In what looked like a celebratory series-ender which encapsulated their position, the Sod Poodles routed the Midland RockHounds 17-7 to win their home series by a 4-2 count. Not only that, but the Soddies extended their lead over the RockHounds to four games in the Texas League South Division with only 12 games remaining in the regular season in tying a season high for most runs in a game.
It was a perfect ending to series which started kind of rough, as the Sod Poodles (34-23 in the second half) made a statement in practically every phase of the game in thumping the RockHounds (30-27) for their third straight victory to close and win the series. The win couldn’t have been a better metaphor for the series.
“We’re very excited about the way we played,” Sod Poodles manager Shawn Roof said. “When you can come out there and have a 10-run game like that to end the series and have some guys get some work in, it’s an easier finish and it’s sure kind of nice.”
It was actually the polar opposite of how the series started Tuesday night. The Sod Poodles rallied from a three-run deficit when A.J. Vukovich hit a walk-off solo home run to right field with one out in the bottom of the ninth to give the Soddies an 8-7 victory.
Appropriately, Vukovich also concluded the win Sunday when he hit a three-run blast to left field which made the score 17-3. It wasn’t nearly as dramatic, but put an exclamation point on Amarillo’s dominance in the series, and especially the finale, in which every hitter in the starting lineup had at least one hit.
Going into Sunday, the Soddies were guaranteed no worse than a series split and at least holding serve with a two-game series lead no matter what happened in the finale. The RockHounds drew first blood in the stop of the second when Sod Poodles starter Raffi Vizcaino walked Lazaro Armenteros, who stole second, went to third on a balk, then scored on a wild pitch for a 1-0 lead.
After that, though, it was all Sod Poodles. Juan Centeno hit a two-run double to right-center in the bottom of the inning to give the Soddies a 2-1 lead, and they never trailed again.
The Sod Poodles scored five in the third to knock out Midland starter Ryan Cusick, as Camden Duzenack started the inning with a solo blast to left, and Neyfy Castillo concluded it with a three-run homer to left-center to make it 7-1.
“It just goes to show you the strength of this team,” Roof said. “We had Ivan Melendez on the bench today and we come out and score 17 runs. It’s a very deep team from the pitching staff to the every day lineup. It’s just been fun to watch them play.”
Roof seems to have struck with a formula as far as “bullpen” games, where relievers throw the entire game with starters sitting. Right-hander Vizcaino threw the first two innings and earlier this year started a game where he went three innings.
The first three relievers for the Sod Poodles, Vizcaino, left-hander Will Mabrey and right-hander Conor Grammes all threw two innings apiece and gave up a run, which was good enough with the way the lineup was swinging the bats.
A lot of arms were available due to the fact that Jamison Hill threw eight shutout innings in Friday’s 10-0 victory.
“It’s the next man up an whoever’s available at that time,” Roof said “If (Vizcaino) had pitched (Saturday, a 6-4 win) he wouldn’t have been available. A big key to opening up a day like this is Jamison Hill on Friday night to give our bullpen a breather. A guy like Raffi likes being in that situation.”
The Sod Poodles head to Arkansas for a six-game series before closing the regular series with six games at Hodgetown against Frisco. Arkansas won the first half TL North division, and if the Soddies take care of business the next two weeks, they’ll do the same in the second half for the TL South and clinch a playoff berth.
“Guys are starting to talk about it for sure,” Roof said. “The biggest thing is if we win ball games we control our own destiny. If you told us at the All-Star break that we’d have a four-game lead with 12 to go, we would have signed up for it.”
Going deep, more than once
In Friday’s win, the Soddies bounced back big from their 11-0 loss a night earlier both on the mound and at the plate. Hill got more than enough support as Seth Beer hit three homers and Caleb Roberts hit two to spark the offense.
The Sod Poodles hit 12 homers in the final three games of the series.
“We play here every single day, so we know if we trust our approach good things are going to happen,” Roberts said. “If we get a good pitch we know we can do some damage with that. We don’t try and relay on the long ball that much, we just try to put together good at-bats and that’s what separates us. We’re a tough lineup to go through.”
Beer was especially hot heading into the weekend. He had four homers over a two-game span, as he led off the eighth with a homer Saturday night to give the Soddies some insurance.
Duzenack also pulled off a rarity in the last two games. The Sod Poodles leadoff hitter led off the third inning with homers both Friday and Saturday night.
Soddies take Oil Pan Cup
Regardless of what happens over the final 12 games of the regular season, the Sod Poodles can at least claim territorial bragging rights over Midland. With Friday night’s win, the Soddies clinched the season series to secure the Oil Pan Cup which goes to the winner of the 24-game series between the two western-most teams in the Texas League.
By winning the final three games of the series, the Sod Poodles clinched the season series by a 15-9 margin. It helped that they scored a rare road sweep against the RockHounds earlier in the season.
This marks the third time in four seasons since affiliated baseball has returned to Amarillo that the Sod Poodles have claimed the Oil Pan Cup.