Soddies Win Third Straight After 11-Run Outburst

Amarillo, TX – The Amarillo Sod Poodles kicked off the month of July with an 11-10 win over the visiting Northwest Arkansas Naturals in front of a sell-out crowd of 6,943 at HODGETOWN. The Sod Poodles battled back from another early deficit, taking the lead in the fifth inning.

For the fourth straight game to start the series, the Naturals got the scoring started. The Kansas City Royals' Double-A affiliate greeted Brent Teller who was making his first start in Double-A with a leadoff double on the first pitch of the game. A walk sent Tyler Gentry to the dish. The outfielder continued to be a thorn in the side of the Amarillo pitching staff, hitting his fourth home run of the series to put the Naturals up 3-0 after the top of the first inning.

Amarillo loaded the bases and got their first run of the night as Tristin English got plunked with a 97-MPH fastball in the back. The teams exchanged sacrifice flies in the third inning. Nick Loftin led off the top of the fifth inning with his fourth long ball of the series, homering in every game so far as the Naturals extended their lead to 5-2.

The Sod Poodles started the home half of the fifth inning with a single off the bat of Leandro Cedeño. Roby Enriques launched his second home run with Amarillo, drawing the Sod Poodles within a run. A double looked to be stranded in scoring position with the next two batters being retired. A two-out walk kept the inning alive for Drew Stankiewicz.

Have a three-hit day, @robyenriquez17

*Whispers* We're officially on cycle alert 🚨

1B ✅
2B ✅
3B
HR ✅ pic.twitter.com/QwQlMlEAVy

— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) July 2, 2022

The switch hitter drove an 0-1 pitch past Bar 352, his sixth homer of the year, and helped cap off a five-run bottom of the fifth. The home run propelled the Sod Poodles in front, a position they held for the remainder of the game.

Northwest Arkansas got within one of the Amarillo lead with their own mini two-out-rally in the top of the sixth. The second walk of the inning issued by Josh Green came around to score on a two-out double. The Sod Poodles pushed their lead back to two-runs thanks to Cedeño.

His 15th home run of the year made it an 8-6 game and set a new single-season best in home runs by the Venezuela native.

Do what you do, Drew! @DrewStankie

A 5-run inning has us in front! pic.twitter.com/VOqy9ncINW

— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) July 2, 2022

A NEW SINGLE SEASON CAREER BEST 15 HOME RUNS @learcedeo crushes baseballs for a living. pic.twitter.com/y1MXWvjhBj

— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) July 2, 2022

A three-run seventh inning produced by the Sod Poodles was aided by a pair of hits, a walk, and a fielder's choice. A sharply hit ground ball to the Naturals' third baseman put Ti'Quan Forbes in no-man's- land a couple of steps off third base. A run-down resulted in two runs coming across with the pitcher not being able to hold onto the ball as it worked its way to the backstop with Elvis Peralta scurrying home right behind Forbes.

Green was the first man out of the bullpen for Amarillo and turned in another quality appearance. The right-hander spun three innings, allowing just one earned run including consecutive 1-2-3 innings in the seventh and eighth innings.

Northwest Arkansas wouldn't go quietly into the night. The first two batters of the ninth inning were retired in order by left-hander Cam Booser who came in to relieve Green. Booser entered the game with a six-game scoreless streak spanning over eight innings of work dating back to June 10. After appearing to cruise to his ninth straight scoreless inning, the Naturals started to string together hits. Maikel Garcia singled ahead of a walk and another single that scored Garcia and kept two runners on base. The first pitch of the next at-bat brought the Naturals within one run at 11-10.

The second walk of the inning issued by Booser was followed by the fourth hit of the inning, putting the potential tying run on third base. It brought an end to Booser's night and brought right-hander Ty Tice.

The first pitch from Tice nearly tied the game as a pitch got past Juan Centeno and ricocheted back towards the plate as the Natural runner on third quickly retreated towards his base. Tice and the Sod Poodles earned the win when Tice got Sebastian Rivero to pop out to end the game. It ended a streak of six straight Natural batters to reach base ans was the first save of the year for Tice.

The Sod Poodles have won three straight in the second half of the Texas League schedule after dropping game one to the Naturals on Tuesday night. The team will look to continue the momentum in game five on Saturday night. LHP Kenny Hernandez (0-2, 14.34 ERA) gets the ball for Amarillo against fellow lefty Anthony Veneziano (4-5, 6.26 ERA). Gates open at 5:00 pm for another wonderful night at HODGETOWN with the second of three consecutive post-game fireworks shows.

Notes:

New High Score: After tying the game last night with a grand slam in the 8th, Leandro Cedeño turned in another masterpiece on Friday night. He went 3-for-4 with four runs scored and a RBI that came off a home run. His 15th home run of the season set a new career-high for home runs in a single season, topping the 14 he hit when he was in Johnson City playing Rookie ball in the Cardinals organization. Aside from the home run, he pitched in with two singles and a walk. His four runs on Friday were the most in a game this year since Dominic Canzone scored four times against the San Antonio Missions on April 19. The slugger has now homered in back-to-back games for the second time this season. So far in the series, the Venezuela native is hitting .467 (7-for-15) with two home runs, seven RBI and six runs scored and has played in all four games.

Smells Great: SS Drew Stankiewicz came alive for the Sod Poodles on Friday. The switch hitter turned in a 2-for-4 night at the plate including his sixth home run of the season. He drove in three runs on his 425 ft laser of a home run in the bottom of the fifth inning. The home run was just the second career home run from the right side of the plate with the first coming earlier this season. His three RBI performance was the eighth multi-RBI game of his 2022 campaign. Stankiewicz has played the fifth-most games of any Sod Poodle this year with 53 games split between SS, 2B, and six in the outfield.

Three Piece: OF Roby Enriquez tallied three hits for Amarillo hitting cleanup for the Sod Poodle for the third consecutive game after never hitting fourth prior to this series in the Sod Poodles lineup. Enriquez came a triple shy of the cycle in a 4-for-5 effort at the plate. It was the second four-hit game he has turned in this season in 22 games played. The rest of the team has five four-hit games combined. Through his first 22 games in Double-A, Enriquez is slashing .305/.360/.427 with two home runs and 17 RBI. His home run in the fifth inning Friday was his first since May 27th at Arkansas.

Multiplied: The five runs scored by Amarillo in the fifth inning was the first five-run inning since June 12 against Frisco. The team also plated three runs in the seventh, giving them 110 multi-run innings in 2022. Amarillo scored a franchise-high 11 runs in the eighth inning on June 11 in a losing effort to Frisco.

Teller Time: Brent Teller made his maiden voyage in Double-A on Friday night, spinning five innings and allowing five runs on five hits with five walks and four punchouts. The 25-year-old earned his second win in professional baseball after also earning the win in his full-season debut with High-A Hillsboro on June 26. Teller is now 2-2 with a 5.82 ERA through his first five professional games.

Tawa We Doin': OF/INF Tim Tawa went 2-for-3 with two doubles and a RBI with a run scored on Friday. He has now hit three doubles in his first eight Double-A games. Tawa is hitting .259 with three RBI and three runs scored for Amarillo since his promotion from High-A Hillsboro on June 23.

Green Means Go: Right-hander Josh Green entered the series with a 1-1 record and a 1.89 ERA at HODGETOWN over his first 9.2 IP this year in Amarillo at home. He saw his ERA balloon at home to 4.50 after allowing four runs on Tuesday night. His ERA lowered to 4.20 following a three-inning outing where he allowed just one earned on Friday night. On the year since being transferred to Amarillo on May 7. Green is 1-1 with a 5.96 ERA over 25.2 IP.