Thomas Sparks Late Rally, Soddies Beat San Antonio In Extras

Thursday, July 8, 2021 at San Antonio Missions [SD]

Amarillo Sod Poodles (25-32) | San Antonio Missions (28-29)

San Antonio, Texas — With the first two games of the series being decided by a single run in each game, it only made sense to have another thriller on Thursday night in San Antonio. The Sod Poodles once again used a late rally to send the game to extras where the team battled not only the Missions, but Mother Nature as well as they picked up the win in the 11th.

The first two batters of the game resulted in the first run of the night for the Sod Poodles. Outfielder Alek Thomas led off the night with a double, scoring on fellow outfielder Dominic Fletcher's RBI single. San Antonio did damage with two outs to take the lead in the bottom of the first. A two-out walk scored on a two-run home run as San Antonio took a 2-1 lead.

San Antonio threatened again after a walk and single put two runners aboard in the bottom of the second. A sac bunt moved both into scoring position with one out. Soddies starter Tommy Henry got out of the inning with a line out and pop fly to keep the Sod Poodles deficit at one run.

Amarillo looked poised to cut into the Missions lead after the first two batters in the top of the third inning drew walks. The next two batters went down in order before Stone Garrett reached on a catcher's interference to load the bases. A pop out into foul territory ended the Sod Poodles chances of cutting into the lead at the time.

Henry walked the leadoff batter in the bottom of the third but ended up facing the minimum after picking off the runner at first and getting a flyout and strikeout. San Antonio added another run in the bottom of the fourth after a leadoff double scored following a pair of wild pitches as the Missions took a 3-1 lead.

The game remained that way until the top of the eighth inning. Thomas hit a one out triple, his sixth of the year, before San Antonio walked the bases loaded. A throwing error by the Missions second baseman brought the tying runs around as the Sod Poodles tied things up at 3-3. Amarillo couldn't take their first lead since the top of the first after grounding into an inning ending double play.

San Antonio had a had a chance to take a late lead after a walk and single gave them runners on the corners with just one out. A wild pitch moved the runner on first into scoring position before a second walk in the inning loaded the bases with two outs. The game remained tied after a ground out left all three Missions runners stranded.

Each side managed a baserunner in the ninth inning via the walk but could not get them any further as the game headed to extras for the second time this series.

The Sod Poodles picked up a run in the 10th after a ground out from Thomas moved the runner to third, allowing him to score on Garrett's sacrifice fly. The Missions also used a ground out to move their runner up to third base. A strikeout and passed ball plated the tying run and kept the batter safe on first after he was able to beat the throw down from Renae Martinez behind the plate. Another inning-ending double play sent the game to the 11th.

Mikey Reynolds began the inning as a pinch runner on second base and stole third base with one out, giving the Sod Poodles a prime opportunity to tack on another run in a multitude of ways. Martinez walked to put runners on the corners. Jancarlos Cintron singled, scoring Reynolds. Cintron then stole second himself, allowing the Sod Poodles to take a two run advantage after Dominic Miroglio's RBI single.

Heading into the bottom of the 11th, Joe Jones made his way to the mound as the rain started to come down. Jones walked the leadoff man to start the home half. An error then gave the Missions another bases loaded opportunity with nobody out and the potential tying run on second base. Another walk drew San Antonio within one run with still nobody out and the tying and winning runs into scoring position. A ground out to Cintron at shortstop allowed him to come home with the throw for the force out. Jones then buckled down to strike out the next two batters to leave the bases stranded once again and secure the Sod Poodles win.

Amarillo will now look to even the series tomorrow night with D-backs No. 8 rated prospect Bryce Jarvis on the mound. Jarvis is coming off his last start where he picked up his first Double-A win and set an Sod Poodles franchise-high with 11 strikeouts against Wichita on July 3rd.

Notes:

Extras: The Soddies and Missions entered into their second extra-inning contest in three days on Thursday night in San Antonio. Two nights earlier, after dropping Tuesday night's game to the Missions by a final score of 5-4 through 10 frames, marking the Soddies first extra-inning loss of 2021, Amarillo came back with victory Thursday night, winning 6-5 in 11 innings. The matchup marked the second-longest extra-inning game for the Soddies in 2021. The Sod Poodles are now 3-1 in extra-inning contests this season.

Multi: D-backs No. 15 rated prospect Dominic Fletcher collected his fourth multi-hit performance in his last five games. On Thursday night against San Antonio, he went 2-for-3 with a run and RBI.

Triple Thomas: Alek Thomas, D-backs No. 4 prospect and only representative in the 2021 Futures Game, knocked his sixth triple Thursday night. He not only leads the Amarillo Squad in the category but also the Double-A Central and all D-backs minor leaguers.

Henry's Outing: Southpaw Tommy Henry made his 12th start Thursday against San Antonio, taking a no-decision after his four-inning bid with three runs allowed and five strikeouts. His seven hits given up tied a career-high and was the second time allowing the total this season (since 6/20/21 vs. Midland).

ARMsenal: The six arms used by Amarillo Thursday night were the most pitchers used in a single game this season since May 30 at Corpus Christi (L, 0-7).

Firsts: Pitchers Keegan Curtis and Joe Jones earned firsts for the Soddies Thursday night. Curtis collected his first Soddies win while Jones collected his first save in Double-A.

Long One: The Thursday night extra-inning matchup between the Soddies and Missions marked the longest road extra-inning game in Amarillo franchise history at 4 hours. The previous high was set on May 6 at Tulsa (3:49).