Patrick Spins Gem As Sod Poodles Close Series With Win

Frisco, Texas (May 21, 2023) – The Amarillo Sod Poodles concluded their series against Frisco with a 3-1 win on Sunday. Amarillo starter Chad Patrick worked a season-high in innings pitched and earned his first win of the year in the process.

Neither team mustered much in the day's opening frame, both being sent back in the same order they came. Patrick helped his cause, working around a leadoff walk to turn a 1-4-3 double play to mitigate any possible damage.

Adrian Del Castillo became the first player for either team to reach scoring position, drawing a one-out walk and then advancing on a wild pitch in the top of the second. Amarillo was unable to capitalize, as a ground out and pick off of Del Castillo moved the game to the bottom of the second.

The RoughRiders struck first on Sunday following the first two batters reaching on a pair of hits that pushed both into scoring position. A one out sacrifice fly opened the scoring for Frisco as they held a 1-0 lead after two frames.

Patrick worked around his second walk of the day with a pair of strikeouts in the third to leave a runner stranded, his fourth strikeout through three innings of work. Camden Duzenack got plunked to begin the top of the fourth for Amarillo but was unable to move into scoring position with the next three batters flying out behind him. For the second time in as many starts this week Tekoah Roby, the Rangers' no. 11-rated prospect, worked through the first four innings without a hit allowed against him.

Patrick was right back to work in the bottom of the fourth, working a 1-2-3 inning while adding his fifth and sixth strikeouts of the game. It was his third straight inning with at least two strikeouts.

The Sod Poodles knotted things up in the top of the fifth inning after Roby exited the game. Del Castillo's leadoff single came around thanks to a pair of walks to load the bases and Nick Dalesandro's sac fly. Frisco's leadoff single off Patrick in the following half frame was negated after a sac bunt and a pair of lazy outs moved the game to the final frames tied at 1-1.

Jordan Lawlar drew a leadoff walk and would come around to score on a RBI single off the bat of Deyvison De Los Santos for a 2-1 lead in the top of the sixth inning. Amarillo was unable to tack on additional insurance after loading the bases with two outs.

Patrick trotted back out for the sixth and collected two quick outs before a six-pitch, two out walk sent Shawn Roof out of the visiting dugout to get his starter after 90 pitches. Andrew Saalfrank was the first man called upon for the Amarillo bullpen. The southpaw faced a fellow lefty and earned a strikeout to maintain the one-run Amarillo advantage.

Dalesandro created chaos on the bases for Amarillo as the lead built to two runs in the top of the seventh. After a leadoff walk, a passed ball, wild pitch, and a balk allowed the speedster to saunter home. Saalfrank issued a pair of free passes in the bottom of the inning, but negated them by picking up a couple of strikeouts to escape unscathed.

Right-hander Blake Workman worked three ground balls in his only inning of relief of Saalfrank as he entered in the bottom of the eighth inning. Amarillo left one stranded in the top of the ninth, sending Christian Montes De Oca out to the mound in the bottom of the ninth with a two-run lead.

The right-hander out of the Dominican Republic closed out the Riders in order, punctuating the win with a strikeout to earn his second save of the year.

Amarillo now turns their attention to San Antonio. The Sod Poodles will travel south to play the San Diego Padres Double-A affiliate, the San Antonio Missions on the backend of the 12-game road trip. First pitch from Nelson Wolff Stadium on Tuesday, May 23 is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

NOTES:

CALL HIM CHADDY: Chad Patrick turned in another very strong start for Amarillo on Sunday. The righty spun 5.2 IP and allowed just one run on three hits, while striking out seven RoughRiders hitters en route to his first win of the campaign. The 5.2 IP set a new season-high for Patrick, as he was one out away from tying his career-high, a mark he set on Aug. 20, 2022 with High-A Hillsboro. He also tied his season-high with the seven punchouts, a mark he last set on May 4 in Corpus Christi. For the series, Patrick worked a combined 10.2 IP with just two runs against him on eight hits, and punched out 13 RoughRiders hitters. Over four starts in the month of May, Patrick has worked 19.1 IP and holds a 2.83 ERA with just 13 hits against him with 26 strikeouts and 10 walks.

ONE SAAL AWAY: Andrew Saalfrank worked his fifth straight scoreless appearance out of the bullpen. Dating back to May 7, the lefty has tossed a combined 7.0 IP with three hits against him. During the stretch, Saalfrank has racked up 10 strikeouts to just three walks. His five game scoreless streak is second-best by an Amarillo pitcher so far this year, trailing only Kyle Backhus, who went six-straight without an earned run to start his 2023 season. Up to 32 strikeouts now on the year, Saalfrank has the most strikeouts of Amarillo relievers, and has done so in just 20.2 IP, good for a 14+ K/9 rate.

OOOH, HE'S STEALIN':Nick Dalesandro, who already owns the franchise-record for stolen bases in a career, adding to his total, swiping another two bases in the series finale. He's now 8-for-10 on stolen bases attempts this year and has swiped a grand total of 43 bases since the start of the 2022 saeson. It was the second time he has stolen two bases in a game this year, and the fifth time this season that a Sod Poodle has swiped two bags in a single-game.

WHO NEEDS HITS ANYWAYS: The Sod Poodles and RoughRiders combined for just seven hits in the pitcher's duel to close out the series. It was the fifth time this season that both the Sod Poodles and their opponents were held to five or fewer hits in the same game. Amarillo has now won four games when failing to collect more than five hits, doing so twice in this series alone.

BOTTOM BATTLE: During the series, the 7 through 9 hitters in the Amarillo lineup finished 3-for-55 with 18 strikeouts, four walks, a hit by pitch, and three RBI. Nick Dalesandro and Juan Centeno were responsible for the all three hits and RBI. Centeno collected a pair of RBI in the eight hole last night. Dalesandro added a sac fly RBI to plate the first run of the game on Sunday. He then picked up his second hit of the series when he tallied a leadoff single in the top of the ninth.