Soddies Hurt By Long Ball In 7-5 Loss

Amarillo, Texas – The Sod Poodles dropped Saturday night's contest to the Corpus Christi Hooks by a score of 7-5. Amarillo drew within one run of the lead in the 7th after a home run but was unable to claw their way in front.

Corpus Christi pushed the first run of the game across the board with a two-out home run in the top of the first inning off Brandon Pfaadt. The newly appointed No. 100 rated prospect in baseball and Diamondbacks' No. 4 prospect was once again snake bitten by an early home run.

After retiring the Hooks in order with three strikeouts in the second inning, the Sod Poodles knotted the game up at 1-1. Juan Centeno led off the bottom of the inning with his 11th home run of the year. The left-handed hitter slapped the third pitch of his at-bat over the left-field wall.

We’re just SUPER pleased with this at bat.

Juan-💣 pic.twitter.com/sX6QtDxbo3

— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) July 31, 2022

The Hooks were propelled back in front thanks in part to their second home run of the night. After surrendering a one-out single, a two-run dinger made it a two-run disadvantage for the Sod Poodles. Pfaadt struck out three more over the next two innings of work, racking up seven total for the game and keeping the deficit at two runs after working around a double in the 4th and a walk and single in the 5th.

Amarillo looked poised to at least tie the game after loading the bases in the bottom of the fifth. Tim Tawa started the inning with a double and was followed on board by an Andy Yerzy walk and Drew Stankiewicz single. A popout and groundout brought an end to the threat and Amarillo left the inning still trailing by two runs.

Two Corpus Christi Hooks doubles in the top of the 6th - the latter with two outs - extended the lead and effectively brought an end to Pfaadt's outing. The right-hander ended the night after 6.0 IP where he allowed nine hits and four earned runs but did finish with eight strikeouts.

Mack Lemieux was the first man out of the Amarillo bullpen on Saturday night. He entered the game after Amarillo once again left a runner stranded on third following Roby Enriquez' two-out triple in the bottom of the sixth.

The Hooks loaded the bases on a single, a walk, and a hit by pitch. They made it a four-run game on Jordan Brewer's RBI sac fly. Lemieux battled back, ending the inning and leaving two runners stranded.

Coming back from the 7th-inning stretch, Ti'Quan Forbes led off the Sod Poodles' half of the inning with a single. A walk put two on board for the Sod Poodles' leadoff man. Eduardo Diaz then proceeded to cut the deficit to just one run with a three-run home run, the 10th home run of his season.

EDUARD-OH-MY

Some life has been injected into the team following this 3-run 🚀 pic.twitter.com/nXbB3AJKS5

— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) July 31, 2022

Now trailing by just one run, the Sod Poodles turned to Jeff Bain on the mound. The team leader in wins struck out the first batter he faced but the second batter reached on an untimely fielding error. Two Hooks were left stranded on base after a two-out single was for not when Bain induced a pop fly reeled in by Forbes at second base.

Centeno tallied his third hit of the night, a single to start the bottom of the 8th. A double play created an even bigger uphill climb for the Sod Poodles who would head to the ninth with a ground-out ending their at-bats in the 8th. Corpus Christi tacked on two more in the ninth in part to a two-run home run to extend the lead to three runs.

Down to their final at-bats, the Sod Poodles mustered a little rally. Consecutive two-out doubles scored one to make it a 7-5 game. It would end that way as the Hooks picked up a strikeout to end the game and claim their second win of the series.

The Series concludes on Sunday as RHP Ross Carver will make his Double-A debut on the mound. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm with gates opening at 6. The first 1,500 fans in the building will get a Sod Poodles Bucket Hat presented by YellowHouse Machinery.

Notes:

Pfaadt-Day: Brandon Pfaadt racked up another eight strikeouts in Saturday's game, doing so over 6.0 IP. The Arizona Diamondbacks' No. 4 rated prospect currently leads the minors with 144 strikeouts. The right-hander allowed four runs on nine hits in his 19th start this season in Double-A. It was the most hits he had allowed since the last time donning the Sod Poodles Dr. Strange jersey when he surrendered 11 hits to the Frisco RoughRiders on June 11.

Double Dingers: Juan Centeno started the Sod Poodles scoring with this 11th home run of the year. The veteran catcher took a 1-1 pitch over the left field wall for an opposite-field blast. Eduardo Diaz drew the Sod Poodles within one run after hitting his 10th of the year in the bottom of the 7th inning. Diaz has now eclipsed double-digit home run totals in three consecutive seasons dating back to the 2019 season. He ended the 2021 season tied for the third-most HR in the Arizona Diamondbacks farm system with 21.

Not Such A Strange Streak: With a 2-for-4 night, OF Roby Enriquez extended his hitting streak to 15 games dating back to July 6. Over the span, Enriquez has hit .383 (23-for-60) with five doubles, a home run, and notched a triple on Saturday. He has seven multi-hit games over this streak including now back-to-back games.

Juan,Two, Three: Juan Centeno pitched in offensively with a 3-for-4 night including his 2nd inning home run. It was his seventh 3-hit game and 20th multi-hit game in 53 games. Centeno is hitting .320 with 12 doubles, one triple, and 11 home runs. The former World Series Champion has driven in 37 RBI.