Henry Tosses Career Performance, Sod Poodles Fall 7-6 in Extras

Wednesday, July 21, 2021 vs Frisco RoughRiders [TEX]

Amarillo Sod Poodles (28-39) | Frisco RoughRiders (41-27)

Amarillo, Texas — The Pointy Boots de Amarillo scored four runs over the final three frames, including one in the ninth to send it to extra innings. Frisco plated one in the 10th while the potential tying run for Amarillo was thrown out at the plate as Amarillo fell to Frisco in extras 7-6 Wednesday night.

D-backs' No 12. rated prospect Tommy Henry got the start on the mound for Amarillo. After giving up a leadoff double, Henry retired the next two Frisco batters he faced. Rangers No. 1 rated prospect Josh Jung was not an easy out, taking an off speed pitch over the right field fence as the Riders took a 2-0 lead after the top of the first.

The Pointy Boots stepped into the batter's box against Rangers No. 7 rated prospect, RHP Hans Crouse. Amarillo went down in order after a ground out, strikeout, and flyout kept the first three batters in check. Henry issued a walk to the leadoff man in the second but retired the next three in order to get out of the top half unscathed.

After having to throw just 13 pitches to get out of the first inning, Ryder Jones forced Crouse to throw 11 pitches in a leadoff walk to start the second inning. A second walk to Renae Martinez two batters later moved Jones into scoring position. Consecutive strikeouts kept both stranded and kept the game at a 2-0 advantage for the RoughRiders.

Henry retired eight straight batters after the leadoff walk to start the top of the second. Frisco notched their second hit of the game with a two-out single to center field. Henry, who leads Amarillo's pitching staff and is third in the Double-A Central with his 76 strikeouts, notched his second of the night to get out of the top of the fourth.

Buddy Kennedy singled into right-center field with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning for the first Amarillo hit of the night. Martinez grounded out to shortstop, putting an end to the bottom of the fourth for Amarillo. A solo home run with one out in the Frisco half of the fifth inning pushed the RoughRiders lead to three runs.

Luis Basabe drew a leadoff walk before a double off the bat of Mikey Reynolds gave Amarillo runners on second and third. A ground out scored Basabe, plating the first run of the game for the Pointy Boots. Two batters later, D-backs' No. 15 rated prospect Dominic Fletcher brought Amarillo within one run on a sac fly into left field, scoring Reynolds.

Henry retired the RoughRiders in order in the top of the seventh, setting a new career-high for innings pitched in the process, getting through seven innings in just 81 pitches.

Thomas doubled with one out in the bottom of the seventh, advancing to third after avoiding the tag by Jung at third base on a Fletcher fielder's choice. Stone Garrett singled into center field, scoring Thomas and tying the game in the process. The Pointy Boots left two runners stranded, unable to take their first lead of the night.

Henry came back out for the start of the eighth. A line out to shortstop was followed by a single from the RoughRiders leadoff batter. A chopper to the right side forced the runner out at second base while also putting an end to Henry's start. With three straight right-handed hitters coming to the plate, Manager Shawn Roof made the call to his bullpen and right-handed pitcher Matt Brill.

Two walks and a pair of singles pushed the RoughRiders ahead by three runs, giving Amarillo work to do in their half of the eighth.

Reynolds roped a two-out double down the left field line. Jancarlos Cintron then hit his first home run since hitting a grand slam here at HODGETOWN on June 13th. His second home run of the year cleared the ribbon board in left field, drawing the Pointy Boots within one run of the lead.

Joe Jones came on for his fifth appearance of the season in the top of the ninth. A one-out double that caromed off the right-field fence barely staying in, kept the game at one run after Jones struck out the next two batters he faced.

A Frisco pitching change began the bottom of the ninth. Fletcher was hit on the fourth pitch of the at bat to start the late push. Garrett then reached on a throwing error by the Frisco shortstop, allowing Fletcher to move to third on the play. A warning track sacrifice fly sent Fletcher home, tying the game at 6-6 with just one out. Roof then got aggressive with Garrett on the base paths, swiping both second and third base, putting the potential winning run 90 feet away with one out in the inning. A sliding stop by Jung at third base took a base hit away from Kennedy and more importantly stopped Garrett from breaking for home. Frisco got out of the Pointy Boots threat after a strikeout ended the inning and sent the game to extra innings.

Right-hander Blake Rogers became the fourth pitcher of the night for Amarillo when he took the mound to start the top of the 10th. A wild pitch advanced the runner to third. Thomas then robbed a double from Jung, leaping and crashing into the left field wall; however Frisco took the lead on the sac fly. Rogers sent the Pointy Boots to bat after striking out his second batter of the inning. With Amarillo chasing one run to tie, a strikeout and groundout had the team down to their final out. A single into left field was deep enough to send Martinez home, but a perfect throw from the outfield beat the Matinez slide by a step, ending Amarillo's comeback bid with the Riders holding on for the 7-6 win.

Game three of this six-game series continues tomorrow from HODGETOWN with yet another Thirsty Thursday at the ballpark. Left-hander Kenny Hernandez (0-0, 3.00 ERA) will take the mound for his HODGETOWN debut after making his Double-A debut on the road in Midland last week. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM with gates opening at 6:05 PM.

Notes:

Hooray, Henry!:Tommy Henry set a new career-high tossing 7.2 innings against the RoughRiders this evening. Henry had previously tossesd 6.2 innings on two separate occasions so far in his second professional season. In the lefty's 14th Double-A start, he needed just 81 pitches to get through the fist seven innings. The 7.2 innings of work also tied the Amarillo franchise high for a starter. Lake Bachar and Kyle Lloyd also spun 7.2 innings for the Soddies in 2019. Henry lost what would have been the longest quality start of the season for Amarillo as the one out single he surrendered in the eighth scored after a pair of singles later in the frame.

Extra, Extra: The Pointy Boots battled back in the later innings, forcing extra innings after scoring four runs over the final three innings. In defeat, Amarillo drops to 3-3 in extra innings including two straight in a matter of three games played after falling in the series finale in Midland this past Sunday. After playing just two extra inning games in their first 55 games to begin the year, Amarillo has now played in four over their last 13 games.

By The Numbers:Despite the late push, Amarillo is now 2-5 in games in which they trailed after the 7th inning. The Sod Poodles have also fallen to 3-9 in games on Wednesdays and 25-12 in games when they have scored four or more runs so far in 2021.

No Better Time: Jancarlos Cintron's eighth inning two-run home run was the second home run hit this year - Both coming at HODGETOWN. His first home run was the grand slam he hit against Corpus Chrsti on June 13th. After a 2-for-5 performance tonight, Cintron is hitting .238 on the year with eight extra base hits and 14 RBI. He picked up just the second multi-RBI game of the year, with the other obviously being the four RBI game on June 13th.

Boots With Bats:Jancarlos Cintron and Mikey Reynolds both notched two hits in the game for Amarillo to lead the charge offensively. For Reynolds, it was his fourth multi-hit game of his 2021 campaign with the last coming here at HODGETOWN on July 1st when he went 2-for-4 against the Wichita Wind Surge. Buddy Kennedy also tallied a hit tonight, giving him a hit in four straight games, the longest such streak in his brief Double-A career.

Pen Notes: Right-handers Blake Rogers and Joe Jones each struck out a pair of Frisco batters in their lone innings of work. Jones allowed the double in the top of the ninth before striking out the next two he faced. Rogers struck out two in the top of the 10th including MLB rahabber Jose Trevino and Rangers' No. 2 rated prospect Sam Huff.