Sod Poodles Walk-Off On RockHounds In Saturday Night Rumble

POSTGAME NOTES

Saturday, June 19 , 2021 vs. Midland RockHounds [OAK]

Amarillo Sod Poodles (19-22) | Midland RockHounds (20-21)

The Sod Poodles walked off on the Midland RockHounds Saturday night in front of over 6,000 fans at HODGETOWN in a 12-11 back-and forth affair. In the bottom of the ninth, with two outs and the bases loaded, Alek Thomas drew a game-winning walk to secure the Soddies late come-from-behind victory.

Scoring Summary: Midland struck first in the top of the second inning following a two-out fielding error to plate Jhonny Santos, who doubled.

In the bottom half of the second, Amarillo's offense came to life kick-started by Renae Martinez's first home run in a Sod Poodles' uniform to even up the Saturday night matchup. Jose Herrera restarted the momentum with a single while Dominic Miroglio and Mikey Reynolds both drew walks to load the bases. With two outs, No. 4-rated D-backs prospect Alek Thomas snaked a double up the middle to send two runs across before Reynolds plated the half's fourth run after stealing home.

In the third inning, Herrera knocked a solo home run to mark his second hit of the night and make it a 5-1 Amarillo advantage.

In the fourth, the Soddies extended their lead to 6-1 after Luis Basabe lined a ball which ricocheted off of the left-centerfield wall and allowed him to come all the way around for an inside-the-park home run.

In the fifth, the RockHounds supported their cause with three runs on three hits and a couple of errors, highlighted by a two-run home run by Collin Theroux.

Sod Poodles starter Luis Frias would exit after four and two-thirds innings after allowing four runs (two earned) on four hits with a walk and six strikeouts and be relieved by Mack Lemieux, who would get out of the frame.

But, in the sixth, the RockHounds found a rhythm with Lemieux and tied things up at 6-6 after three singles and a double before reliever Blake Rogers ended the half with a fly out and strikeout.

The Soddies came right back in the bottom of the sixth courtesy of Thomas' two-run shot to right field to bring Amarillo up 8-6.

Midland got within one, making it an 8-7 score, in the top of the seventh after Mickey McDonald hit a two-out triple to plate Logan Davidson who led off with a walk.

Amarillo added the run back in the bottom of the seventh to make it a 9-7 lead after a comeback line drive off the bat of Miroglio led to a throwing error to plate Dominic Fletcher, who singled.

The back-and-forth affair continued into the eighth when Midland scored for a fourth consecutive inning. New reliever Justin Lewis took over for Rogers and after recording a leadoff out, Devin Foyle singled before a force ground ball out for the second out. After a hit by pitch to put two runners on, Logan Davidson knocked a three-run home run to take the 10-9 late lead.

In the top of the ninth, Midland tacked on one more run on a two-out throwing error to take an 11-9 lead.

In the bottom of the ninth, Garrett led off the final half with a solo homer into the night on a 2-2 count to bring the good guys within one. Martinez restarted the rhythm with a seven-pitch walk and was replaced with pinch-runner Osvaldo Abreu. Herrera followed with a grounder to second which resulted in a wild throw on the fielder's choice to advance runners to second and third with no outs. Fletcher tied the game on his ground ball out, plating Abreu and making it an even 11-11 ballgame. After an intentional walk to Miroglio to put the force on, Perdomo singled to shallow right field to load the bases. Pinch hitter Michael De La Cruz struck out for the second out, bringing up leadoff batter Thomas who saw ball four on a 3-1 count to send the Soddies home in walk-off fashion.

Amarillo right-hander Jeff Bain recorded his first win of the season after tossing the ninth inning.

Tomorrow's Preview: The Sod Poodles and RockHounds will finish their week-long series at HODGETOWN tomorrow evening with first pitch at 6:05 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at www.sodpoodles.com under Tickets.

NOTES:

WALK-Off: The Sod Poodles (literally) walked off over the Midland RockHounds Saturday night at HODGETOWN to mark their second walk-off victory in 2021. With the bases loaded and two outs, Alek Thomas drew a five-pitch walk to send Amarillo off with their 19th win of the campaign. In their first walk-off of 2021, Dominic Fletcher hit an RBI single in the bottom of the 12th at HODGETOWN to beat the RockHounds 3-2.

Steals, Homers, and Walk-Offs, OH MY!:**Unofficially, until further research is conducted, this MAY be the first time in modern day baseball history where one team in one game has had an **inside-the-park home run, straight steal of home plate, and won on a walk-off base on balls.

Home Robbery: Mikey Reynolds collected Amarillo's first straight steal of home in franchise history on Saturday night (June 19) against Midland at HODGETOWN. While on third base with two outs in the bottom of the second inning, Reynolds took off toward home plate as southpaw Ty Damron was coming set and beat the throw and tag at the plate.

The Streaks Live On: Stone Garrett extended his hit streak to 12 games Saturday night after going 2-for-5 with a home run. In this current streak, he is 24-for-52 (.461) with six home runs, four doubles, and 18 RBI. Meanwhile, Jose Herrera went 2-for-5 with a home run of his own, extending his hit streak to nine games and is 15-for-35 with three doubles, a triple, three home runs, and 12 RBI.

Homer Happy:After hitting just three long balls in the last four games, the Sod Poodles came out Saturday night and slugged five home runs. On Friday night, the team warmed up with eight extra base hits but did not record a home run.

Inside-the-Parker: Luis Basabe recorded Amarillo's first inside-the-park home run of 2021 and fourth in franchise history. In 2019, the Soddies collected three inside-the-parkers - Reed (4/11 vs. CC), Olivares (5/5 vs. ARK), Overstreet (7/16 vs. SPR).

New Feat For Thomas: Alek Thomas, No. 4-rated D-backs prospect, collected five RBI in his 2-for-5 night on Saturday against Midland to set a new career-high for RBI in a game. His previous high in a game was three which he accomplished four times in his career. Thomas also went over the century mark in career RBI, bringing his total to 102.

The Return of Rogers: 2019 Texas League Champion and Amarillo Sod Poodles reliever Blake Rogers made his return to Amarillo after being recently signed to a minor league contract by the Arizona Diamondbacks. In his re-debut, after 647 days since his last affiliated appearance on September 11, 2019 against Tulsa, he tossed one and two-thirds innings while allowing just one hit and a run with four strikeouts.

Late Turn: The Sod Poodles won their first game of the season when trailing after eight frames. On Saturday night, after Midland shifted the lead in their favor in the top of the eighth when Logan Davidson knocked a three-run home run with another run also added in the top of the ninth, the Soddies battled back to plate three runs and walkoff.

Multiplied: The team had four players record multi-hit outings for a second consecutive night. Alek Thomas, Stone Garrett, Jose Herrera, and Dominic Fletcher all went 2-for-5 on Saturday night. A night prior, Thomas, Garrett, Michael De La Cruz, and Geraldo Perdomo all collected multiple hits. Overall, the Soddies have combined for 79 multi-hit performances in 40 games. Thomas currently leads the squad with 13.

Too Many E's: The Sod Poodles set a new franchise high in errors with five on Saturday night against Midland. The Soddies defense tied a franchise high of four errors on June 5 at Frisco. The first time in franchise history an Amarillo team made four errors was on May 20, 2019 against Corpus Christi at HODGETOWN.

Chase For The Oil Pan Cup: The chase for the Oil-Pan cup continues in 2021 after the Sod Poodles took the inaugural 2019 season race 17-12. The Oil-Pan Cup is a season-long rivalry between Amarillo and Midland. With their win tonight, Amarillo has taken the season series advantage at 6-5.