Soddies Comeback Bid Falls Short, Lose 5-4 In Extras

Tuesday, July 6, 2021 at San Antonio Missions [SD]

Amarillo Sod Poodles (24-31) | San Antonio Missions (27-28)

San Antonio, Texas — The Sod Poodles batted back late, tying the game with two runs in the eighth inning. Amarillo was able to push a run across in the extra frame for their first lead of the game but left a pair of runners stranded as they dropped game one in San Antonio 5-4 in 10 innings.

In his second Double-A start, Ryne Nelson walked the first batter he faced who moved to third after a failed pickoff attempt with one out. A single up the middle scored the runner and gave the Missions a one run lead in the bottom of the first inning after the Sod Poodles went down in order during their first at bats.

Amarillo tied things up in the top of the second after Buddy Kennedy drew a walk with one out before stealing second base. Ryder Jones doubled in his first at bat since being reassigned to Amarillo, allowing Kennedy to score easily. Jones began the year with Amarillo and played eight games before being promoted to Triple-A Reno. With Reno, Jones played 10 games - none since June 3rd - before being added to the Amarillo roster earlier today.

Nelson found himself in a bit of trouble again after a leadoff single was followed by two straight two-out walks to load the bases. A third consecutive walk plated another run for the Missions to put them back in front for the time being.

Soddies outfielder Alek Thomas was hit by a pitch to put him on the base path. A single off the bat of fellow outfielder Dominic Fletcher moved Thomas to third and gave Amarillo runners on the corners. Fletcher got himself into a rundown between first and second base before making it safely to second on a throwing error. The Sod Poodles were unable to take advantage of the situation with the next two batters going down on strikes.

Amarillo and San Antonio each went down in order in their next at bats as the game remained 2-1 in favor of the Missions. Another two-out walk in the bottom of the fourth brought Nelson's night to an end after 3.2 innings with a pair of runs allowed on two hits with four strikeouts but seven walks

Stone Garrett reached on a catcher's interference with one out in the fifth inning but was once again left stranded after a pair of strikeouts.

The Missions tacked on another run in the home half of the sixth after rallying with two outs. A single and stolen base allowed the runner to make his way home on another two-out base hit to put San Antonio up a pair of runs heading into the last third of the ballgame.

RHP Matt Brill came on in relief in the bottom of the seventh inning for the Sod Poodles. Brill walked the leadoff man before issuing another free pass with one out. A balk moved both runners into scoring position. A ground out with the infield playing shallow kept the runner on third from advancing. Brill and the Sod Poodles got out of the inning without surrendering a run after a pop up in front of home plate ended the Missions' threat to tack on insurance runs.

A San Antonio error put the leadoff man aboard in the eighth. With one out, Fletcher hit an RBI double to cut the deficit to one run with just one out. Renae Martinez drove a ball into the left-center gap that one hopped the wall and was not caught by San Antonio's left fielder, scoring Fletcher easily from second and tying the game at 3-3.

Mack Lemieux came on for his team-leading 19th appearance of the season in the bottom of the eighth inning. The left-hander retired San Antonio in order to send the game to the ninth. Amarillo went down in order, sending Lemieux out for a second inning of work with the 3-4-5 hitters due up for the Missions.

Eguy Rosario put a charge into the ball and sent Thomas all the way back to the warning track in dead center but was able to camp under the ball for the first out. A one-out walk placed the potential winning run on base as 2019 Sod Poodle Kyle Overstreet drew his fourth walk of the night. Lemieux struck out the next two batters to send the game into extras.

Geraldo Perdomo started the extra frame on second base as part of the new MiLB rules. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored two pitches later on an RBI single from Jancarlos Cintron to give the Soddies their first lead of the night. Thomas followed him with a single of his own, giving Amarillo a pair of runners on with nobody out. Amarillo could not push any more runs across and went to the bottom of the 10th grasping to a one run lead.

The Sod Poodles sent RHP Keegan Curtis to the mound in the bottom of the 10th. Curtis had made one appearance with Amarillo after being traded from the Yankees organization on July 1st. Curtis picked up the save in his Amarillo debut against Wichita three nights ago. San Antonio jumped on the first pitch, sending the ball down the right field line for a double that tied the game. The next pitch got by Miroglio who was behind the dish, advanced the winning run to third with nobody out. A lazy line out to Cintron at second base kept the runner at third with one out. A fastball up in the zone got the strike call for the second out of the inning.

After two ejections following the strikeout call, the Missions got a single into center field, sending the winning run home and giving San Antonio game one of this six game series.

The action continues from San Antonio tomorrow night with game two scheduled for a 7:05 PM first pitch. The Sod Poodles will send RHP Luis Frias (2-4, 5.40 ERA) to the hill against RHP Reiss Knher (6-1, 3.90 ERA).

Notes:

Free Baseball: For the third time this season - two times on the road - Amarillo played an extra innings game. The Sod Poodles are now 2-1 in extras this year, with the team's first extra innings win coming on the road in the third game of the year in Tulsa. The Sod Poodles won that game 8-6 in 10 innings. The team's only extra inning game at home came on May 19th against Midland with Dominic Fletcher being the hero in that one, delivering the game-winning single in the 12th inning.

Free Passes: Amarillo pitching combined to issue 10 walks in the ballgame. It is the second-most free passes issued by Amarillo in the game this year after the 11 the team walked against Corpus Christi on June 9th. The difference was the offense put up a franchise-high 19 runs in that game, winning by 14 runs and making the walks a non issue. Ryne Nelson walked a career and franchise high seven walks in the ballgame. The D-backs' No. 19 rated prospect made his second Double-A start of the season.

Two For Fletch: D-backs' No. 15 rated prospect Dominic Fletcher recorded his 13th multi-hit game of the season. He is now tied with Stone Garrett for the second most multi-hit games this year behind Alek Thomas who has picked up 15 multi-hit games in 2021.

Nothing New For Lemieux: Left-handed pitcher Mack Lemieux has continued to string together scoreless outings out of the bullpen. Lemieux has allowed just three earned runs over his last 19.2 innings for the Sod Poodles since May 20th. He has not allowed an earned run in his last five games. Since beginning the season with an 11.25 ERA after his first four games, Lemieux is carrying a 1.37 ERA in his last 15 games.

E-3: San Antonio's three errors as a team is now the most errors commited by a Sod Poodles opponent so far in 2021. Amarillo saw their opponent commit four errors on two separate occasions in 2019.