Cedeno Blasts Himself Into The History Books, Sod Poodles Win 7-6

Amarillo, Texas – The Sod Poodles overcame an early deficit to defeat the San Antonio Missions by a score of 7-6 on Saturday Night. Leandro Cedeño unloaded on the farthest hit baseball of the Statcast Era and another late-inning home run from Ti'Quan Forbes sealed the win for the Soddies.

For the fourth time in the five games of the series, the Missions' plated runs in the top of the first inning. San Antonio pieced together four straight hits to start the night - a single, triple, and two other singles. Sod Poodles' starter Brandon Pfaadt picked up his first strikeout of the night ahead of a catcher's interference to load the bases. Pfaadt, the Arizona Diamondbacks No. 8 rated prospect battled back with two straight outs including his second strikeout to end the threat and keep it a two-run deficit.

Jorge Barrosa started the Amarillo at-bats with a single but was taken off the basepath after a double play. A strikeout sent the Sod Poodles back to their dugout in order and Pfaadt back to the mound.

The second inning of work for Pfaadt started in a similar fashion to his first frame, allowing a double. Barrosa then made a sliding catch in center field, robbing potential extra bases from the Missions. Thomas Milone picked up his second extra-base hit of the night, this time a two-run home run to add to his first-inning triple as the Sod Poodles fell behind 4-0.

Amarillo scored their first run of the game thanks to three straight hits including Drew Stankiewicz' RBI double in the bottom of the third inning. Barrosa scored Stankiewicz with a single, cutting the Missions' lead in half. Two errors on the same play allowed Barrosa to score from second, making it a one-run contest.

Ti'Quan Forbes tied the game with a single in the fourth after Pfaaadt retired the side in order in the top of the frame, picking off Hollis who led off the inning with a single. The Missions regained an advantage, scoring one run in the fifth with two outs in part to a HBP that kept the inning alive.

The game then moved to the home half of the fifth where Leandro Cedeño stepped to the plate with one out.

Working the count to 3-0, Cedeño uncorked on a fastball, sending the ball 527 ft into the Amarillo night. The home run tied the game and placed himself into the history books in the process. The 527 ft blast was the longest-recorded home run in the Statcast Era (2015). Amarillo placed the potential go-ahead run into scoring position with a two-out double off the bat of Juan Centeno, but left the catcher stranded.

527 FEET for Leandro Cedeno 🤯

The @Dbacks infield prospect obliterated this ball for the @sodpoodles! pic.twitter.com/GHqtLFJV7e

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) July 17, 2022

Pfaadt's night ended after 5.0 IP where he allowed nine hits and five earned while striking out seven with a walk issued. Left-hander Cam Booser took over pitching duties for the Sod Poodles, working around a walk in his first inning to keep the game tied. A two-out double in the seventh broke the tie after Booser issued a walk and wild pitch to advance the runner into scoring position ahead of the double. Booser responded with his third punchout of the inning and fourth of the night in his two innings of work.

Barrosa's third hit of the night helped tie the game as the speedster doubled and then advanced to third on an error. Cedeño's second RBI of the night knotted the game once again in the bottom of the seventh, this time a single placed in front of the Missions' right-fielder.

Right-hander Jeff Bain became the third Sod Poodles' pitcher of the night when he entered the game in the top of the 8th. The team-leader in wins worked around a leadoff hit batter to face the minimum once Centeno caught his 14th potential base stealer of the year. Bain struck out Milone and then got out of the inning unscathed with a comebacker to the mound.

Forbes stepped to the plate in the bottom of the 8th after seeing the first two Sod Poodles' batters go down in order. After falling behind 0-2, the Amarillo third baseman found a pitch to hit, roping a ball over the right-field fence for an opposite-field home run to break the deadlock and put the Sod Poodles up 7-6 in the 8th.

