FRISCO, TX (September 5, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (36-26, 72-58) defeated the Frisco RoughRiders (30-32, 69-61), 6-5, on Saturday night at Riders Field. Amarillo’s offense made the most of its opportunities, needing only three hits to stage a come-from-behind victory.
Angel Ortiz drew a one-out walk for the first Soddies baserunner of the game. The Amarillo right fielder scored from first on a two-out blooper off the bat of Ben McLaughlin, which was aided by the ball kicking away from right fielder Yeison Morrobel.
However, Amarillo’s first-inning lead disappeared by the end of the second, as a fielding error by Junior Franco on a game-tying RBI single from Marcus Lee Sang allowed the RoughRiders left fielder to trade places with Gleider Figuereo on the basepaths. A Keith Jones II base hit grounded through the right side in the next at-bat plated the go-ahead run.
Frisco padded its lead two innings later, using three straight doubles to open the frame, which made it a 4-1 game. A walk and fielder’s choice loaded the bases, which led to Amarillo starter Wellington Aracena allowing a fifth run on his ledger when he issued a free pass to the last batter he faced.
The Soddies quickly got themselves back in the ballgame after being shut down by the RoughRiders’ Aidan Curry over the next three innings, compiling a walk, single, and hit batsman to load the bases with no outs in the fifth. Zach Bryant entered out of the bullpen, who walked the first batter he faced before a pair of productive outs scored two more runs to cut Amarillo’s deficit to one.
Logan Mercado was the first reliever out of the Sod Poodles bullpen and turned in 2.1 no-hit innings to begin his outing, keeping the visitors within striking distance. Amarillo completed its comeback when Ortiz went down to get a 3-2 offspeed pitch from Wily Villar in the top of the seventh, tying the game with a solo homer to right field.
After another scoreless frame from Mercado in the bottom of the seventh, Frisco opted to keep Villar on the bump for a second inning of work in the top of the eighth. The right-hander walked two and hit a batter to load the bases with one away, which allowed a soft grounder to second base off the bat of Jean Walters to plate the go-ahead run.
Southpaw Will Mabrey was called upon to man the home half of the eighth, where, following a leadoff single, he wound up walking the bases loaded with one away. Amarillo manager Javier Colina would opt for Carlos Rey to get out of the jam.
Rey induced a fly ball to center field on his first pitch, with Figuereo as the runner on third not daring to challenge the arm of Druw Jones on the potential sacrifice fly. However, Jones II ventured too far off the second base bag and was doubled off to end the threat.
Rey retired the side in order in the bottom of the ninth to complete the comeback win.
POSTGAME NOTES
ROAD WARRIORS: Amarillo notched its 39th road victory of the season on Saturday, which ties for the most wins in away games across Double-A baseball this season with Pensacola (Miami Marlins)...the Sod Poodles also have surpassed last season’s road win total to set a new club record for most road wins in a single season.
MERC’ WITH A MOUTH: Logan Mercado played a large part in Amarillo’s comeback, blanking the RoughRiders over 3.1 innings of relief for his longest shutout appearance of the season to earn his fifth win of the year...Mercado struck out six batters, tying the team record this season for the most punchouts in a game by a relief pitcher.