Soddies Win Streak Halted After Dropping Twin Bill

Wednesday, September 1, 2021 @ San Antonio Missions [SD]

Amarillo Sod Poodles (48-55) | San Antonio Missions (50-54)

San Antonio, Texas - The Amarillo Sod Poodles played their third doubleheader of the 2021 season against the San Antonio Missions. After taking three of the first four doubleheader games between the clubs, Amarillo dropped both games against the Missions on Wednesday night.

Arizona Diamondbacks' No. 5 rated prospect Ryne Nelson got the start on the bump for Amarillo in game one. The former Oregon Duck made his 11th start for Amarillo since his promotion from High-A Hillsboro in late June. Nelson retired the Missions in order in the bottom of the first inning with one strikeout. San Antonio scored the first run of the night when Juan Fernandez hit a two-out home run off Nelson in the bottom of the second for a 1-0 lead.

Amarillo hitters went down in order in each of the first three innings of the scheduled seven inning contest. The Sod Poodles had their first base runner aboard when infielder Buddy Kennedy drew a walk with two outs in the fourth inning. The second hit of the entire first game came in the bottom of the fourth inning when Padres No. 15 rated prospect Eguy Rosario singled with one out. The following batter promptly hit into a double play to end the inning and move the game to the fifth frame.

Eduardo Diaz notched Amarillo's first hit of the game when he singled into center field. A failed pickoff attempt had Diaz in scoring position. A flyout allowed him to move to third base but he was left stranded as the potential tying run after a strikeout ended the Amarillo threat.

Nelson kept plugging away, retiring the Missions in order in the bottom of the fifth to keep it a one run game at the time. San Antonio singled with one away in the bottom of the sixth inning, giving the Missions their third hit of the game. A wild pitch advanced the runner to second before a hit batter placed another runner aboard. A balk by Nelson advanced both runners into scoring position and allowed the Missions to take a 2-0 lead on a sacrifice fly.

Kennedy drew his second walk of the game to leadoff the final inning but was left stranded as the next three batters behind him went down in order, giving San Antonio the first game of the evening. Nelson (2-3) took the loss but threw six innings, allowing just three hits and two runs - both earned while striking out four.

Game two:

After being shutout in the first game, Amarillo put up an early run to start off game two. D-backs' No. 9 rated prospect Geraldo Perdomo drew a walk in the top of the first inning with one out. He swiped second and advanced to third on the same play. A wild pitch strikeout led to the second out of the inning but allowed Perdomo to race home from third for the early advantage.

The Missions managed one hit off Amarillo starter Kenny Hernandez (1-2) through the first three innings. Amarillo notched their first hit of the second game in the top of the fourth inning. Outfielder Dominic Canzone picked up a two-out single to keep the inning alive. Diaz followed him aboard with a single ahead of catcher Andy Yerzy who scored Canzone with his RBI single. The three three straight hits plated another run and left runners on the corners. Holding a two-run advantage, Yerzy got caught trying to steal second base but the rundown allowed Diaz to score from third on the play and gave Amarillo a 3-0 lead after the top of the third.

San Antonio tied the game after putting together a three hit inning of their own in the bottom of the fourth. A single and double put runners on second and third. A two-RBI single cut the Amarillo advantage to one run.. Then, a wild pitch by Hernandez and a fly ball allowed the tying run to move to third where he scored on another sacrifice fly.

The Sod Poodles regained their advantage in the top of the sixth inning.

A walk and wild pitch moved Buddy Kennedy to second base with one out. A flyball moved the New Jersey native to third where he was able to make his way across home plate on Diaz' RBI single.

San Antonio tied the game once again in the bottom of the sixth. After a hit batter put the tying runner aboard, an errant throw on a steal attempt along with a misplay of the ball in the outfield allowed the runner to score on the stolen base attempt.

A pinch-hit single off the bat of Ryder Jones left stranded in the top of the seventh for Amarillo.

