Soddies Five-Game Win Streak Snapped By First Place Midland

MIDLAND, TX (April 28, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (10-12) fell to the Midland RockHounds (17-5), 11-8, Tuesday at Momentum Bank Ballpark. The Soddies could not hold on to an 8-2 lead midway through the fifth inning, eventually losing by three runs.

Hits were hard to come by on both sides in the early innings, but baserunners were not for Amarillo. Just as they did in the second, two Soddies reached base on free passes issued by Corey Avant and were able to score on a two-out double by Angel Ortiz.

Leo De Vries broke up Daniel Eagen’s no-hit in the bottom of the fourth on a fly ball to the warning track that Sod Poodles left fielder Junior Franco could not squeeze and wound up over the fence. Later in the inning, Amarillo’s defense committed two errors on a pickoff attempt to second base that allowed Midland to force a 2-2 tie.

Southpaw James Gonzalez replaced Avant on the mound to start the fifth inning, which was a welcomed sight for the visitors. The Soddies rattled off three straight hits to open the frame and regained the lead on a two-run triple by Cristofer Torin. Amarillo piled on, batting around and scored four more runs on seven hits total.

For the second inning in a row, the Sod Poodles would not lead for long as the ‘Hounds tallied six runs of their own in the home half of the sixth. Midland sent nine to the plate and used three run-scoring extra-base hits in the rally, capped off by Luke Mann’s game-tying two-run homer.

Alec Baker remained in the game after entering with one out in the fifth, but could not stop the bleeding in any of his three innings of work. A one-out walk to Shane McGuire proved to be costly as he raced home as the go-ahead run in the next at-bat when Clark Ellis tucked a double just inside the left field foul line.

Midland added insurance runs later in the sixth on an RBI single by De Vries and another in the seventh on a Cameron Leary base hit, snapping Amarillo’s win streak by tagging them with the 11-8 loss.

Amarillo’s win streak was snapped at five games. The Sod Poodles will turn to Josh Grosz on the mound to return to its winning ways against Mitch Meyers on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

POSTGAME NOTES

I’M McLAUGHLIN IT: Ben McLaughlin extended his hit streak to eight games with a double in the top of the fifth inning on Tuesday...it ties longest streak of the season for Amarillo, set by Manuel Pena from April 11-19.
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LUIS YOURSELF:* Jansel Luis swiped his sixth bag of the year before being caught stealing for the first time in 2026 on Tuesday...his 86% success rate on stolen bases to start the year is the fifth-best in franchise history through the first 22 games of a season (min. 6 attempts).