Sod Poodles Barrage Midland's Bullpen in 3-1 Win

MIDLAND, TX (May 2, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (13-12) defeated the Midland RockHounds (17-8), 3-1, on Saturday night at Momentum Bank Ballpark. Amarillo’s offense was lifeless against RockHounds starter Wei-En Lin, but did more than enough against their bullpen to secure a third win over the Texas League South Division leader.

The running game was a point of emphasis for the RockHounds against the battery of Jose Cabrera and Adrian De Leon and used it to get on the board in the bottom of the third inning. Cole Conn drew a leadoff walk and stole second base, allowing him to score on Jared Dickey’s ground-rule double.

However, any other offense against starting pitching was hard to come by on both sides. Cabrera limited any further damage in the game, matching team-bests for the season in innings and strikeouts as he punched seven tickets across five full frames. Lin was at his best for Midland, tossing a career-high 7.0 innings and allowing two hits without any walks on an efficient 80 pitches.

But once RockHounds manager Gregorio Petit opted for his bullpen to open the eighth, Midland’s relievers could not back up the tremendous effort from its starter. Left-hander CD Pelham opened the inning but struggled with his command, walking his first two batters faced and exited with one out in the frame.

Stevie Emanuels was tasked by Midland to get out of the jam, while Amarillo countered with pinch-hitter Danny Serretti. Fresh off a successful three-game stint with Triple-A Reno, the switch-hitter didn’t miss a beat and loaded the bases with a single through the right side of the infield.

With three ducks on the pond, Amarillo tied the game on the second RockHounds wild pitch of the inning and later took the lead on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Manuel Pena.

Ben McLaughlin added insurance for the Sod Poodles with a leadoff home run off the right field foul pole in the ninth, while winning pitcher Antonio Menedez and Casey Anderson each turned in two shutout innings to secure the victory as Anderson recorded a six-out save.

POSTGAME NOTES

I’M McLAUGHLIN IT: Ben McLaughlin extended his on-base streak to 21 games and hit streak to 11 games with a base hit in the top of the second inning...both active stretches are the longest in the Texas League after previous hit streak leader Joshua Kuroda-Grauer went 0-for-3 for Midland on Saturday.

MENENDEZ AT WORK: Antonio Menendez turned in 2.0 scoreless innings out of the bullpen and now holds the longest scoreless innings and games streaks by Soddies relievers in 2026...he has not allowed a run over his last five games and 8.2 innings pitched dating back to April 16.