The Amarillo Sod Poodles, Double A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, started the month of June 20-26 in the Texas League South Division. Since the rough start to the month, they have been on a tear, winning six straight games, while pulling a game over .500 and landing in second place, just two games of the lead.
The winning streak has been against the Midland RockHounds, who Amarillo faced from May 9 to 14th. During that series, the RockHounds won four of the six games played in that series, and even handed Amarillo a 16-6 defeat and a 13-1 defeat in the last game.
After that series, the Sod Poodles would lose 8 of their next 13 games to end the month. They actually ended the month of May on a three game winning streak, that carried over to winning the first two games of June. After losing the next two of three to the Springfield Cardinals, the RockHounds were next.
Amarillo traveled to Midland and in game one, they battled back from an early 2-0 lead, and scored five runs in the top of the sixth, and one run each in the 7th, 8th, 9th to extend lead to 8-2. The RockHounds scored two in the bottom of the 9th, but the Sod Poodles, held on for the victory.
In game two, Amarillo pitchers shut down the Midland offense, and the Sod Poodles scored one in the fourth and three in the eighth to pull away to a 4-0 victory. The #1 pick of the 2021 draft for the D-Backs, Jordan Lawlar, hit his 8th home run on the season to start the scoring and help lead his team to victory.
The Sod Poodles are a team that seems to get started late in games, and in game three, they scored in the top of the first and then three in the top of the third, but put the game away with four runs in the seventh, two in the eighth and two in the ninth to secure a 12-3 victory. Both Lawlar and Ryan Bliss recorded three hits, Seth Beer added four hits and three RBIs, and Adrian Del Castillo homered and drove in four runs in the blowout.
Midland was determined to turn the losing into winning as they scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning. But once again, Amarillo battled back scoring one in the top of the third, four in the sixth, a run in the seventh and ninth and held on for a 7-5 victory. Deyvison De Los Santos hit his sixth home run on the season, and Bliss hit his 16th double to lead the charge.
On Saturday, both teams came out swinging as Midland led 8-5 after four innings, but once again the Sod Poodles would not be denied a late game run as they scored four in the top of the fifth to take a 9-8 lead. The RockHounds battled back and scored two in the bottom of the frame to retake the lead at 10-9. But Amarillo scored a run in the sixth to tie the game at 10-10, then scored three in the top of the eighth to take a 13-10 lead and the bullpen shut the door to earn the victory and improve the Sod Poodles record to 28-28. Bliss hit his 8th home run, A.J. Vukovich hit two (9,10) and Del Castillo hit his 7th.
In the final game of the series, both teams scored a run in the first, but then the Sod Poodles pitching staff shut down the potent Midland lineup the rest of the game. Amarillo picked up a run in the second, sixth and eighth and earned a 4-1 victory, a series sweep and improved their record to 29-28. Camden Duzenack, who is on a rehab assignment, hit his first home run on the season. Luke Albright pitched a gem, tossing six innings, allowing one run on three hits, and struck out eight batters to run his record to 5-2, while closer Kyle Backus earned his sixth save on the season in six chances.
Amarillo Standouts in Series
Jordan Lawlar – .407 (11 for 27), 11 Runs, 3 Doubles, Triple, HR, 2 RBIs
A.J. Vukovich – .400 (10 for 25), 9 Runs, 2 Doubles, 2 HRs, 7 RBIs
Seth Beer – .444 (8 for 18), 3 Runs, 7 RBIs
Adrian Del Castillo – .381 (8 for 21), 5 Runs, Double, 2 HRs, 11 RBIs
Luke Albright – 2 Starts, 2 W, 2.25 ERA, 12 IP, 14 Ks
Kyle Backhus – 3 Games, 2 Saves, 2.1 IP, 0 R, 1 H
Jamison Hill – 1 start, 4.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 5 Ks
Made some team history down in Midland
#AbsolutelyAmarillo pic.twitter.com/lN4Cy3LseM
— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) June 12, 2023
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