SPRINGFIELD, MO (June 9, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (27-30) fell to the Springfield Cardinals (26-31), 9-5, on Tuesday night at Route 66 Stadium. A promising start for the Soddies crumbled at the hands of another clutch Springfield home run late in the ballgame.
Not long into the series opener, Manuel Pena punished the first pitch he saw, landing it atop the building sitting beyond the right-center field wall at the Springfield ballpark to give the Soddies the lead in the opening frame.
Amarillo starter Avery Short tossed a three-up, three-down inning in the first, inducing three straight groundouts to Cristofer Torin at shortstop to get the Soddies back in the dugout quickly.
Taking advantage of Short’s quick work were the Amarillo sticks as Druw Jones walked with one away and promptly stole second, giving way to Gavin Conticello who launched a two-run blast to extend the visitors’ lead.
The Soddies made it three innings in a row with a run scored after Torin moved up to third as an errant throw on a pickoff attempt got away from the Springfield first baseman. Pena drove him in with a deep fly ball to right field, and the sac fly increased the Amarillo run total to four.
Springfield started to claw back in the home half of the fourth, using a Ryan Campos double to left and a Trey Paige sacrifice fly to cut the deficit in half.
Following the sac fly, Short locked things down by retiring each of the next seven batters he faced to bring his night to a close after six innings on the hill. The lefty allowed only one hit, giving way to the Soddies bullpen as fellow lefty Carlos Rey was first out of the bullpen. He had no trouble in his lone inning of work, retiring the side in order.
The Cards would not go down easily however, plating seven runs in the bottom of the eighth. Each of the first five Springfield batters reached safely and the game was eventually broken open by Paige’s grand slam to center field to make it a 9-4 ballgame.
With the Soddies on the ropes and down to their final three outs, Pena checked in with his second homer of the night and his Minor League Baseball-leading 25th long ball of the season. Amarillo continued to battle, loading the bases in the final frame, but no other Sod Poodle would come across as they dropped the series opener.
POSTGAME NOTES
HOUSE OF PENA: Slugging his 24th and 25th home runs of the year this evening was Manuel Pena...he now has the third-most home runs in a single season in Sod Poodles history and currently ranks 5th among franchise leaders for most career Amarillo blasts...he is pacing for 60 dingers this year.
SHORT STACK: Fanning a season-high eight batters tonight was Avery Short...it is only the second time in his career he has pitched six or more innings while allowing one hit or fewer...he also struck out eight batters in the only other instance on May 23, 2024 with High-A Hillsboro.