GLENDINNING HOMERS TWICE AS NATURALS TAKE SERIES FINALE IN AMARILLO
AMARILLO, TX – The Northwest Arkansas Natuarls did not let an early deficit keep them down, scoring seven unanswered runs and keeping the Amarillo Sod Poodles scoreless over the final eight innings of the game, for. 10-4 win in the series finale Sunday evening, First baseman Robbie Glendinning led the
AMARILLO, TX – The Northwest Arkansas Natuarls did not let an early deficit keep them down, scoring seven unanswered runs and keeping the Amarillo Sod Poodles scoreless over the final eight innings of the game, for. 10-4 win in the series finale Sunday evening,
First baseman Robbie Glendinning led the way offensively, going 3-for-5 with two home runs, the first two-homer game of his career. He put the Naturals up 3-0 in the top of the first inning with a two-run homer, then added insurance in the ninth with a solo homer, his fifth of the week and 13th of the season to tie Seuly Matias for the team lead.
With at least one home run in each of the last four games, Glendinning was the second Natural in the series to homer in four straight games, after Nick Loftin homered in the first four. They are two of just five Naturals ever to homer four straight games or more, the first players to accomplish the feat since 2012.
Starting Pitcher Zack Phillips struggled in the first inning, allowing four runs to score, as Amarillo took the lead. After the 39-pitch first inning, he settled into a groove and threw 39 pitches over the next three innings scoreless, setting a career-high with 78 pitches and tying a career-high with 4.0 innings pitched.
Stephen Woods Jr. followed Phillips with a scoreless fifth inning, then Yefri Del Rosario and Andres Sotillet combined for 4.0 scoreless after Woods Jr., as the three relievers combined to allow one hit over the final 5.0 innings.
After the Sod Poodles' four-run first, the Naturals remained behind until the fifth inning, when Tucker Bradley doubled home Loftin to tie the game, then came around to score when Glendinning bounced into a double play. Matias added insurance, as he doubled in John Rave two batters later, then Sebastian Rivero singled Matias home to cap a four-run frame and put the Naturals up 7-4.
Rave scored Glendinning in the seventh with a two-run homer, his second long ball of the week and eighth of the season, then Glendinning crushed a solo shot to left-center field in the ninth to cap the evening, before Sotillet fired a 1-2-3 ninth to finish the game.
The Naturals now head home to open a series against the Tulsa Drillers, with a 6:35 p.m. start Monday at Arvest Ballpark before an off day Tuesday and the final five games of the series, beginning Wednesday.