Thomas' Triple Lifts Sod Poodles To 3-2 Win Over Riders

Wednesday, August 4, 2021

Amarillo Sod Poodles (34-45) | Frisco RoughRiders (48-32)

Frisco, Texas — Amarillo scored first but found themselves trailing after the fifth frame in a low scoring contest. A late Soddies rally lifted them to the win in game two of this series and stopped a three game skid to the RoughRiders. Amarillo edged Frisco 3-2 to even the current series at a game apiece on Wednesday night from Riders Field.

Both teams left a runner stranded in their first at bats of the night. For Amarillo, outfielder Stone Garrett reached on a catcher interference with two outs before being tagged out as he took too big of a turn rounding second base on Ryder Jones' single. Frisco also notched a single in their half of the first but the runner was forced out at second base, ending the first full frame in Frisco.

Buddy Kennedy got Amarillo on the board with a towering home run to lead off the top of the second inning. His seventh homer of the year came off the bat at 103 MPH and hit off the light pole in left-center field to put the Sod Poodles up 1-0. Soddies starter Kenney Hernandez gave up a leadoff single to start the bottom of the second but retired the next three RoughRiders in order.

After the Sod Poodles were retired in order in the top of the third, Hernandez went back to work. He enticed a line out to shortstop to start the bottom of the inning. Frisco center fielder Bubba Thompson tied the game with a home run of his own, and second in the series, as he hit a ball off the batter's eye in straight away center field, tying the game at 1-1.

The Sod Poodles managed just one baserunner after Kennedy's home run in the second inning when catcher Renae Martinez drew a two out walk in the top of the fifth off Frisco starter Noah Bremer. Martinez was left stranded after a ground out sent the game to the bottom of the fifth.

Hernandez walked Thompson with one out in the bottom of the fifth. Another flyout sent Rangers' No. 1 prospect Josh Jung to the plate.

Jung was held to just one hit through his first 6 at bats of the series. In his seventh try against Amarillo pitching this series, Jung gave the RoughRiders the lead after scoring Thompson from first base on a two-out double into right-center field.

Amarillo threatened in the top of the seventh inning after Jones hit a leadoff double to start the Soddies seventh and Kennedy followed him on base with a walk. A ground ball forced Kennedy out at second base but allowed Jones to move up to third. A wild pitch didn't get far enough past the Riders backstop, keeping Jones 90 feet away from tying the game. Frisco kept their lead as they got out of the inning with their lead after Martinez grounded out.

Right-hander Jeff Bain replaced Hernandez in the Frisco half of the seventh. He struck out the first two batters he faced before issuing a two-out walk. He bounced back to strike out Jung and send the Soddies back to work chasing a run.

Jancarlos Cintron was hit by a pitch to start the eighth before advancing into scoring position on a balk. D-backs' No. 4 rated prospect Alek Thomas tied the ballgame with his 8th triple of the year, scoring Cintron easily. With the go-ahead run on third, Garrett gave Amarillo the lead with a sac fly to left field. Right-hander Matt Brill came on in relief after one inning from Bain. Brill walked the leadoff man before a single put two runners aboard for the Riders. A double play gave Brill two outs but allowed the potential tying run to move to third. Brill got out of the jam as he got a ground out to end the Riders threat and sent the game into the ninth.

Amarillo went down in order and was unable to add any insurance runs for Blake Rogers who came on to try and slam the door on Frisco. The right-hander struck out the first batter he faced before a single placed the potential tying run aboard with one out. An easy flyout into right field put the RoughRiders down to their final out of the ballgame. Rogers second strikeout of the night preserved the win and gave Rogers his second save of the year in as many opportunities.

Game three of the series continues tomorrow with D-backs' No. 20 rated prospect Drey Jameson making his Double-A debut for Amarillo. Jameson takes the mound for the first time since being promoted from High-A Hillsboro on July 31st. LHP Cole Bradford also makes his Double-A debut for the RoughRiders. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM from the metroplex.

Notes:

Kenny Was Solid:Left-hander Kenny Hernandez tossed his third quality outing for Amarillo in just his fourth Double-A start. Hernandez finished Wednesday's start after going 6.0 innings with just two runs - both earned - on six hits. He struck out three while issuing just one walk. Hernandez has given the Sod Poodles at least 5.0 innings in all four of his starts including three quality starts. His first quality start came in his Double-A debut on July 16th when he allowed two runs on five hits with eight strikeouts against Midland. He also had a quality start in his last outing against San Antonio on July 28th. He went 6.0 innings and allowed six runs, however only two of them were earned.

Buddy Blast: Sod Poodles infielder Buddy Kennedy belted his seventh home run of the year in Double-A and second in his last four games. Kennedy has hit 6-of-7 homers on the road with his first HODGETOWN homer coming in the first game of Sunday's double-header against San Antonio. For Kennedy, it is his 12th home run of the year which ranks third in the Arizona Diamondbacks' farm system. His 12 home runs pass fellow Sod Poodle Stone Garrett who has 11 this season, all with Amarillo.

Thomas Triples...Again: D-backs' No. 4 rated prospect tied the game in the top of the 8th with his 8th triple of the year. Thomas is now tied with former Sod Poodle Jake McCarthy for the most Triples in the D-backs' farm system. Thomas' eight triples not only lead the team but lead all of Double-A. Thomas now has 21 triples in his young career and passed his single-season high of seven triples that he hit with Single-A Kane County in 2019. He has eight triples through 63 games with Amarillo and had seven in 91 games with the Cougars.

Bullpen Bullies: The Amarillo bullpen tossed three innings of shutout ball to get the win on Wednesday night. The trio of Jeff Bain, Matt Brill, and Blake Rogers allowed just two hits over the final three frames while striking out 5-of-12 batters faced. Rogers now is 2-for-2 in save opportunities this year and has 22 strikeouts to just five walks issued after striking out two of the four hitters he faced tonight.

Battle Late, Win: The Sod Poodles 8th inning rally helped improve the club to 5-30 when trailing after the 6th inning, and 5-36 when trailing after the 7th frame. Rogers made it now 25-of-26 times the Sod Poodles have won when leading after the 8th.

Tough Versus The Top: The one run victory for the Sod Poodles made it 11 of the 14 games played between these two clubs decided by three or fewer runs this season. Amarillo is now 1-3 against the RoughRiders in one run ball games in 2021.