SPRINGFIELD, MO (July 19, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (10-11, 46-43) defeated the Springfield Cardinals (13-8, 44-45), 13-2, on Sunday night at Route 66 Stadium. A low-scoring affair for the first seven innings, the Amarillo offense put together a historic top of the eighth inning for a series-clinching win against Springfield.
Stepping on to a Double-A mound for the first time in 16 days, St. Louis Cardinals No. 2 prospect Liam Doyle took some time to shake off the rust following the All-Star break. The southpaw walked three of the first four batters he faced, allowing the Soddies to strike first on a slow roller fielder’s choice off the bat of Ben McLaughlin.
Sod Poodles top pitching prospect Daniel Eagen was sharp to open his outing, facing the minimum until there were two outs in the bottom of the third, where Jon Jon Gazdar barely managed to keep a game-tying solo home run in fair territory down the left field line.
The game did not stay tied for very long, with Amarillo regaining the lead in the top of the fifth inning. After a leadoff single by Cristofer Torin, the Soddies shortstop stole second base and moved to third on a groundout, allowing him to score easily on Demetrio Crisantes’ RBI base knock.
Eagen was not knocked off course after allowing the homer to Gazdar, working around some traffic in his final two innings of work to finish five full frames in which he allowed just two hits. Alec Baker came on in relief for the sixth and seventh innings, using the help of the infield defense behind him to keep Springfield off the board.
Amarillo poured on insurance runs in the top of the eighth against Cardinals reliever D.J. Carpenter, beginning with a pair of solo homers by McLaughlin and Jack Hurley.
A single and three walks followed Hurley’s dinger to make it 4-1 and a two-run single through the hole on the left side of the infield for Crisantes chased Carpenter from the game.
Hunter Hayes was unable to stop the bleeding for Springfield with the next three Sod Poodles recording RBI hits to make it 10-1 in the blink of an eye. Hayes struck out Gavin Logan for the second out but walked Junior Franco to load the bases. Having already plated nine runs in the frame, Torin added two more for good measure with a base hit in his second plate appearance of the frame.
Rainiel Rodriguez showed life for the Cardinals with his home run to right center field in the home half of the eighth, but Blake Cederlind and Roman Angelo polished off the remaining five outs to send the Soddies to Corpus Christi for their next series with some positive momentum.
POSTGAME NOTES
WALK THIS WAY: The 12 walks drawn by the Sod Poodles aided their offensive production on Sunday night, with five coming in their massive top of the eighth inning...it was just the third time in franchise history that Amarillo was walked a dozen times or more in a game, most recently happening on May 24, 2024 while visiting Northwest Arkansas.
SPRINGFIELD SODDIES: Amarillo went 6-3 against Springfield this season, officially making it the most road wins against a Texas League North opponent in a single season in club history.