TI’GONE FORBES

The Christmas colored gloves were a perfect choice, @TiquanF

BOT 8 | AMA - 7 | SA - 6 pic.twitter.com/c70vZavCwq

— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) July 17, 2022

Blake Rogers trotted out to the mound for his 28th appearance of the year and his eighth save opportunity. The Lewisville, Texas native pounded the strike zone and shut the door on the Missions for his team-leading seventh save.

The Sod Poodles and Missions will continue their series with the finale on Sunday with Amarillo needing a win to salvage a series split. Right-hander Bryce Jarvis, the Arizona Diamondbacks' No. 6 rated prospect takes the bump for the second time in the series. First pitch for Sunday's finale is scheduled for 6:05 P.M.

Ti-GONE Forbes: 3B Ti’Quan Forbes blasted a two-out, go-ahead solo home run in the bottom of the 8th, giving Amarillo a 7-6 lead. He finished the night with a 3-for-4 performance with two runs scored and two RBI. It was his 6th home run of the year, and the late-inning heroics helped the Sod Poodles improve to 7-4 when tied after seven innings. Ti’Quan has had a flare for the dramatics with his homers this season, as five of his six long bombs have come in the 6th inning or later.

*Absolute Moonshot: *OF Leandro Cedeño demolished a 3-0 pitch in the 5th inning for a 527-foot home run, the longest tracked in HODGETOWN history. It was the slugger’s team-leading 18th home run of the season, and he went 2-for-4 for his second consecutive multi-hit game. His rocket of a home run surpassed Dominic Canzone’s 504-foot shot for the longest in Amarillo this year. On the season, Cedeño leads the Sod Poodles with 84 hits, 18 home runs and 60 RBI.

All I Do Is Win: RHP Jeff Bain tossed a perfect 8th inning tonight and was the pitcher of record for Forbes’ go-ahead home run, earning him his team-leading seventh win of the season. Bain improved to 7-1 on the year, his second-most wins in a single season in his career behind his 11-6 record in 2018. The former California Golden Bear has earned a win in each of his last two appearances and has a 4.06 ERA through 28 appearances and 37.2 IP this season.

No Doubt: The Sod Poodles turned to closer Blake Rogers with a one-run lead in the 9th inning tonight, and he delivered a perfect frame to secure the win. It was Rogers’ team-leading 7th save of the year, which is also tied for the 5th most in the Texas League. The three-year Sod Poodle racked up a career-high 11 saves in 2021 and now has 20 in his Amarillo career. On the season, Rogers has a 3.82 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 29 appearances, and he is 7-for-8 in save opportunities.

*Jor-hey, This Looks Familiar: *OF Jorge Barrosa went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and a double tonight, his second time with that exact line in the last four games. The other performance was on Tuesday, June 13, and he collected five RBI in that game and just one tonight. The three hits tied his season-high once again, the fifth time this season he’s collected three hits. On the season, Barrosa is batting .237 with 34 RBI and 15 doubles, which is tied with Eduardo Diaz for the team lead.

Speedster: C/OF Nick Dalesandro collected his team-leading 25th base of the season tonight. He led the Arizona farm system with 33 steals last season, and the former Purdue Boilermaker is third in the organization this season, behind Jordan Lawlar (A+, 26) and Wilderd Patino (A, 52). Dalesandro is tied for the fourth-most steals in the Texas League, 12 behind the league-leader Esteury Ruiz (SA, 37).

Nine Is Fine: OF Roby Enriquez went 2-for-4 tonight to extend his hitting streak to nine games, the longest-active streak on the team. He has six multi-hit games during the streak and while batting .405/.410/.541 (15-for-37) with five doubles and five RBI. The streak is tied for the 7th-longest by a Sod Poodle this season. On the year, Enriquez is batting .331 with 11 doubles and 25 RBI through 34 games in Amarillo.

Secret Formula: The Sod Poodles out-hit San Antonio 13-10 tonight to improve to 31-0 when out-hitting their opponent. The win also snapped a three-game losing streak, which was tied for the longest of the season.