Sod Poodles Open Road Trip With Late Rally Over Drillers

AMARILLO, Texas – The Amarillo Sod Poodles started their first road trip of the year with a comeback victory over the Tulsa Drillers at OneOK Field on Tuesday night.

Each team's starting pitcher was off and running in their season debuts. D-backs' No. 10 rated farmhand, Brandon Pfaadt, allowed just two baserunners through his first two innings of work. One was a hit batter in the first inning and a leadoff walk to start the second. Neither could do much as Pfaadt mowed down three straight to end the Drillers second at bats.

In the other dugout, right-hander Bobby Miller struck out all three Amarillo batters he faced in the second inning. The Drillers provided their starter with the first run support of the contest following three straight hits including a one-out double in the bottom of the third. Miller's night came to a close after four innings of one hit ball. After giving up a single to Corbin Carroll to begin Tuesday's game, Miller retired the next 12 Sod Poodles he faced.

Despite three of his five total hits allowed coming in the bottom of the third, Pfaadt went 4.1 IP, allowed just one earned run and struck out six Drillers in his first start in 2022. A Tulsa pitching change sparked new life into the Sod Poodles' offense. Dominic Fletcher greeted Nick Robertson with a liner into right-center field. A stolen base and walk placed two runners on base. The Sod Poodles then started to play a little small ball. Back-to-back bunts, including a perfectly placed squeeze bunt from Drew Stankiewicz plated Fletcher from third and tied the game at a run a piece. Jancarlos Cintron picked up second RBI of the season, breaking the tie and giving the Soddies their first lead of the evening.

Tulsa tied the contest in the bottom of the frame. After striking out the leadoff man, a walk and single brought an end to Pfaadt's season debut. Right-hander Jeff Bain (2-0) came on for his second appearance of the young season. Bain pitched his way to a fielder's choice and ground out to keep a runner stranded and the game tied. Two hits, a run, an error, and two runners left putA the Drillers back in front by a run during the next half inning as the Drillers led by a run after six innings.

A scoreless seventh rolled into the top of the eighth where the Soddies would take their eventual lead.

With the top of the lineup up, Amarillo took care of business at the plate. Corbin Carroll led off with a single, his third hit of the night. The Soddies traded outs for hits from there on with Canzone reaching base ahead of a Yerzy groundout. Fletcher stepped into the box and delivered the go-ahead base hit. Carroll scored easily from third while Canzone made his way home from second base.

Right-hander Blake Workman pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth ahead of getting the first out of the bottom of the ninth. In to replace Workman was Junior Garcia. He gave up a single before settling in and retiring the next two in order to preserve the Sod Poodles win.

Amarillo and Tulsa will be back at it tomorrow from OneOK Field with RIght-hander Matt Tabor making his season-debut for Amarillo. The 2021 Sod Poodle made history with a seven-inning no-hitter in the second game of a scheduled doubleheader against the San Antonio Missions in July of 2021.

Notes:

Squeeze Me: Amarillo took their first lead of the game on Tuesday with a squeeze bunt. With OF Dominic Fletcher on third, Sod Poodles Manager Shawn Roof got a little creative. The second-year Soddies manager dialed up a bunt play to tie the game at one a piece at the time. After seeing the Drillers take the lead, Amarillo took full advantage of getting Fletcher and his speed into the mix. Down one, Roof saw the first two batters reach base. Fletcher with a hit and Forbes drawing a walk. Roof then dropped down a bunt to move both runners into scoring position. A second consecutive bunt gave the team their first lead.

That's So Fletch: The former Arkansas Razorback went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI and a run scored of his own. The two hits were the most of his young season and couldn't have come at a better time. Fletcher's second hit proved to be the game-winning hit, scoring Carroll and Canzone on his frozen rope into center field

Nothing Junior About My Game: Junior Garcia recorded his second save of the season, and sixth straight Double-A appearance with a save dating back to 2021. Garcia picked up the save on Saturday night and finished off tonight's game with another save.