The Sod Poodles won their third straight game Wednesday night in front of 5,578 at HODGETWON courtesy of two late-inning home runs from A.J. Kennedy and Edward Olivares. Both home runs were part of a four-hit, three-run seventh inning. Amarillo is now five games ahead of the second-place Corpus Christi Hooks in the second half South Division standings with 18 regular-season games remaining.
Midland struck first Wednesday night at HODGETOWN as Edwin Diaz hit a solo home run in the second inning to give the RockHounds a 1-0 lead.
The RockHounds tacked one more run on in the fourth inning as Taylor Motter blasted a solo home run to left-center field to take the 2-0 lead.
In the sixth inning the Sod Poodles cut the RockHounds lead in half as Ivan Castillo roped a leadoff double down the left field line. Olivares followed the Castillo double with a fly out to right field that advanced Castillo to third base. Owen Miller then plated Castillo with a ground out to second base to make the score 2-1.
Soddies starter Jesse Scholtens exited Wednesday nights after tossing six complete innings where he allowed two runs on five hits. Scholtens struck out seven batters over 95 pitches as he picked up the no-decision.
Midland plated one run on one hit in the seventh inning to extend their lead to 3-1. Greg Deichmann worked a leadoff walk and advanced to second base via a Collin Theroux ground out. Mickey McDonald followed with a walk to place runners on first and second base. A flyout by Dan Gamache advanced Deichmann to third base. An RBI single to left field by Mikey White made the score 3-1 in favor of the RockHounds.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Amarillo responded with three runs on four hits to take the 4-3 lead. Kennedy started the inning off with a solo home run to deep left-field. Peter Van Gansen followed with a double to the left-field corner. Two batters later Castillo grounded out to the pitcher but moved Van Gansen up to third base. One batter later Olivares crushed a two-run home run to straightaway center field. The inning would continue with a Miller walk and a Luis Torrens single but came to an end when Hudson Potts struck out swinging.
David Bednar entered the ballgame in the top of the ninth and retired the side and struck out two RockHounds batters to secure the 4-3 victory for the Sod Poodles.
The Sod Poodles wrap-up their four-game series with the RockHounds tomorrow at HODGETOWN. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m.
-Amarillo Sod Poodles
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