SPRINGFIELD, MO (September 22, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (1-1) defeated the Springfield Cardinals (1-1), 4-0, on Tuesday night at Route 66 Stadium in Game Two of the Texas League Championship. The Soddies used early runs to continue their postseason dominance on the road to force a winner-take-all Game Three tomorrow night.
Amarillo took advantage of control issues by Cardinals’ 13th-ranked prospect Yhoiker Fajardo in the top of the first as two walks and a hit batsman loaded the bases with no outs for the heart of the Sod Poodles order. The next two men went down on strikes before Angel Ortiz worked back from an 0-2 count to draw ball four and bring home the first run of the night for the visitors.
Making his first start in a Soddies uniform in tonight’s contest was Yassel Soler. The designated hitter got his night started with a bang, hammering a middle-in fastball deep to left field for a solo homer to lead off the second and extend the Amarillo advantage. The inning would not finish without another long ball as Carlos Virahonda homered for the second straight game, this time checking in with a two-run blast that brought home Jean Walters to push the lead to four.
A familiar face took the hill for Springfield as former Sod Poodle Daniel Eagen came into the game out of the bullpen to begin the fourth. He worked around a Walters bunt single to retire the side and struck out the side in the fifth, keeping the hosts within striking distance.
Brian Curley did his part on the mound for Amarillo as he trotted back out for his fifth inning of work, having yet to allow a run. While Springfield had been peppering balls over the yard all night, the right-hander locked in with a strikeout of Josiah Ragsdale and a 6-4-3 double play to get himself through another scoreless frame.
While Eagen was still holding Amarillo bats at bay, Joe Ariola jogged out of the bullpen in the sixth and retired all nine batters he faced over his three innings of relief work, striking out a trio of Cardinals along the way to maintain the four-run edge.
The Soddies had a pair of base hits to try to tack on some insurance runs, but were unable to cash them in. Amarillo then handed the ball over to Major League rehabber Ryan Thompson to pitch the ninth who struck out Jesus Baez to open the final frame. A flyout and groundout followed afterwards, capping the 4-0 shutout and forcing Game Three in Springfield.
POSTGAME NOTES
SOLER POWER: Launching a solo homer in the second inning tonight was Yassel Soler...in what was his first career start at the Double-A level, he became the first batter in Sod Poodles history to hit their first Double-A home run in the postseason.
YOU GET NOTHING: Amarillo shut out the Cardinals tonight, marking their second postseason shutout victory in club history (9/14/19 vs. TUL, Game 4)...it was their sixth shutout of 2026 and first shutout against Springfield since May 2, 2019 when they defeated the Cardinals 1-0 at HODGETOWN.