A leadoff hit batter put the potential winning run on for San Antonio in the bottom of the seventh. Amarillo got a force out at second base and swapped the runner at first base with one out. A single and wild pitch moved the potential winning run to third base. A full count walk loaded the bases with the next batter driving home the winning run with a single into left field.

The series continues tomorrow with RHP and D-backs' No. 26 rated prospect Brandon Pfaadt making his third Double-A start for Amarillo. The former fifth round pick in 2020 from Bellarmine University (Louisville, KY) has worked his way through two levels already, making it to Double-A in his first professional season. Pfaadt is currently ranked tied for first in the Arizona farm system in wins (8), second in strikeouts (136), and leads the system with 110.2 innings pitched. First pitch from Nelson W. Wolff Stadium on Thursday night is scheduled for 7:05 PM.

Notes:

Make It Two: Amarillo falls to an even .500 in doubleheaders this year against San Antonio. The Soddies entered Wednesday's twin bill 3-1 after two doubleheaders earlier in the season against the Padres' Double-A affiliate.The Sod Poodles swept the only doubleheader the team had during the 2019 season, making them 5-3 in doubleheaders as a franchise.

All Good Things: The Sod Poodles season-long winning streak of five games came to an end with their 2-0 loss in the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader. The team had a chance to extend the winning streak to what would have been not only a season-long, but franchise-long with the 2019 club also having a season-long win streak of five games. Aside from the team streak coming to an end, Sod Poodles' outfielder Ben DeLuzio also saw his eight game hit streak come to a halt. The former Florida State Seminole had notched a hit each of his first eight games, hitting .484 (15-for-31) since being transferred to Amarillo from Triple-A Reno. DeLuzio did not play in game one but went 0-for-4 in the second game.

Diaz x Two: Outfielder Eduardo Diaz was the only Sod Poodle player to pick up a hit in each game on Wednesday night. Diaz managed the only hit for Amarillo in the entire first game and then added another two hits and RBI in the second game. Since his arrival to Amarillo from High-A Hillsboro, Diaz is hitting .341 (15-for-44) with two doubles, a triple, four home runs, and eight RBI, He has a hit in 10 of the 12 games he has played in since joining the team on August 16th.

Shutout: The 2-0 loss in game one marked the sixth shutout loss suffered by Amarillo and first since June 24th at Corpus Christi. It was the 11th total shutout the Sod Poodles have been a part of this season. Amarillo now sits at 5-6 in shutouts this year and suffered their 11th shutout loss going back to 2019 (241 total games played).

Lone Poodle: By being the only Amarillo player with a hit in the first game, Eduardo Diaz joins former Soddie D.J. Burt (now with Wichita) and Luis Basabe as the three players this year to be the lone player with a hit in an Amarillo lineup. Burt did it on the road in Frisco on June 2, while Basabe broke up a no-hitter by Wichita on June 30th with a solo home run in the ninth inning. The

Five Or Fewer: For the 26th time this year, Amarillo failed to record five or more hits in a game. It is however just the second time it has happened in a seven inning game with the last occurance coming in the same ballpark on July 11th a game Amarillo lost 6-1 in the first game of that day's doubleheader against the Missions. San Antonio also managed just three hits in the first game on Wednesday night marking the 18th time Amarillo pitchers have held opponents to five or fewer hits. Coincidentally, four of those 18 games have come against San Antonio. Right-handers Matt Tabor and Luis Frias tossed seven-inning no-hitters against the Missions earlier this year with the third time coming after Frias' no-hitter in game two on August 1st. It is also just the sixth time this year where both teams failed to get more than five hits in the same game. The most recent time that happened before tonight was August 6th when Amarillo and Frisco each had five hits.

M*A*S*Hers: Four Soddies currently rank among the D-backs minors Top-10 in homers. Eduardo Diaz is currently tied for first in the system with 18 while Buddy Kennedy, Andy Yerzy, and Stone Garrett are tied for third with 17 each.