Winning Streak Snapped In High-Scoring Affair

Amarillo, TX - The San Antonio Missions put up 21 hits en route to a 15-11 victory over the Amarillo Sod Poodles on Saturday, April 23, at HODGETOWN. The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for Amarillo.

San Antonio scored a run in eight different innings, and their 21 hits were tied for most by a Sod Poodles’ opponent this year. All four of Amarillo's pitchers allowed at least three earned runs, with Keegan Curtis (0-1) earning the loss.

For the third consecutive game, San Antonio jumped ahead with a run in the 1st inning, this time off of starter Kenny Hernandez. Esteury Ruiz led it off with a double against and was scored by an RBI single by Tirso Ornelas.

The Missions added another run in the 2nd with Connor Hollis scoring Korry Howell on an RBI single, who was at third after a one-out triple.

Amarillo answered in the bottom of the 2nd with a no-doubt solo home run from Dominic Fletcher. The 493-foot dinger was Fletcher’s first of the year and the fifth game in a row in which a Sod Poodle went yard. After two, San Antonio led 2-1.

San Antonio scored two runs in the 3rd. The first two batters reached on a single and a walk, and Ornelas scored one on his second RBI single. Chris Givin added another RBI single to make it 4-1. That was the end of the line for Kenny Hernandez, who finished with a line of 2.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB and 3 K. Justin Vernia relieved him and struck out two to exit the inning.

The scoring trend continued in the 4th, where San Antonio added three runs on four hits off of Vernia. Robbie Pedorsky had an RBI triple, Brandon Dixon added an RBI single, and Ornelas tacked on his third RBI single.

Trailing 7-1, the Sod Poodles climbed all the way back and took the lead with a seven-run 4th. The first four batters of the inning singled, with Leandro Cedeno and Blaze Alexander each notching an RBI. Jancarlos Cintron made it five straight hits with a 2-RBI double, making it a 7-5 Missions lead.

Nick Dalesandro then roped a ball that was mishandled by the third baseman, and Cintron scored on the error to make it a one-run game. With Dalesandro on third, Corbin Carroll laced an RBI double down the first baseline that tied the game at 7. Andy Yerzy kept the inning rolling with two outs, scoring Carroll on an RBI single to give Amarillo an 8-7 lead.

Amarillo tacked on to their lead in the 5th. Dalesandro singled and stole his second base of the game, and Drew Stankiewicz scored him on an RBI single to make it 9-7. The Soddies stranded two runners in scoring position in the frame.

Ryan Weiss took over on the mound for the 6th, and the Missions answered with an RBI single from Ruiz. Through six, San Antonio had 13 hits and Amarillo had 12.

The back-and-forth affair continued into the bottom of the 6th. Yerzy led off the frame with a double and Fletcher scored him on an RBI triple. Cintron made it 11-8 with an RBI sac fly, his third RBI of the game.

The Missions reclaimed the lead for good with multiple runs in the 7th, 8th and 9th. With a runner on first, Korry Howell made it 11-10 with a two-run home run in the 7th, and Dixon launched a two-run homer in the 8th to give the Missions a 12-11 lead. With Curtis on the mound in the 9th, Pedorsky scored two on an RBI double and Dixon followed him with an RBI single to make it 15-11.

The Sod Poodles put runners in scoring position in the 8th, but San Antonio was able to hold on for the four-run victory. The Missions out-hit the Sod Poodles 21-15, tied for the most hits allowed in a game by the Amarillo pitching staff this year (April 10 vs Midland). Five Missions had three hits and four Sod Poodles had multiple hits. Both pitching staffs struck out nine, and Amarillo left nine runners on base to San Antonio’s seven.

The Missions and Soddies will complete the series tomorrow, Sunday, April 24 at HODGETOWN with first pitch at 1:05 PM. Amarillo will have RHP Brandon Pfaadt (0-0, 2.16 ERA) on the mound to face RHP Gabe Mosser (0-0, 3.72 ERA).

Notes

Dom Bomb: OF Dominic Fletcher knocked in his first home run of the season in the 2nd inning, a 493-foot solo shot to center field. The homer was the second-longest tracked at HODGETOWN this season, trailing Dominic Canzone’s 504-foot blast. Fletcher, in his second season as a Sod Poodle, knocked in 15 home runs and 56 RBI in 102 games last year. The home run was also his 15th RBI of the year, tied for the team lead. Fletcher also recorded a triple and a single, finishing just shy of the cycle.

Scoring in Bunches: The Sod Poodles tied a single-inning high this season with seven hits in the 4th. The previous time they collected seven base hits in an inning was on Tuesday, April 19 against San Antonio, when they put up 10 runs in the 8th. They scored seven runs in the 4th tonight, tied for their second-most in any inning this year. The other time Amarillo put up a touchdown in an inning was on April 13 at Tulsa, a game they lost 13-11. Amarillo has 28 multi-run innings this season.

Streaks Galore: With 15 total hits in the game, four Sod Poodles are now on five-plus game hitting streaks. SS Blaze Alexander, OF Dominic Fletcher and INF Jancarlos Cintron each recorded a hit for the 5th game in a row, and OF/1B Leandro Cedeno extended his hitting streak to seven. Cedeno owns the longest hitting streak of the season, while Cintron and OF Dominic Canzone each had a six-game streak earlier in the year.

Janca-RBI-los Cintron: INF Jancarlos Cintron collected three RBI for his second straight game. The six RBI is the most over a two-game stretch in his five-year minor league career. Cintron is now _ on the Sod Poodles with 12 RBI this season. He collected 34 RBI across Double and Triple-A in 2021 and has 163 in his career.

Four-bin Carroll: OF Corbin Carroll tied the Sod Poodles’ 2022 single-game high and set a career high with four hits (4-for-6) on Saturday. Carroll finished with three doubles, a run scored and an RBI. His four hits tied Ti’Quan Forbes and Dominic Canzone and his three doubles tied Canzone for the most by a Soddie this year. The multi-hit game was the 19th of his three-year minor league career his fifth this season.

Pitching Pitfalls: All four Sod Poodles pitchers – Kenny Hernandez, Justin Vernia, Ryan Weiss and Keegan Curtis – allowed at least four hits and three earned runs. Hernandez led with seven hits against him, and Curtis allowed five earned runs. The Missions put up the most hits (21) and runs (15) by any Sod Poodle opponent this year. The Amarillo pitching staff now owns the second-worst ERA in Double-A (6.71), and the relievers own the worst bullpen ERA (8.46).