 9th and 10th homers of the season. It was the 9th time this season that a Sod Poodle has hit two homers in a game, and the second time Alexander has accomplished the feat (May 8 vs Midland). He tattooed a 465-foot home run to left field in the third inning and smacked a 101-MPH blast to right field in the 7th. The Diamondbacks’ No. 23 rated prospect has now tied his single-season career high HR of 10, which he set last season with High-A Hillsboro. He also recently collected the 150th RBI of his career and now has 32 HR in his four-year minor league career. In 56 games with the Sod Poodles this season, the top prospect is batting .298 with 26 RBI.

Moving On: Starting pitcher LHP Blake Walston allowed ten earned runs off of 12 hits tonight, both of which were new career-highs. The Diamondbacks’ top pitching prospect had a 2.55 ERA through four appearances with High-A Hillsboro this year before being promoted to Amarillo on May 1, but has a 7.69 mark through his first 11 appearances in Double-A.

Big Bat Barrosa: OF Jorge Barrosa set a new career-high tonight with 5 RBI in a 3-for-5 performance. He came through in a bases-loaded situtation in the bottom of the 6th, plating all three runners with a 3-RBI double. It was his 14th double of the season, trailing only Eduardo Diaz (15) for the team lead and he tied his season-high with three hits. His RBI total eclipsed the three runs he plated four times in his career, once in every year from 2018-2022. It was also his 20th game this season with multiple hits and 9th with multiple RBI.

Scoring In Bunches: The Sod Poodles scored four runs in the 6th and five runs in the 7th tonight, their 21st time scoring four times in an inning this season and the 10th time scoring five. The team has scored four or more runs in an inning 38 times this year. The 6th inning has now seen the second-most runs scored in any inning (61) by the team, behind the 70 total runs scored in the 3rd.

*Hitting the Lights Out: *With two runners on in the top of the 8th inning, HODGETOWN experienced a stadium-wide power outage that paused the game for 24 minutes. It was the third mid-game delay experienced at HODGETOWN this year, following a 39-minute lightning delay on April 18 and a 1-hour and 44-minute rain delay on June 9.

Whole Lotta Offense: Amarillo and San Antonio combined for 33 hits and 26 runs tonight, the fourth-most combined hits and fifth-most combined runs in a game this season. The Missions collected up 18 base knocks, dropping Amarillo to 0-12 when allowing 15 or more hits. The Sod Poodles added 15 of their own, and they are 4-5 when eclipsing the 15-hit benchmark.

*Everybody Eats: *Every batter in the Sod Poodles lineup recorded a hit tonight, led by Barrosa and Alexander’s three-hit nights. It was the sixth time this season that every player has recorded a knock. Every player but one scored a run as well, led by two runs scored each by Barrosa, Alexander, Ti’Quan Forbes and Nick Dalesandro.

*X Marks The Spot: *INF Tristin English went 1-for-4 with two RBI tonight to extend his active hitting streak to 10 games. It is the second-longest active streak in the Texas League (11 games, Jordan Diaz, MID) and tied for the fifth-longest streak on the team this season. Over the double-digit streak, the utility man is batting .359/479/.615 (14-for-39) with three home runs, eight RBI, seven walks and 10 runs scored.