Sanchez Fans Nine as Soddies Defeat Travs

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, AR (August 4, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (19-15, 55-47) defeated the Arkansas Travelers (16-18, 57-46), 3-1, on Tuesday night at Dickey-Stephens Park. As the pitching staff combined for 13 strikeouts on the night, the Soddies emerged victorious while keeping the Travs bats quiet.

A savant when toeing the visiting rubbers in his time with Amarillo so far this year, Junior Sanchez made quick work of the Travelers in the first inning by striking out the side, catching Charlie Pagliarini looking at strike three to end a strong opening frame.

Despite a ball in play that yielded a baserunner on a fielding error, Sanchez came back out for the second and fanned the side once more, setting a new single-game high for the righty during his Soddies tenure.

It wouldn’t be until Arkansas had one out in the bottom of the fifth when they collected their first hit, doing so on a Josh Caron grounder through the right side to break up Sanchez’s no-hit bid. After the designated hitter stole second base on the first pitch of the next at-bat, Caleb Cali doubled to left to bring home Caron and plate the game’s first run, giving Arkansas a 1-0 advantage over the Soddies.

Amarillo immediately resolved Sanchez of a potential losing decision in the top of the sixth. Cristofer Torin led off the frame with a two-bagger that bounced off the warning track in left-center, giving Jansel Luis an RBI opportunity late in the inning that he capitalized on with a single to left to even the score. After going first-to-third on Ben McLaughlin’s knock, he sprinted home to score the go-ahead run on a Druw Jones sacrifice fly to left.

Now in line for the win, Sanchez came back out for his sixth inning of work having only thrown 67 pitches. After inducing a shallow flyout to left, he struck out the next two batters to bring his strikeout total to nine for the night.

A sharp grounder off the bat of Alberto Barriga got through the legs of the Arkansas third baseman, allowing the Sod Poodles’ catcher to move up to second on the miscure to lead off the seventh. A Trent Youngblood sacrifice bunt to the pitcher moved Barriga up 90 feet shortly after and the Soddies cashed in the run on a Jean Walters sac fly to make it a 3-1 game.

Carlos Rey took over on the hill for the seventh and eighth innings and needed only 18 pitches to record three strikeouts as he retired the side in order in back-to-back frames. He then handed the ball to Blake Cederlind with a save opportunity in the ninth. The flamethrowing right-hander walked a pair of batters in the inning, bringing the winning run to the plate, but the newly acquired Boston Smith flew out to center in his Arkansas debut as the Soddies held on for the win.

🔥🔥🔥 https://t.co/uQvJhfhQzI pic.twitter.com/fu6uRS8G7U

— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) August 5, 2026

POSTGAME NOTES

THE SANCHIZE: Punching out nine Arkansas batters this evening was Junior Sanchez who allowed only one run over six innings...his nine strikeouts are tied for the second-most he has recorded in a single game in his career, falling one short of his career-high of 10 (4/28/26)...he now lowers his road ERA as a Soddie to 2.02 (6 ER/26,2 IP).

OKIE DOKIE DR. JONES: Checking in with a double and a sacrifice fly this evening was Druw Jones...Arizona’s 23rd-ranked prospect is batting .328 (39x119) with an .824 OPS over his most recent 31 games since June 17.