Sod Poodles Jump In Front Early, Take Game Three Over Tulsa In Extras

Thursday, May 6, 2021 @ Tulsa Drillers [LAD]

Amarillo Sod Poodles (2-1) | Tulsa Drillers (1-2)

The Sod Poodles offense was held in check through the first couple of innings until D-backs' No. 4 ranked prospect, Alek Thomas, propelled Amarillo in front early in the third inning.

After being held hitless through the first two innings, Luis Basabe lined a ball into center field before Thomas caromed a ball off the batter's eye to put the Sod Poodles up 2-1 in the top of the third.

Back-to-back singles off the bat of Dominic Fletcher and Ryder Jones put runners on first and third and allowed Fletcher to score off a wild pitch from Drillers starter Michael Grove. Stone Garrett blasted the first pitch he saw his at-bat to dead center, putting Amarillo ahead 6-1.The Sod Poodles flipped the script on the Drillers who used a six-run inning of their own to take game two of the series last night.

For the first time in this young series, the Drillers struck first when Sod Poodles starter Ryan Weiss gave up a solo homer to the second batter he faced. The righty finished his outing, giving up the one run in four innings of work with a pair of strikeouts. Tulsa welcomed Justin Lewis into the game with another solo shot to pull within four of the Soddies

Tulsa clawed all the way back to tie the game at six a piece after loading the bases in the home half of the seventh with no outs. A two-run double off the left field wall combined with a ground out that scored one plus another single breathed new life into the Drillers who batted around in the inning.

After allowing the tying runs to score, Sod Poodles left-hander Mack Lemieux pitched his way out of a second bases-loaded jam by striking out two Drillers, keeping the game tied.

After getting a runner into scoring position with two outs off a Tulsa error, the Sod Poodles were unable to capitalize and push the go-ahead run across the plate in the top of the ninth. Edgar Arredondo (W, 1-0) was excellent for the Sod Poodles in the eighth and ninth innings, striking out four without allowing a hit.

Amarillo and Tulsa got their first look at the new extra innings rule Thursday night. With Fletcher starting on second, he was able to advance to third on a wild pitch.

With two outs, Camden Duzenack drilled a ball into the left-center gap to put the Sod Poodles ahead 7-6. Garrett added an insurance run with his fourth RBI of the night, driving home Duzenack on a single into left field.

Junior Garcia earned his second save of the season after striking out all three Drillers he faced in the bottom half of the 10th to secure the win.

The Sod Poodles continue their six-game series with game four against the Drillers scheduled for 7:05 PM tomorrow at ONEOK Field.

NOTES:

WHAT A DUZE-Y: Camden Duzenack drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th inning with his two-out double to left-center that brought home Dominic Fletcher.

Tomorrow's Preview: The Sod Poodles head into game four of the 2021 season against the Los Angeles' Dodgers Double-A affiliate, the Tulsa Drillers, on Friday evening at ONEOK Field. Right hander Tyler Holton will take the mound tomorrow for the Sod Poodles and will face off against Drillers righty Gus Varland. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. in Tulsa, OK.

*Dinger SZN: *17-of-25 runs in this series have come via the long ball including the first Double-A home run of Alek Thomas' career tonight. Sod Poodles' arms allowed 10-straight runs to be scored off homers from the start of game two of the series until a two-run double in the bottom of the seventh broke the streak.

The Weiss Is Right: Ryan Weiss tossed four frames of one-run ball, giving up four hits, one home run, in his Double-A debut. Weiss led all D-backs' minor leaguers in starts in 2019 with 26.

A Stones Throw From 50: Stone Garrett's homer in the third inning was the 42nd of his career. The Texas native signed a minor-league deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks on March 19, 2021. Garrett belted 14 home runs for the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp in 2019, ranking 7th-best in the Marlins farm system.

*Go, Go, Geraldo: *The D-backs' No. 3 ranked prospect Geraldo Perdomo broke into the hit column for the first time this series, going 2-for-2 with a pair of singles. Perdomo began the series 0-for-9 with four strikeouts.

Wrong Side Of a First: The Drillers batted around in the seventh inning, marking the first time in this early season that the Soddies or an opponent have worked their way through the lineup in the same inning.

*Extra, Extra: *Game three of this opening series was the first time in extra innings for these clubs. It also marked the longest game of the year for the Soddies, topping their previous high of 2 hours and 58 minutes by nearly an hour, coming in at 3 hours and 49 minutes.

*Nearly Immaculate: *Right-hander Junior Garcia earned his second save of the season tonight. He was one pitch away from an immaculate inning, throwing a ball in an 0-2 count before rattling off seven-straight strikes to seal the game three win.

Upcoming Series: The Sod Poodles head to Wichita following this week's series with Tulsa. The Soddies will match up against the Wind Surge for six games before heading back to Amarillo for their home opener on May 18 at HODGETOWN against Midland.