Sod Poodles Rally Late, Down Hooks 7-5

Amarillo, Texas — After finding themselves in an early hole, the Sod Poodles battled back to win game five on Saturday night at HODGETOWN. The Sod Poodles scored seven unanswered runs and took the lead with a three-run bottom of the eighth inning.

Scoring Summary: Corpus Christi jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning highlighted by consecutive doubles to lead off the game. The Hooks added to it with another three runs in the second with help from a Pedro Leon solo home run. The Sod Poodles cut the deficit to four on Dominic Fletcher's fourth home run of the year. Doubles from Michael De La Cruz and Jose Herrera in the bottom of the sixth helped plate another run for the Sod Poodles and made it 5-2. The Soddies drew within one run after a three-hit, two-run seventh including hits from Alek Thomas and Jake McCarthy. Amarillo took the lead in the bottom of the eighth after loading the bases aided by back-to-back hit batters and a single from Jancarlos Cintron tied the game and kept the bases loaded. A wild pitch gave Amarillo the lead before a sac-fly that added an insurance run.

Soddies Stats: Dominic Fletcher's homer in the second inning gave him at least one hit in seven of his last eight games. The D-backs' No. 15 ranked prospect is hitting .500 (13-for-26) with two doubles, two home runs, nine RBI, and seven runs scored since June 3rd.

Hooks Highlights: Astros No. 3 rated prospect Hunter Brown set a new career-high in strikeouts (10) and innings pitched (4.2). Fellow top-3 organizational prospect Pedro Leon hit his third home run of the series.

Tomorrow's Tidbits: Amarillo and Corpus Christi will conclude their six-game series here at HODGETOWN with a 6:05 PM first pitch. The Sod Poodles will be giving away an Owen Miller bobblehead to the first 1,500 fans 12 years and older. Miller hit .290 with 147 hits,28 doubles, two triples, 13 home runs, and 68 RBI for the Sod Poodles in 2019. Miller made his MLB debut last month with the Cleveland Indians .

Notes:

Comeback Kids: After trailing 5-0 when the Soddies came up to bat in the bottom of the second, the team rattled off seven unanswered runs to claim victory over the Hooks. It marks the largest deficit to overcome in a win, topping the four runs they trailed in their game against Frisco in their June 5th win. It also marked just the second time the team has won a game when trailing after the seventh.

Three-Bagger: Alek Thomas' triple in the fifth inning gives him four on the year and places him atop the league lead along with San Antonio's Jack Suwinski.

Multi-Talented: Alek Thomas notched his team-leading 11th multi-hit game with his 2-for-4 performance tonight. He has recorded two multi-hit games this series.

Bullpen Bullies: Mack Lemieux and Chester Pimentel combined to throw 4.1 scoreless innings to help secure the comeback win. Each fanned three Hooks. With Chester Pimentel picking up the win, the Bullpen improves to 12-6 on the season. When holding a lead after the 8th inning, Amarillo improved to 12-0.

HODGETOWN ADVANTAGE: The near sellout crowd of 6,338 erupted when Jarcarlos Cintron tied the game with his single into centerfield. The Sod Poodles are averaging the most fans per home game in the Double-A Central.

More Hits = More Wins: The Sod Poodles improved to 11-2 on the year when outhitting their opposition..