Soddies by Morning: Melendez Mashes a Homer, but the Hooks Walk Off the Sod Poodles in Game Two

Soddies drop their 4th Straight

The Amarillo Sod Poodles' seemingly endless road trip continued early on Wednesday, resulting in the most painful loss of the journey so far.

Tommy Troy extended his 13-game hitting streak at his first opportunity with a single up the middle during his initial at-bat, quickly adding the Sod Poodles to the hit column. Despite missing the past four games, possibly due to a lower body issue, Troy showed no signs of struggle. The former Stanford infielder improved to 9/9 on the season for stolen base attempts after stealing a base in the first inning. Troy's return significantly boosts the Sod Poodles' lineup at the top of the order, thanks to the Diamondbacks' #8 Prospect's ability to work counts and make contact. Caleb Roberts then gave Amarillo the lead by driving in Troy with a single that just slipped out of Zach Cole's glove after a long run in shallow right-center.

In the second inning, the Soddies increased their lead with a solo home run by Ivan Melendez. Despite falling behind 0-2, Melendez managed to handle a breaking ball and hit it out of Whataburger Field without any wind assistance. This marked Melendez's sixth home run of the season and his fourth on the road, giving Amarillo a 2-0 lead.

Amarillo starter Jose Cabrera breezed through the first two innings, retiring the side in the first with just six pitches and striking out two Hooks in a 1-2-3 second inning. He encountered some difficulties in the third, as command issues began to emerge, leaving pitches over the plate and hitting a batter, but these issues became more pronounced in the fourth inning. Cabrera gave up two singles and a Bryan Lavastida double that drove in two runs, then threw only two strikes in his next 10 pitches, resulting in two walks. Following the walks, trainers came out to check on Cabrera, offering him water during a visit that ultimately led to his departure from the game.

Following Cabrera's exit, Luke Albright entered the game and successfully navigated a bases-loaded situation to conclude the fourth inning. Albright delivered a strong performance over 2.1 innings, recording 4 strikeouts and issuing a walk with 36 pitches, 23 of which were strikes. His only error was allowing a home run to Edwin Diaz, which gave the Hooks their first lead of the day. Philip Abner encountered difficulties in his second appearance for the Sod Poodles, surrendering two runs. One came from a solo home run by Colin Barber on an 0-2 pitch, and Diaz contributed the second run with a single.

Just a day after a three-hit performance that included a home run, Jack Hurley came through in a situation where Amarillo has struggled throughout the road trip. Hurley hit a 2-run double to tie the game with two outs, two strikes, and two runners in scoring position in the eighth inning, after Corpus nearly escaped a bases-loaded jam. After beginning the season with a batting line of .176/.224/.259/.483 and a .306 BABIP, Hurley has revitalized his season, posting a slash line of .375/.423/.708/1.131 and a .538 BABIP over the 8 games of the road trip so far, while currently enjoying a four-game hitting streak.

Baserunning errors and a double play resulted in Amarillo sending only two batters to the plate in the top of the tenth inning. Landon Sims then faced the difficult situation of being just one single away from losing the game. The Hooks capitalized on this when the Sod Poodles intentionally walked the first batter to set up a double play, but Sims walked the next batter, and Bryce Willits hit a single to seal the Corpus Christi victory.

Ray Day in the Sparkling City by the Sea

Like Spencer Giesting early in the season, the Sod Poodles haven’t won a game since the last Dylan Ray start. Even in an outing where he threw only 45% of first pitch strikes Ray tossed 6 innings of 2 run baseball, striking out 7 Cardinals without walking a batter. The 6’3 right hander has absolutely dominated May so far surrendering just two runs in his last 18 innings, striking out 22 and walking just 1 in those three starts. Those 22 strikeouts have already exceeded the 18 that the Diamondbacks #20 prospect recorded in 5 starts in April. Ray not only has won the Texas League Pitcher of the week in that stretch but also the Minor League Pitcher of the Week in that span as well.

Ray brings an arsenal of a 4-Seam Fastball that lives in the mid 90s, an upper 80s slider that has become a weapon in this stretch, a curveball that sits in the upper 70s that has frozen hitters lately, and a low 80s changeup with a good amount of arm side movement. 

Ray's start is timely, since the Sod Poodles having dropped four straight and two against this Hooks team.

Todays starter Dylan Ray in May

The Hooks will send the Astros #25 prospect Alex Santos II to the bump. Since getting swept at Whataburger Field by Midland the Hooks are 5-2 and have won three straight and Santos will look to continue the trend.