Amarillo Wins Third Straight on Graham's Blast

TULSA, OK. (June 8, 2025) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (25-32) defeated the Tulsa Drillers (24-33), 1-0, on Sunday afternoon at ONEOK Field. Behind fantastic pitching and Kevin Graham’s clutch eighth-inning solo shot, Amarillo won their third straight ballgame and completed the series victory.

Pitching shined on getaway day as both starters tallied zeroes. Cesar Gomez made his second Double-A start of the season today, both against the Drillers. The righty struck out the side in the second and completed four shutout frames with five total punchouts.

Jose Fernandez led off the fifth inning with his 15th double, tying the Texas League lead. Ivan Melendez drew a one-out walk, creating the best scoring chance for Amarillo up to that point. Tulsa turned their 50th double play this season to end the threat.

Tulsa’s Peter Heubeck stymied Soddie hitters as he did in Tuesday’s series opener, punching out nine in his six innings of work today.

With two outs in the eighth, the scoreless deadlock was finally broken. Kevin Graham delivered his first Double-A longball of the season over the fence in right center field to give Amarillo the crucial 1-0 lead.

Jhosmer Alvarez and Hayden Durke combined to retire the final 10 Drillers in the ballgame, with Durke securing a three-out save on a strikeout.

Amarillo’s win handed them the series over Tulsa, four games to two, as well as the season series against the Sooner State foes, taking eight of 12 matchups.

Following an off day, the Sod Poodles will start a six-game set against San Antonio on Tuesday with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at HODGETOWN. No probable starters have been announced.

POSTGAME NOTES

GONE GRAHAM: The eighth-inning, go-ahead solo shot by Kevin Graham is just the second homer of his 2025 campaign...the other longball came on April 4 against Tacoma at Triple-A Reno...is his first dinger as a Sod Poodle since August 30, 2024 vs. Arkansas.

ALL HAIL CESAR: Today’s Sod Poodles starter Cesar Gomez tossed four scoreless frames and tallied five strikeouts in his second Double-A start of the season...is his fourth career start that allowed no runs and struck out at least five...last accomplished that on August 16, 2022 in a five-inning, nine punchout outing for High-A Asheville (Houston Astros).

TOMMY TWO-HITS: Going 2-for-4 in the series finale was Tommy Troy...the Stanford product has tallied six multi-hit ledgers in his most recent 10 games...batting .308 (12-for-39) and has five extra base hits while also scoring seven runs in this span.

THE ‘PEN IS MIGHTIER: The Amarillo bullpen has embraced their role as they have combined to throw 11 consecutive scoreless innings dating back to Friday’s 6-5 victory...six relievers have punched out 16 Drillers over this stretch.