The Amarillo Sod Poodles marked their fifth straight win Tuesday night with a 10-4 victory over the Springfield Cardinals in the series opener at HODGETOWN, secured by Kyle Overstreet's inside-the-park grand slam in the seventh inning. The grand slam marked the first in Sod Poodles franchise history and third inside-the-park home run overall. The five-game win streak matches a season-high for the team in 2019.
Hudson Potts added three of the night's runs with his 2-for-4 performance with a home run and a double while Edward Olivares and Luis Torrens both collected three-hit games.
Sod Poodles starter Adrian Morejon made his first start at HODGETOWN since appearing in the 2019 MLB Futures Game in Cleveland during All-Star weekend. He tossed two innings and allowed no runs, hits or walks and struck out two. Righty Lake Bachar followed Morejon, entering in the third inning, and spanned four and two-thirds innings, allowing four runs on eight hits while J.C. Cosme closed out the remaining two and one-third hitless innings with one strikeout, earning his second save of the season.
Amarillo got the bats going early on in the first game of the Springfield series. After a quiet first frame, Torrens began the second inning with a leadoff single. Potts answered in the next at-bat with a towering two-run home run to left-center field to make it a 2-0 Amarillo lead, marking his ninth of the season and second in as many games. After a double by Overstreet to restart the half, Morejon laid down a sacrifice bunt which led to a throwing error on the play to allowed Overstreet to score and make it a 3-0 score.
In the bottom of the third, the home squad kept the pedal to the metal with two more runs to make it a 5-0 advantage. Olivares led off with a single while a wild pitch and Torrens' single would bring him around to score. Potts then stepped up in his second at-bat and lined a double to right field to plate the second run.
In the fifth, Owen Miller led off and connected with his first hit of the game coming in home run fashion, giving the Sod Poodles a 6-0 lead through five frames.
Springfield struck the board in the top of the sixth, plating two runs in the frame on three hits to make it a 6-2 contest. Dylan Carlson initiated the momentum with a single while Irving Lopez followed with a double to put two runners in scoring position. Then, Yariel Gonzalez singled to plate both runs before being tagged out stretching for second.
Springfield closed the gap to within two with two more runs in the top of the seventh after two consecutive extra-base hits allowed and a groundout. With the tying run at the plate, Cardinals' Carlson drove a deep fly to right field but fell short with a catch near the wall by Taylor Kohlwey in right field.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Sod Poodles extended back out to a six-run lead. After the first three consecutive batters reached base safely to load them, Overstreet lined a ball down the left-field line and deep into the corner, resulting in an inside-the-park grand slam to make it a 10-4 lead.
Cosme retired the final six batters of the contest to complete the save and series opener victory.
The Sod Poodles head into the second game of the series against Springfield at HODGETOWN tomorrow night. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m.
-Amarillo Sod Poodles
Photo by Sod Poodles