It was hardly a perfect six games of baseball at Hodgetown this past week for the Amarillo Sod Poodles, but it showed how much progress they’ve made since the first week of April.
Sunday’s home series finale against the San Antonio Missions might have been the best proof of that. In spite of losing 5-4, the signs were there which showed why they scored their first series win of the season over the previous five days.
That was guaranteed Saturday night, when the Sod Poodles (8-13) swept the Missions (11-10) in a twin bill necessitated by Friday’s rainout, which meant that they would end their second home series of the season with their first series win of the season. The Soddies won the series by a 4-2 count.
“We’re playing better,” Sod Poodles manager Javier Colina said. “I can’t complain with our first series win. The boys compete and fight every night and you can see things turning around. We’re heading in the right direction.”
That was apparent from the series opener Tuesday, which the Sod Poodles won 15-4, unleashing their offense to tie a season high for runs scored in a game. They hit five home runs in a game which showed the typical offensive potential facilitated by Hodgetown when the wind blows from the south.
What might have been even better news, though, was that the other three wins in the series weren’t slugfests. The Sod Poodles swept Saturday’s games by more conventional scores of 6-4 and 5-3, a sign of much-improved pitching a in a ballpark where that’s often an anomaly.
Sunday, the Sod Poodles stayed alive largely because relievers Alec Baker, Conor Grammes, Gerado Gutierrez, Zane Russell and Landon Sims combined to throw five scoreless innings to end the game, continuing a trend which has been developing the last two weeks.
“The bullpen did an excellent job to keep the game close,” Colina said. “They gave us an opportunity to come back and win the game but it’s never easy. They’re executing pitches and attacking hitters. Our pitching coach (Gabriel Hernandez) has been on top of that every single day.”
Dylan Ray started Tuesday’s win for the Sod Poodles, and if it hadn’t been for a grand slam by San Antonio’s Francisco Acuna to start the series, he would have finished with a shutout win. Ray finished the series by starting Sunday, but had a rougher time.
After escaping he first inning by not allowing any runs after letting runners get to second and third, Ray took a 1-0 lead into the second after LuJames Groover hit a solo homer to left in the bottom of the inning to stake him to a lead. However, the first four Missions batters reached base to start the second, and Wyatt Hoffman’s two-run single gave the Missions a 2-1 lead.
The Sod Poodles tied it 3-3 in the bottom of the inning when Jose Fernandez drove in a run with a double and Ivan Melendez scored on a wild pitch. Another slugfest seemed to be brewing.
Ray gave up a towering solo homer to left by Anthony Vilar in the fourth as the Missions took the lead for good at 4-3. He was relieved in the fourth by Alec Baker, who gave up a two-out solo homer by Brandon Valenzuela to make it 5-3, but that was all the Soddies gave up the rest of the game.
The Sod Poodles cut it to 5-4 in the seventh when Fernandez and Jack Hurley had back-to-back singles, and when Hurley’s hit was misplayed in the outfield, Fernandez came around to score.
“Our mentality is the same and we don’t want them thinking about playing in this ball park,” Colina said. “We know the ball flies like crazy here but it’s the same approach every day.”
The Soddies loaded the bases with one out in the eighth when closer Manuel Castro came on for the Missions. Castro struck out Melendez looking on three pitches, then centerfielder Tyler Robertson robbed Caleb Roberts of extra bases with a great catch near the fence to end the inning.
In the ninth, Castro retired the Sod Poodles in order, striking out Kristian Robinson looking to end the game.
Finding the Groover
One Sod Poodles player who had to be sad to see the homestand end was Groover. In the last two games of the series, Groover hit three solo homers, including two on Saturday which made the difference.
In both games, Groover homered in the first inning, and in Saturday’s second game he homered one pitch after Gavin Conticello got the Sod Poodles on the board with a solo homer of his own. Groover also homered in the third inning of that game.
After having a cup of coffee with the Soddies late last season, Groover seems to be able to readily find the sweet spots in Hodgetown’s power alleys.
“You can’t think about that stuff because if you play too much into that you lose your swing,” said Groover, who now has five homers on the season. “You start generating holes for yourself. I just try to hit it square through the middle. I’m able to use the whole field essentially.”
Groover became the first Sod Poodle to have a multihomer game this season.
Not every park is as hitter-friendly as Hodgetown, which is something that may help when the team is on the road. That means not fooling around with a swing too much.
“We try and focus on hitting the ball hard and line drives because obviously we don’t play every game here,” Groover said. “We need to be able to go on the road and hit the ball just as well. The other team plays in this park as well, so it is what it is.”
Missions come up Short against Soddies lefty
One night after blistering the Missions pitching for 15 runs, offense was a little harder to come by for the Sod Poodles on Wednesday. Fortunately, left-hander Avery Short was able to compensate.
In his second start at Hodgetown, Short picked up his first Double-A victory, going 6 1/3 innings for the win in a 4-2 victory. Short gave up only one run and scattered five hits for the win.
“I just feel like I did a really good job of commanding the ball, mixing up speeds and keeping (the Missions) off balance,” Short said. “Even when I missed it wasn’t hit very hard and stayed in the yard.”
Staying in the yard is often the biggest concern for pitchers making their debuts in Hodgetown. It’s been so far, so good for Short on that score, as in two Hodgetown starts he has yet to give up a homer.
Keeping that kind of damage to minimum is on the mind of practically everyone who takes the mound on any given night at Hodgetown, which might involve taking advice from other pitchers who’ve been there before.
“I would just say the big thing is execution,” Short said. “If you can make pitches even if you make a little bit of a mistake it’s going to help you out. I think it’s big time if you can just keep building off each start. It’s been great talking to Dylan and Spencer (Giesting) who give advice and want to see everybody succeed.”
His presence was felt – again
Wednesday’s win by Short wasn’t the only thing that left a big impression in Hodgetown for the first time this season. A familiar name returned for the first time and reminded fans of why he’s a favorite.
First baseman Melendez, who has played all or part of the previous two seasons in Amarillo, made his season debut Wednesday after starting the season on the injured list with an oblique strain. Melendez flexed his muscle in a familiar manner in his first at-bat in the second inning, as he hit a line drive off Missions starter Henry Baez which left Hodgetown in a hurry to get the Sod Poodles on the board first.
As is often the case of such a prodigious power hitter, though, it was a feast or famine series for Melendez. He didn’t have an RBI the rest of the series.
Streaks come to an end
Friday night’s scheduled game was rained out, forcing a Saturday doubleheader. That might have disrupted some hitting streaks which came to an end over the weekend.
Second baseman Tommy Troy entered the weekend with a 13-game hitting streak, but that ended when he went 0-for-3 in Saturday’s first game. In fact, that was the beginning of a tough ending to the series for Troy, who was 0-for-9 over his last three games.
Also, when Robinson struck out to end the series Sunday, that ended his nine-game hitting streak.
Just like his old man?
Tuesday’s series opening win was notable on a number of levels for the Sod Poodles for such things as Andy Weber homering and driving in six runs from the No. 9 position in the lineup. The six RBIs are a single-game high for a Sod Poodle this season.
With the Missions running out of pitchers and needing to preserve the bullpen for the final five games of the series, they made an unconventional move when they put shortstop Hoffman on the mound with two outs in the eighth.
Hoffman has a mound pedigree, as his father is Trevor Hoffman, the Hall of Fame reliever who starred for the Missions parent club San Diego Padres. Like his dad, Wyatt was called on to finish a game.
He came through by retiring the only batter he faced and doing something Texas League pitchers had a hard time doing for two weeks: Wyatt got Troy to ground out to end the inning.