From all aspects, it was a pretty fun weekend for fans at Hodgetown when the Amarillo Sod Poodles concluded their series against the San Antonio Missions.
When it finally ended, though, the Soddies probably couldn’t help thinking that it could have been a more successful one.
On Saturday and Sunday, both games came down to the final at-bat for the winning team. Sadly for the Sod Poodles, the Missions got the last say.
One night after a mad dash following an error gave them a win and a chance for a series split, the Sod Poodles saw the tables turned on them in Sunday’s series finale. San Antonio got three runs in the top of the ninth and handed the Soddies an 8-5 loss, giving the Missions a 4-2 series win.
Combined with Saturday’s 5-4 win in the bottom of the ninth, it showed the fickle nature of fate in baseball and how gave to the Sod Poodles (27-36) one day and took from them the next.
“This is what it’s all about,” Sod Poodles manager Javier Colina said. “The pitchers keep us close in the game and do what we need to win. I think (the Missions) have a very good team with a lot of veteran guys who can put the ball in play. It’s tough for our pitchers but it’s been a good fight in this series.”
The Sod Poodles closed the series not as well-armed as they probably wanted to be, but like Colina said, they put up a good fight to the end.
Prior to returning to Hodgetown, the Sod Poodles had won their series at Tulsa despite not having their top two starting pitchers this season, right-hander Dylan Ray and left-hander Spencer Giesting, who were called up to the Soddies’ major league parent club Arizona Diamondbacks Triple-A affiliate Reno. They opened their series at Hodgetown against San Antonio on Tuesday with left-hander Avery Short, who threw six solid innings but didn’t get a decision in a 3-1 victory.
Short was originally scheduled to start Sunday’s series finale as well, but the previous day he was also called up to Reno, forcing Colina to press somebody into an emergency start. That was right-handed reliever Alec Baker, making his first start of the season.
Baker was on a pitch limit and went 54 pitches, going 2 2/3 innings, giving up two runs on four hits with four strikeouts in the ultimate spot start. Jhosmer Alvarez came on in the third and went 3 1/3 innings, giving up one run.
“He did what he was supposed to do,” Colina said of Baker. “He could have gone a little bit more but he ran out of pitches. We had to bring in Alvarez and he gave us the length we need. There’s a lot of guys going up and down but that’s minor league baseball.”
The Sod Poodles and Missions pecked away at each other offensively for most of the game, with neither one really producing a big inning. LuJames Groover’s RBI single gave the Soddies what would turn out to be their only lead of the game, 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth.
San Antonio took a 5-4 lead in the top of the seventh on Brandon Valenzuela’s two-run home run off Sod Poodles reliever Phillip Abner. The Soddies tied it in the bottom of the inning when Kristian Robinson hit the first pitch from Tyson Neighbors well over the left field wall to make it 5-5. It was the last of three runs leadoff hitter Robinson scored on the day.
That’s the way it stayed until the top of the ninth. The Missions loaded the bases against Sod Poodles reliever Landon Sims when with one out, Kai Murphy singled to left, driving in two runs, and a third run scored when Soddies outfielder Caleb Roberts misplayed the ball.
In the bottom of the ninth, San Antonio reliever Manuel Castro threw nine straight strikes to record three strikeouts and preserve the win and the series for the Missions.
Valdez takes advantage
One of the Sod Poodles who’s bounced between teams this season is infielder Jesus Valdez, who started the season in Reno. Valdez hadn’t gotten that many opportunities to hit for the Soddies since he was called back to Amarillo on May 21 (he spent a good part of last season here), but this past weekend might change that.
He got the start at second base Saturday when Tommy Troy got the day off and made the most of things. Valdez went 4-for-4 with a double and scored two runs, exceeding his career high for single game hits as a Sod Poodle.
“I wanted to take advantage of it and I felt special today,” said Valdez, a native of the Dominican Republic. “I’m just trying to give the best of myself when I get the opportunity. I know I’m watching a lot of baseball but I want to be out there.”
No hit was bigger than when Valdez singled to left with one out in the bottom of the ninth and the score tied 4-4. With two outs Robinson came to the plate and hit a grounder to third which looked like a routine out which would force extra innings.
However, Missions third baseman Wyatt Hoffman, who’d entered the game an inning earlier due to injury, threw wildly to first, which may have been caused by Robinson’s speed. Valdez, rounded at second, looked back and as soon as the ball escaped into right field foul territory, he took off for home as Colina waved him around and scored the winning run.
“When Colina started waving I just went as fast as I could to make it there,” Valdez said.
Valdez made a case that he might deserve more at-bats starting with the series at Northern Arkansas this week. Colina said that the nature of minor league baseball doesn’t necessarily dictate that.
“When Mike Trout’s on the bench it doesn’t matter if you’re the guy who’s playing centerfield going 4-for-4, the next day it’s going to be Mike Trout out there,” said Colina, making an analogy to the big leagues. “(Valdez) knows his role and will always do his best. I wish I could put him more in the lineup, but we have priority guys. He’s always happy and waiting for his opportunity.”
Valdez got a start at shortstop on Sunday, and went 1-for-4 with a double and scored a run.
Breaking a drought
The Sod Poodles didn’t enter the series on an offensive roll, as in their last game at Tulsa, they won 1-0 on an eighth-inning solo homer by Kevin Graham, and that bled over into Tuesday’s series opener. They were scoreless through seven innings in the first game against the Missions, meaning that in the equivalent of their last two full games, Graham’s homer was their only run.
That ended in the top of the eighth. They loaded the bases with no outs and tied the game when a groundout by Jose Fernandez scored Troy, then took the lead for the first time on a two-run single up the middle by Christian Cerda which made all the difference.
“We practice and do our routine every day and some days it’s not going to be there but eventually we’ve got to work harder to make things happen,” Cerda said. “It will fall into place.”
However, offensive struggles did continue the next two nights in losses. The Sod Poodles lost 8-2 on Wednesday with the only runs coming on solo homers from Groover and Ivan Melendez in the first and ninth innings respectively, and they lost 11-3 on Thursday.
Lighting up the sky
Friday and Saturday’s games were particularly entertaining for the Hodgetown crowd on both nights, and not just because they were one-run games (the Sod Poodles lost 10-9 on Friday). It was also because of what happened after the game.
Not only did the traditional Friday night postgame fireworks take place, but that was the first of two nights for the postgame drone show at Hodgetown. The Friday and Saturday drone shows drew an impressive, combined crowd of over 13,400 people for the two nights.
