Soddies Sunk in Frisco, Drop Game Two

Frisco, Texas (May 17, 2023) – The Amarillo Sod Poodles fell to the Frisco RoughRiders, 10-4, and dropped their third-straight on Wednesday night. The Soddies and the RoughRiders were neck-and-neck in the box score before an eight-run fifth inning from Frisco pushed the win out of reach.

Caleb Roberts was the first Sod Poodle to knock and did so in the second Amarillo at bat of the game in his first game appearance since going on the injured list on April 20. He was left stranded and was the sole Sod Poodle to reach base through the first five innings.

Amarillo starting pitcher Deyni Olivero shoved out of the gate. He held the RoughRiders hitless for 2.2 innings before surrendering a base hit with a runner in scoring position. However, Kevin Vicuña cut the lead runner down at the plate to prevent Frisco from securing the lead.

Olivero held the RoughRiders scoreless through the fourth but surrendered a lead-off homer in the bottom of the fifth. A pair of RoughRiders reached base on a walk and a hit and one was plated via a groundout. An RBI triple was poked down the line before Olivero was taken off the bump and relieved by Blake Workman with a man on third.

Workman was unable to keep the inherited runner on the corner, giving up an RBI single followed up by an RBI double down the line. The right hander then conceded the second home run of the inning off of Sod Poodles pitching for an 8-0 lead for Frisco.

The Sod Poodles were able to get runners on board and secure their return home in the following frame. Ryan Bliss and Tim Tawa collected two-out base hits to set the table for Roberts who belted a three run bomb over the right field wall.

Workman retired the side in the sixth while punching out two before being relieved by Michel Otanez for his first relief appearance since getting injured on April 22. Otanez sat down three Riders with a trio of punch outs for the fifth consecutive strikeout delivered by Amarillo to bring the bats back up to the plate in the top of the eighth.

Nick Dalesandro slapped a one out base hit and Bliss scored him with a gapper that was good for an RBI double. However, Bliss was left stranded as the Sod Poodles shortened Frisco's lead to four runs.

Mitchell Stumpo swapped places with Otanez and manned the bump in the bottom half of the eighth. The inning began with a pair of Riders reaching on walks. The Sod Poodles committed a throwing error on a double steal that brought home one with another crossing the dish from an RBI single to bring Amarillo up to bat in the ninth while down six.

Deyvison De Los Santos plugged a one-out base hit and made it to second on a defensive indifference, but the Riders punched out three Soddies in the ninth to close out game two with a Frisco win.

Amarillo returns to Riders Field to face Frisco in game three as they look to break their three-game skid tomorrow evening. First pitch is slated for 6:35 p.m.

NOTES:

CALEB BOMBERTS: Caleb Roberts went 2-for-4 with a three-run bomb, three RBI and a run scored. Roberts played in his first game and poked a hit in his first at bat since being placed on the injured list on April 20. Roberts' long ball was his second in 19 games at the Double-A level with both being launched this season and while the team was trailing in runs. The lefty-bat is now slashing .293/.356/.585 with five multi-hit efforts in 10 games this season.

TAWA TIME: Tawa went 1-for-4 with a run scored. The Stanford alum has now poked a hit in seven of his 12 games played in May with a .273/.347/.432 slash line across those contests. Tawa fell victim to a slump from 4/15-4/26 where he posted just two knocks in 32 at bats, but since the end of this cold spell (4/28-5/17), he is posting a .286 average (16-for-56) across the 15 contests since with a .344 OBP and a .464 SLG.

GOT THAT TIGER IN HIM: Ryan Bliss went 2-for-4 with an RBI double and a run scored. The former Auburn Tiger holds a Texas League-best .397 AVG (54-for-136) while also holding the crown for SLG (.654), OPS (1.077), hits, total bases (89), XBH (21) and doubles (13). Bliss has failed to knock in just three of his 31 games played this season while continuing to post the most multi-hit efforts on the club with 20. Across the D-backs organization, Bliss posts the second best average, most hits, doubles, XBH and total bases while coming in fourth for runs (29) and tying fifth for RBI (23).

WELCOME BACK: Michel Otanez tossed 1.0 scoreless frames while punching out all three of the batters he faced. This was Otanez's first appearance since going on the IL on 4/22/23. The right hander has now struck out three batters in three of his five relief appearances this season while also punching out at least half of the total batters he faced in those three games. Additionally, this was his fourth time refusing to issue a walk and the third time he held his opponent scoreless in 2023. Dating back to 8/31/2022 with the Triple-A Syracuse Mets, the D.R. native has now held his opponent scoreless nine times in 12 relief appearances while punching out 21 batters in 13.0 IP (14.5 K/9).