With the best record in the Texas League in the second half of the season, and the second best overall, the Sod Poodles had to protect their South Division lead against the Arkansas Travelers (with the best overall record in the league) during a six-game series last week at Hodgetown. The series only confirmed why both teams are occupying their current positions.
Sunday evening, the Soddies clinched a series victory with a 7-4 win over the Travelers, taking a three-game lead in the TL South. It was their second straight series win and with a 28-17 mark, they have the best record in the league since the All-Star break.
The Sod Poodles won the series 4-2, and while it wasn’t perfect, it was further evidence of the consistency they’ve developed over the last month.
“We got the 4-2 series win versus a really good team that’s in the playoffs,” said Sod Poodles manager Shawn Roof after beating an Arkansas team which won the TL North first-half title. “We continue to things well and good things are going to happen. Our goal is to get on base and pass the baton and take what the pitcher gives us. When you have guys who can get on base and put pressure on the defense into making mistakes, you take advantage of it.”
Sunday’s win might have been the perfect microcosm of why the Sod Poodles are in their current position as a team with the inside track on a playoff spot. They got a big early inning, a couple of signature Hodgetown long balls and solid enough pitching to carry the load.
For the second time in the series, the Soddies threw a “bullpen” game, where several relievers are used for an inning or two at a time in lieu of using a starter. It worked in Tuesday’s series opener, an 8-7 win where five relievers pitched effectively to set the tone for the series.
Sunday’s bullpen effort was even more effective. Raffi Vizaino started and made the most of his opportunity, throwing three shutout innings, allowing only a third-inning single by Josh Morgan in throwing 43 pitches in what might have been his most impressive effort of the season.
“He set the tone,” Roof said of Vizcaino. “We would have been happy with two shutout innings, but he went three for us and it just gave us some length we really needed. We were really excited with how he attacked the zone and went after those guys.”
It didn’t hurt Vizcaino that the Sod Poodles took a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first, as Caleb Roberts led off the inning by doubling off Kyle Tyler to start an inning which included only three hits. In the second and third innings, Tim Tawa and Neyfy Castillo respectively hit a pair of titanic solo blasts to left field to make it 6-0, bombs which proved to be the difference in the game.
Arkansas got two runs each off relievers Emailin Montilla (both unearned) and Michel Otanez in the fifth and sixth to make it look more competitive. Left-hander Kyle Backhus pitched the final 2 1/3 innings to pick up his ninth save of the season.
The game ended in unconventional fashion in the top of the ninth. With one out, Arkansas leadoff hitter Jonatan Clase doubled off Backhus, who then walked Spencer Packard to bring up Isiah Gilliam as the tying run.
Not only did Backhus strike out Gilliam on three pitches, but Clase, who’s tied for the league lead in stolen bases, broke for third. Soddies catcher J.J. D’Orazio fired to third baseman Ivan Melendez, who tagged out Clase as if it he were expecting it for a double play to end the game.
Considering that D’Orazio and Melendez were both playing at Class A Hillsboro just over a month ago, it was a testament to how they’ve advanced defensively in Double-A.
“That’s great baseball right there,” Roof said. “That’s what we expect these guys to do. We expect to throw strikes and catch it and if you try to take advantage of us we shut you down. I’m excited to get a really good base runner, probably one of the best base runners in all of minor league baseball on a strike him out, throw him out.”
Castillo was raking it
It wasn’t official as of this writing, but outfielder Castillo would seem like a no-brainer to pick as Texas League player of the week based on his series against Arkansas. There simply wasn’t a tougher out for Travelers pitchers in the Sod Poodles lineup over six days at Hodgetown.
Castillo had his best week of the season at the plate, hitting .478 (11-for-23) with four homer and 14 RBIs in what looked more like batting practice. His best game was Wednesday’s 17-6 victory, when he spearheaded a prolific offense by going 4-for-5 with two homers and five RBIs to lead the team’s highest scoring effort of the season.
“He’s worked extremely hard with Termell Sledge our hitting coach and Javi Colina our assistant,” Roof said of Castillo. “They’ve put in a lot of hard work and he’s another guy who’s buying into his approach, sticking with it and trusting the process. He’s come a long ways. The thing about Neyfy is he always came in with a smile on his face and never got upset.”
Castillo’s week came at a perfect time for somebody in the lineup to pick up the slack at the plate. Shortstop Jordan Lawlar, the No. 1 prospect of the Soddies parent club Arizona Diamondbacks, was called up to Triple-A Reno prior to the Arkansas series.
Truckin’, down Buchanan Street
Friday featured one of the more unique promotional theme nights in Sod Poodles history. In addition to the usual postgame Friday night fireworks, it was Grateful Dead Night, honoring the iconic psychedelic band with the players and coaches wearing purple tie-dye jerseys, some of which were auctioned off after the game. Amarillo band Scrambled Eggs played some Dead songs in front of the souvenir shop in left field prior to the first pitch.
On a night the Soddies were paying tribute to a band whose only Top 40 single was titled “Touch of Grey”, it was appropriate that their oldest player, 33-year-old Juan Centeno, delivered the game-winning hit, as his two-out double in the bottom of the eighth drove home Castillo with the go-ahead run in an eventual 6-5 victory.
They will get by, indeed.