Melendez Homers Twice in Series Finale Against Wichita

Amarillo, Texas (July 23, 2023) – Amarillo ended a nine-game home stand with a 12-6 loss to the Wichita Wind Surge on Sunday evening. The Sod Poodles ended the nine games by going 6-3 with series wins over Frisco and Wichita.

Making his first start since the 2021 season, Conor Grammes made quick work of the Wind Surge in the first. The right-hander struck out each of the first three he faced. By the time he went back to the mound, he had a two-run cushion to work with. Caleb Roberts and Ivan Melendez went back-to-back with two away in the inning. Grammes added another two strikeouts in the second as he breezed through his spot start for Amarillo.

A leadoff walk to begin the bottom of the second made it to third base but was unable to tack the Sod Poodles' third run of the game. Mitchell Stumpo took over on the bump for Amarillo in the top of the third of Sunday's bullpen game. He induced a ground ball for the first out of his lone inning. He then hurled the sixth strikeout of the game for Amarillo to turn the Wichita order back to the top. DaShawn Keirsey Jr. legged out an infield single with two outs to keep their inning alive. Following a stolen base, Stumpo added his second strikeout to end the Wichita threat.

Gerald Ogando and company worked around a two-out walk as a caught stealing ended the top of the fourth. Tim Tawa singled with two outs in the bottom of the inning but the third strikeout of the inning would keep it at a 2-0 Sod Poodles advantage.

Wichita surged in front with a four-run top of the fifth and then added to it with two more in the sixth to build a 6-2 lead over Amarillo.

Deyvison De Los Santos extended his hit streak to 11 games with a RBI bloop single in the bottom of the sixth to score Roberts who doubled earlier in the inning.

Following another five Wichita runs in the seventh, Amarillo managed to plate two more of their own. Neyfy Castillo singled and hustled around the bases on a J.J. D'Orazio double. D'Orazio ended up on third as the throw was late trying to nab Castillo at the plate. A sac fly scored the Sod Poodles designated hitter to make it 11-5.

Melendez launched his second home run of the game as he came up in the bottom of the eighth. The towering blast was estimated at a staggering 489 feet by the in-stadium Trackman system.

The Wind Surge added a solo home run of their own in the top of the ninth to cap the night's scoring as they took the finale of the series 12-6.

After an off day on Monday, the team will travel to Midland to start a six-game series against their Oil Pan Cup rivals on Tuesday, July 25. First pitch from Momentum Bank Ballpark is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

NOTES:

GONE MELENDEZ: Ivan Melendez, the Arizona Diamondbacks no. 7-rated prospect, made it six home runs through his first seven Double-A games after notching another multi-HR game this series. Melendez also left the yard twice in the series opener on Tuesday. He now has 24 total home runs this year between High-A Hillsboro and Amarillo to lead the D-backs' farm system. He is now one of just two Amarillo players to have more than one multi-HR game, joining A.J. Vukovich.

GONENHEIMER: Caleb Roberts hit his 12th home run of the year in the bottom of the first inning to get the Sod Poodles on the board. For Roberts, it was his first home run since last Saturday night against Frisco. He now has nine home runs in his last 20 games played since June 25th. He started the sixth back-to-back home run duo by Amarillo teammates this year and has now been a part of half of the back-to-back home runs. The former North Carolina Tar Heel ended the night 2-for-4, adding a double and another run scored.

STREAKING LIKE FRANK THE TANK: Deyvison De Los Santos has now hit safely in each of his last 11 games after going 1-for-4 with a RBI single in the bottom of the sixth. Over his last 11 games since June 29th, De Los Santos is hitting .422 (19-for-45) with two home runs, two doubles, a triple, and 10 RBI.

MAKE YA GRAMMES: In his first start since June 2021, Conor Grammes tied his career-high with five strikeouts. It's the sixth time he has had a five-strikeout performance and the first since August 13, 2022, when he was with High-A Hillsboro. Of the six total five-strikeout games he now has in his 57 career games, Sunday marked the third time doing so in 2.0 IP.

TREYFY: Sod Poodles outfielder Neyfy Castillo recorded his third three-hit game of the season on Sunday after going 3-for-4 with a run scored. It was his second three-hit game this month after also doing so on July 3 against Tulsa.