Soddies by Morning: Christian Cerda Calls Game, Amarillo's on a Roll

The Series opener against San Antonio was a standoff from the start. Starters Avery Short and Jagger Haynes weren’t perfect by any means most of the night but perfection isn’t necessary in a game like this. They continued to work themselves out of jams and get the job done despite both having walk problems on the evening, while falling below the mark of their average strikeouts on the season. 

Short worked around 5 walks on the evening, tossing 6 innings innings of 5 hit baseball, only giving up a run on a Brandon Valenzuela fielders choice in the fifth inning. This Missions would put runners in scoring position against Short four of the six innings that he pitched last night, but the lefty turned San Antonio away time and time again. 

The only person to have real success against short consistently, and against the entire Amarillo staff on Tuesday was Fransisco Acuña, who reached base all five times that he came to the plate going 4-4 with four singles and stealing a base. Short gave up the only Mission's extra base hit of the night on a double by Devin Ortiz, but otherwise the staff neutralized the San Antonio bats. That included shutting down the Texas League Leader in average Romeo Sanabria, who would go 0-3 with RISP. 

The Sod Poodles couldn’t find success off of Mission's starter Jagger Haynes, as he pitched 5 scoreless innings despite not having his best stuff. Haynes, like Short, suffered a little bit of a walk problem (4), but worked out of every mess that he made for himself in the end. 

The game changed in the eighth inning when the first three Sod Poodles reached via a Tommy Troy single, LuJames Groover was hit by a pitch, and Gavin Conticello put together a great at bat to draw a walk. Jose Fernandez did what he does best and drove in a RISP with a ground out to tie up the game. That brought up Christian Cerda who had already done a great job behind the dish on the night and singled earlier in the game. Cerda took the first pitch he saw and drove a ball to center field giving the Sod Poodles the lead for good with a 2-Run single igniting the Hodgetown faithful. 

Christian Cerda go-ahead 8th inning 2-Run Single

That was Amarillo’s fourth straight victory, making it the longest streak of the entire season with some late game magic. The Soddies will try to extend their streak against an old friend. Luis Patiño will be on the mound for the Missions on his road recovering from Tommy John surgery. Once a top pitching prospect in baseball and a major piece of the Blake Snell trade to San Diego, Patiño is back in the Padres organization where he won a Texas League title in 2019 with the Sod Poodles in their first season as an affiliate. Diego Garcia from the East Village Times is going to tell us more about Patiño. 

Missions Pitcher Preview from Diego Garcia of the East Village Times

RHP Luis Patino

Luis Patino in 2019

To longtime prospect watchers, Luis Patino is a familiar name. The Colombian right-hander is back with the Padres after time in the Rays and White Sox organizations, and is coming back from a 2024 Tommy John Surgery. Patino has been working his way back as a starter this season, and his workload has increased with every passing start. Look for Patino to throw 65-75 pitches in the game. Another arm to be on the lookout for is right-hander Enmanuel Pinales, who has pitched in relief of Patino in his time with the Missions. Pinales worked as a starter with the Padres’ High-A affiliate in Fort Wayne prior to his promotion to San Antonio. With the Missions, Pinales has worked in long relief, and he has a strong four-pitch mix that has potential to be devastating. Pinales has a tailing fastball in the mid-90s that has topped out at 95-96 this season, along with a slider in the 83-85 range, and a big sweeping curveball at 78-80 mph. The hook is a devastating one, and has gotten ample chases this season.