The Sod Poodles were edged by the Tulsa Drillers in the opener of a three-game series at ONEOK Field on Tuesday night, 4-3.
In a back-and-forth tilt to begin the six-game road trip, Amarillo took a 1-0 lead in the fifth on A.J. Kennedy's RBI single against Tulsa starter Josiah Gray.
On the mound for Amarillo, righty Luis Patiño went three scoreless innings before being removed during his warmup tosses prior to the fourth inning after a visit from the Amarillo training staff.
Evan Miller came out of Amarillo's bullpen and would throw 2.2 innings. The Drillers tied the game in the fifth against Miller with Errol Robinson's RBI single.
The Sod Poodles climbed back in front against righty Yordy Cabrera in the sixth. After getting two runners on, Hudson Potts delivered a bouncer through the left side for an RBI single while Kyle Overstreet plated a run with a sac fly. Amarillo led 3-1.
In the bottom half of the frame, Miller allowed an RBI single to Donovan Casey followed by a game-tying RBI double to Connor Wong later in the frame. Carlos Belen replaced Miller while Jeter Downs greeted him with a go-ahead base hit to score Wong and give the Drillers a 4-3 lead. All runs were charged against Miller.
Tulsa's bullpen then took over. Right-hander Ryan Moseley tossed two scoreless frames while Shea Spitzbarth pitched a scoreless ninth inning to pick up his fifth save at Double-A this season.
Bright spots from Amarillo's bullpen included a scoreless 1.1 innings from Carlos Belen and a scoreless frame from Dauris Valdez.
The Sod Poodles and Drillers continue their series on Wednesday evening at 7:05 p.m. Amarillo sends righty Jesse Scholtens to the hill while Tulsa counters with right-hander Edwin Uceta.
-Amarillo Sod Poodles
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