Sod Poodles Rally Falls Short In Arkansas

North Little Rock, AR – The Amarillo Sod Poodles (20-24) plated three runs in the 9th inning on Saturday night but the late-inning rally wasn't enough in an 8-4 loss to the Arkansas Travelers (21-23) at Dickey-Stephens Park.

The Diamondbacks' No. 7 prospect Bryce Jarvis (2-2) took the mound in his fifth road start of the season and the Travelers welcomed him to North Little Rock with a leadoff home run on the first pitch of the game. The Travelers scored six runs (five earned) off Jarvis and led wire-to-wire.

Amarillo put a runner on in the 1st and 2nd, but Arkansas doubled their lead with a run in the 3rd. The run scored on an RBI double to center field with two runners on, but the throw in from OF Jorge Barrosa nabbed the second runner at home to end the inning.

Barrosa notched his second single in as many at-bats in the 4th, but the next three Sod Poodles were retired in order. The Travelers then broke the game open with four runs in the bottom of the inning. Jarvis issued his first two walks of the night with one out and both advanced into scoring position after a groundout and a stolen base. Arkansas rallied with two outs and plated four runs on two singles and a ground-rule double.

The Sod Poodles got on the scoreboard in the top of the 5th with a home run to right-center-field from Jeison Guzman. The shot was his first Double-A home run.

Jarvis allowed one more double in a clean 5th before being relieved by Austin Pope. The former first-round pick's start ended with a line of 5.0 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, and 3 K on 84 pitches. In his Double-A debut, Pope walked one and struck out one in the 6th before allowing a two-run solo home run in the 7th to make it 8-1, Travelers. Both runs were unearned. Brett de Geus relieved Pope in the 8th and allowed two hits in a scoreless inning.

Ti'Quan Forbes doubled in the 9th to give the Sod Poodles some late-inning life. Blaze Alexander joined him on the bases with a two-out walk and Guzman loaded the bases after being hit by a pitch. Forbes scored on a wild pitch and Roby Enriquez then came through in the clutch spot by plating two with an RBI single. Three runs were all Amarillo could muster in the inning as a popout ended the game.

The Sod Poodles were out-hit 12-5 and committed two errors for their second consecutive game. Amarillo batted 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position and left five runners on base. Barrosa was the lone Sod Poodle with multiple hits, Enriquez led with two RBI, and Guzman scored two runs.

Amarillo will fight for a series split in game six tomorrow, Sunday, May 29 with first pitch at 5:35 PM. The Sod Poodles will have Deyni Olivero (0-3) on the mound to face Emerson Hancock (1-2).

Notes:

Guz Cruise: Arizona's No. 23 prospect INF Jeison Guzman went yard tonight for the first time as a Sod Poodle, a solo shot in the 5th inning. The former Kansas City Royals prospect has played five minor league seasons and joined Amarillo on May 18 after spending 2021 with the NW Arkansas Naturals. The home run was the 19th of his minor league career and third in his two Double-A seasons. He's gotten off to a fast start with Amarillo, batting .292 with a hit in six of his first eight games.

Hobby Roby: OF Roby Enriquez plated two runs tonight in the 9th, his second game in a row with two RBI. He joined the Sod Poodles for Thursday's doubleheader and has only played three games in Double-A, but he's already racked up two hits, a home run, and four RBI. He's proving his clutch hitting ability early on, as his homer came in the 12th inning last night and his RBI single came with two outs in the bottom of the 9th tonight.

Sod Wars - A New Pope: RHP Austin Pope made his Double-A debut tonight in his third minor league season. He tossed two innings and allowed two unearned runs to score while picking up his first strikeout as a Sod Poodle. Pope tallied a 1.35 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 11 games with Hillsboro this season prior to his promotion and has racked up 163 strikeouts in his minor league career.

Gimme A Break!: Opponents have been playing excellent defense against the Sod Poodles of late, and have not committed an error against Amarillo in the last 42.0 innings dating back to May 22. The consecutive error-free streak is the longest by opponents against the Sod Poodles this season. Amarillo's longest error-free streak this lasted 68.1 innings over nine games from April 28 to May 7. On the year, Amarillo has committed 42 errors and their opponents have committed 39 against them.

Hit Or Miss: The Sod Poodles were had just five tonight, their sixth time this season being held to five or fewer hits. The lack of offense has only come against two teams, as the Tulsa Drillers have held Amarillo under five knocks three times and the Travelers have done it three times in this series. Amarillo was no-hit and two-hit in the doubleheader on Thursday, and tonight's loss drops them to 0-6 when they are held to under five hits.