AMARILLO, TX (July 29, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (15-14, 51-46) defeated the San Antonio Missions (13-16, 44-54), 7-6, on Wednesday night at HODGETOWN. Amarillo answered every punch San Antonio landed as the Sod Poodles emerged with another one-run victory against the Missions this season.
Soddies starter Junior Sanchez looked on his way to a perfect first inning before Jake Cunningham worked a two-out walk, which set the table for Braedon Karpathios to drive in an extra run when he crushed a first-pitch fastball off the batter’s eye for a two-run blast. Sanchez was unable to settle in to his start right away, instead being greeted by the second home run in as many games for Albert Fabian to open the top of the second.
Control issues and some batted ball luck in Amarillo’s favor doomed San Antonio starting pitcher Matthew Watson in his third inning of work as a walk, Baltimore chop single, and a hit batsman in a two-strike count loaded the bases with none out. Alberto Barriga put the Soddies on the board with a hard-hit RBI single through the left side of the infield, and productive outs from Angel Ortiz and Jean Walters knotted the score at three runs apiece one third of the way through the game.
Amarillo took a different approach to put another crooked number on the board in the fourth, this time putting together a two-out rally to manufacture runs. Both Cristofer Torin and Jansel Luis stole second base after their base hits, which allowed Torin to touch home as the go-ahead run on Luis’ knock and the Sod Poodles third baseman completed his trip around the bases on Ben McLaughlin’s RBI single to increase their lead to 5-3.
Sanchez found his groove from the third through fifth innings on just four days rest to complete his longest outing at HODGETOWN in 2026. The No. 25 D-backs prospect returned for a sixth inning of work, but a wild pitch and sac fly after allowing a single and double chased him from the game with the scoreboard reading 5-5.
The stalemate did not last beyond the sixth inning as Amarillo bombarded Jose Leclerc in his first appearance for the Missions with three consecutive hits, capped off by an Ortiz triple that brought in two. Dawson Brown finished off the top of the sixth but ran into trouble in his next inning of work when San Antonio had the first three batters reach base and Carson Tucker cut his team’s deficit to one with an RBI knock.
Will Mabrey was tasked with getting out of a jam in the seventh and did so by stranding two runners before facing the minimum in the eighth. The Sod Poodles did not add any insurance runs in the late stages, but a one run cushion was more than enough for Blake Cederlind to notch his second save of the season. The Missions were able to threaten in their last licks, getting the tying and go-ahead runs aboard before the flamethrower fanned the last two batters he faced to retire the side.
POSTGAME NOTES
THREE’S COMPANY: Angel Ortiz’s go-ahead two-run triple brought the team’s three-bagger count on the year to 27, which is tied for the second-most across all Double-A...Amarillo extended its lead over the Texas League in triples and are on pace to record 38 this season, which would be the second-most for one season in franchise history behind the 40 collected in 2021.
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CEDERLINDSANITY:** Only logging 2.2 innings pitched with San Antonio in his last stint in professional baseball before this year, Blake Cederlind never recorded a save opportunity...he earned his second save of the season tonight in his sixth game with the Sod Poodles, striking out the last two batters to end the ballgame.