Sod Poodles Held to Five Hits in 11-0 Loss

Amarillo, Texas (August 31, 2023) – Playing as the Amarillo Calf Fries for the final time during the regular season, Amarillo was limited to just five hits in a 11-0 loss to the Midland RockHounds.

Making his first start in Double-A, Dylan Ray saw a leadoff single reach base before retiring each of the next two with the later moving the runner into scoring position. A two-out RBI single helped Midland score the first run of the game - the first time Amarillo allowed their opponent to score first over the last 11 games. The D-backs' no. 19-rated prospect collected his first strikeout in Double-A on a foul tip that got stuck between Juan Centeno's thigh and chest protector to start the top of the second. The RockHounds did however tack on a couple more runs with a pair of hits and Amarillo errors to build a 3-0 lead.

After Ray left a leadoff double stranded on the bases in the top of the third, Amarillo got their first hit of the game in the bottom of the inning as J.J. D'Orazio hit a one-out single into right field. An inning-ending double play sent Ray right back to work. The Amarillo right-hander worked his second straight clean inning after leaving a two-out single stranded on base with his fourth strikeout of the game punctuating the inning.

A.J. Vukovich added Amarillo's second hit of the night with a two-out single in the bottom of the fourth but Midland's Brady Basso blanked the Calf Fries for the fourth straight inning. The first real hard hit ball off Ray came via a leadoff triple in the fifth. A sac fly helped to put the RockHounds ahead 4-0. Basso's fourth 1-2-3 inning through his first five on the mound kept Amarillo searching for answers at the plate. Ray was back on the mound for the top of the sixth and saw a leadoff home run extend Amarillo's deficit to five runs. He bounced back to earn his fifth strikeout of the game before a groundout brought an end to Ray's debut after a career-high 103 pitches over 5.2 IP. Emailin Montilla was the first man called upon out of the Amarillo bullpen to face the top of the RockHounds order. Following a walk and stolen base, Montilla left one stranded in scoring position by inducing a fly ball to straight away center field.

Basso's start came to a close with Austin Briggs taking over pitching duties for the RockHounds to face Amarillo in the bottom of the sixth. Jancarlos Cintron singled for Amarillo's third hit of the night and turned the order over. Back-to-back strikeouts held Amarillo off the scoreboard for the 12th straight inning dating back to Wednesday night. With Montilla back for the start of his first full-inning of work, three straight hits gave Midland a 6-0 lead. After a strikeout gave Amarillo and Montilla their first out of the inning, a walk loaded the bases and had the RockHounds threatening for more. Montilla pitched an inning-ending double play to send the offense back to the plate. Ivan Melendez was able to reach with a one-out single - just the fourth hit of the game and none being able to get into scoring position.

Carlos Meza took over pitching duties for his Double-A debut in relief of Montilla after being added to the roster prior to the start of the series. The young left-hander allowed five hits and five earned runs, getting through 0.2 IP as Midland's lead grew to 11.

Amarillo got their first runner into scoring position with D'Orazio hitting a one-out double in the bottom of the eighth but he would not get any further. S.P. Chen closed out the final 1.1 IP on the mound and picked up a strikeout to end the top of the ninth and his professional pitching debut.

A three-up-three-down bottom of the ninth brought an end to the 11-0 shutout loss. The series will continue on Friday night with Jamison Hill (6-6, 4.84 ERA) taking the ball for the Sod Poodles. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at HODGETOWN.

NOTES:

COMPANY AT THE TOP: A.J. Vukovich collected a hit on the night to give him 105 on the season and a tie for the most hits by an Amarillo player in 2023. That player he tied was Ryan Bliss who hasn't played in an Amarillo uniform since July 6th. Just to put into perspective just how good Ryan Bliss was during his time in Amarillo, it took Vukovich 35 additional games played to match his hit total. Vukovich has played in 103 total games with Amarillo this year, and leads the team in hits, home runs (21), and RBI (87). His chase continues for the all-time single-season RBI record currently held by Leandro Cedeño who had 93 for the club during the 2022 season.

TWO-HIT J.J.: J.J. D'Orazio picked up two of Amarillo's five hits on the game, finishing 2-for-4 with a double - Amarillo's only extra base hit of the game. It was D'Orazio's second multi-hit game in his last three games played after finishing the series in San Antonio with one. The D-backs' no. 25-rated prospect now has hits in 19 of his first 28 games played in Double-A. He currently ranks in the Top-10 in the D-backs farm system in doubles (23, T-3rd), hits (109, 4th), AVG (.298, 5th), total bases (167, 6th), SLG (.456, 10th),and XBH (36, 10th) in his 95 combined games between High-A Hillsboro and Amarillo.

ENDING STREAKS: Juan Centeno saw his team-best nine-game hit streak come to an end after finishing 0-for-3 on the night. He also saw an end to his 15-game on-base streak that dated back to July 16th. Camden Duzenack also had his six-game hit and on-base streak come to an end after finishing 0-for-4 on the night.

UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY: The Shutout loss was just the 5th time Amarillo has been shutout at HODGETOWN in 257 total games since the 2019 season. It was the first home shutout loss since July 14, 2022. The Sod Poodles went each of the first two seasons of baseball at home without a shutout loss and had each of their first four in franchise-history happening during the 2022 season. J.J. D'Orazio's eighth inning double ensured that Amarillo would get at least one baserunner into scoring position in all 123 games so far this season. With five hits in the game, Amarillo was held to five or fewer hits at home this season for the seventh time and the first time since July 21 against Wichita. Amarillo will start the game on Friday night in the midst of a 15 inning stretch without a run dating back to the fourth inning on Wednesday night.