Sod Poodles Held To One Hit In Shutout Loss To Riders

Frisco, Texas - What was expected to be a pitching duel between a couple of top-ranked prospects lived up to the billing on Wednesday night in Frisco.

D-backs' No. 9 ranked prospect Luis Frias got the nod on the mound for the Soddies against the Texas Rangers' No 3 ranked prospect Cole Winn. Frias came into the game 1-1 in three prior starts with Amarillo and was the starter for the teams' lone win in Corpus Christi last week.

Frias and Winn breezed through the first, it was the second where Frias found himself in some trouble. The one thing that has plagued Frias in his limited starts in Double-A so far has been walks. He tied his career-high with four free passes in his last start and issued another two through the first two frames tonight. The Riders paired a trio of hits along with the walks to take an early 3-0 lead after the second inning.

The lone hit of the game for the Sod Poodles offense came off the bat of D.J. Burt, who singled through the hole into left-center field and gave the team a pair of runners after a leadoff walk from Jose Herrera. A fielder's choice groundout put the Sod Poodles in prime position to cut into the lead with runners on the corners and just one out. A lineout followed by a flyout ended the Amarillo threat and kept the Poodles off the board.

Cole Winn tossed six shutout innings with the one hit and three walks of his own while adding seven strikeouts to piggyback off his Double-A Central Pitcher of the Week award he earned after tossing six no hit innings in his last start.

Frias' night ended after four innings, giving up four hits with the three earned runs and five strikeouts as he took the loss. The bullpen trio of Luis Castillo, Mack Lemieux, and Edgar Arredondo combined for four innings of three hit ball to keep things close in case the Amarillo bats came alive late.

The Sod Poodles head into game three Thursday night against the RoughRiders hoping to end this five-game slide. First pitch tomorrow is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Riders Field.

Notes:

Lone Ranger: Amarillo was held to a franchise-low one hit tonight by Rangers' third ranked prospect Cole Winn. The Sod Poodles were held to two hits earlier this season and two hits on two occasions in 2019. This is the fourth game in a row in 2021 Amarillo has been held to five or fewer hits.

Amarillo Five: The current five-game slide is the franchise's longest losing streak. The team dropped four games in a row four times in 2019 but never had it extended to five games. The team has won just two of their last 12 games.

Behind In The Count: Amarillo is now 4-10 in games when their opponent scores the first run of the game and has not come back to win a game when down by more than three runs.

Tomorrow's Preview: The Sod Poodles take on the RoughRiders Thursday night with another top-ranked prospect in LHP Tommy Henry, the D-backs' No. 12 ranked prospect is 0-1 with a 4.46 ERA.