Melendez Caps 4-Hit Day with Walk-Off Winner in Extras

Amarillo, Texas (May 14, 2024) – The Sod Poodles and Frisco RoughRiders kicked off their series at HODGETOWN with a morning matinee on Tuesday. Amarillo needed extra innings to secure the win, doing so on the back of a four-hit day from Ivan Melendez who provided the game-winning RBI in the 10th.

The D-backs' no. 8-rated prospect got the day's scoring going as he led off the home half of the second inning with a solo shot to straightaway center field. The RoughRiders answered the Amarillo run with three of their own in the top of the third to gain their first advantage of the day. After a scoreless third and fourth inning, Amarillo was able to take back the lead in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs, J.J. D'Orazio doubled home Amarillo's second run of the afternoon to cut the deficit to a run. Deyvison De Los Santos then turned that deficit into a lead as he smacked his 12th home run of his campaign to make it 4-3 Amarillo.

The kids love home runs.

Ivan Melendez loves hitting home runs. pic.twitter.com/Fka7VPYZJv

— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) May 14, 2024

As they did in the third, Frisco responded with runs in their next trip to the plate. A leadoff single off Jake Rice turned into a go-ahead two-run home run by Frainyer Chavez.

Melendez brought Amarillo back to even on the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the sixth. His second home run of the game knotted things up at 5-5 and gave him his third hit of the day. Zach Barnes and Will Mabrey combined to work three innings while allowing just two hits. The tandem kept three RoughRiders stranded in scoring position. Mabrey struck out the final batter he faced in the top of the ninth to leave two of those runners on base. D'Orazio collected his second double of the game with two outs in the bottom of the 7th but was left stranded as the only Sod Poodle to get a hit the final three innings of regulation.

RHP Mitchell Stumpo took over on the bump in the 10th. A one-out walk was followed by a single to score the inherited runner to give the RoughRiders a 6-5 lead. Wilderd Patiño threw out the runner trying to stretch from 1st to third for the second out. A flyout ended the top of the 10th and sent Amarillo to the bottom of the 10th chasing a run.

Following a strikeout to start the extra inning, an intentional walk to De Los Santos put runners on first and second base. Caleb Roberts drew a walk to load the bases and send Melendez back to the plate. After taking the first pitch to start the at-bat, Melendez added his fourth hit of the day. A double off the top of the left-center field wall nearly became his third home run of the afternoon but was good enough to drive in the game-winning run from second base to provide Amarillo the 7-6 win.

NOTES:

THE BIG TEXAN: Ivan Melendez launched a pair of home runs on Tuesday to begin his series against the RoughRiders and drove in the game-winning run in extra innings. The D-backs' no. 8-rated prospect entered the game with his last home run coming against the RoughRiders back on April 23rd in Frisco. He is now up to six homers on the year to place him in a five-way tie for the eighth most HR in team history. He has 18 home runs in 67 games played during his Amarillo career. Tuesday was his third time with a multi-HR effort for the Sod Poodles and his third career multi-HR game. He joins Deyvison De Los Santos and A.J. Vukovich as the third Sod Poodle this season to have a multi-HR effort. The El Paso native was named the Arizona Diamondbacks Minor League Player of the Year last year after becoming just the 14th player to ever have a 30+ home run season in the D-backs farm system

Melendez calls game.

The D-backs no. 8-rated prospect caps his 4-hit day with a walk-off double. pic.twitter.com/jZIklfdt8F

— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) May 14, 2024

ANOTHER DEY: Deyvison De Los Santos launched his 12th home run of the season for Amarillo in the bottom of the fifth inning. His 12 long balls this year are good for T-3rd in all minor league baseball. He is tied with Oklahoma City's Ryan Ward. The pair trail Norfolk's Coby Mayo and Sugar Land's Joey Loperdifo who each have 13 on the year. The D-backs' no. 14-rated prospect entered the morning matinee leading the Texas League or tied for the lead in five offensive categories including HR, hits, RBI, XBH, and total bases and added to it after finishing the game 1-for-3 with a pair of RBI and two runs scored.

Deyvison De Los Santos adds his 1⃣2⃣th homer of the year ‼️ pic.twitter.com/y4ONuj3xod

— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) May 14, 2024

DOUBLE D'ORAZIO: J.J. D'Orazio collected a pair of doubles to start his series as he finished 2-for-5 with a RBI and a run scored to go with his two-baggers. He is the second Amarillo player to have two doubles in the same game this year. The only other one came on April 11th when Kevin Graham had a pair on the road in Midland. For D'Orazio, they were the third and fourth doubles of his season. The catcher had 23 doubles in 2023 between High-A Hillsboro and Amarillo which were good for T-5th in the farm system

SOME STREAKS CONTINUE, SOME END: LHP Jake Rice saw his run of consecutive appearances without allowing an earned run come to an end at 10 games. The southpaw entered the game with the second-longest active streak in the Texas League among relievers. Rice worked around a pair of baserunners in his first inning of work on Tuesday to give him 16.0 IP in a row without allowing an earned run. Following a leadoff single in the top of the sixth, a two-run home run ended Rice's run. It was the first earned run allowed by Rice since his second appearance of the year on Opening Weekend against the San Antonio Missions. RHP Zach Barnes extended his current streak without allowing an earned run with Amarillo to five games dating back to April 12th. Barnes worked two scoreless innings on Tuesday while allowing just one hit and struck out two. LHP Will Mabrey saw his streak extend to seven games after working the ninth for Amarillo. Over his last seven games, Mabrey has allowed just five hits over 7.1 IP. RHP Mitchell Stumpo took over on the bump for Amarillo in the 10th and inherited the extra runner. The righty saw the unearned run come across to extend his streak to nine games without surrendering an earned run to his name. In nine appearances this year, Stumpo saw just the sixth hit come against him as a single scored the ghost runner from second in the extra frame.

EXTRA EXTRA: Amarillo earned the second extra-innings win of the season and improved to 2-1 on the year. Both extra innings this season have come against Frisco in their last two meetings. Amarillo downed Frisco 6-5 in the finale of the first series these two teams played on April 28th at Riders Field. Tuesday's 10th-inning walk-off win was the first walk-off victory for the Soddies in 2024 and the first since also walking off the Frisco RoughRiders via a walk-off balk on September 15, 2023.