AMARILLO, TX (July 30, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (16-14, 52-46) defeated the San Antonio Missions (13-17, 44-55), 6-4, on Thursday night at HODGETOWN. In a well-rounded effort, Amarillo extended its win streak to four games to stay atop the rest of the field in the race for the Texas League South Division second half crown.
Right-hander Brian Curley toed the HODGETOWN slab for the first time in his career, but ran into trouble when Junior Franco overran a fly ball down the left field line that led to a leadoff triple in the top of the second inning. San Antonio would later bring in the runner on a two-out single from Chris Sargent.
The Soddies would not trail for long, using solo home runs from Angel Ortiz and Jean Walters to give Curley a one-run lead in the home half of the second. Amarillo padded its lead two innings later after getting two of the first three hitters aboard with another extra-base hit from Ortiz and a base hit by Franco. Both men crossed home plate on RBI singles by Walters and Jesus Valdez.
Curley settled back into the game, facing the minimum from the start of the third inning until the end of the fifth. The No. 15 D-backs prospect went back out to the mound for his sixth inning of work now with a four-run cushion after Druw Jones drove in the fifth Sod Poodles run of the night in the prior half inning. However, after two hits to open the frame and his pitch count at 88, manager Javier Colina opted for Josh Grosz out of the bullpen.
Grosz dealt with command issues early on in his outing, throwing two wild pitches that allowed runners to move from second base to third. The first ball to the backstop allowed Tirso Ornelas to score on a Braedon Karpathios sacrifice fly, while the second set up Jake Cunningham to be plated on Ryan Jackson’s run-scoring single.
There would be no shutdown inning for the Missions in the home half of the sixth thanks to Gavin Logan’s solo shot to the opposite field off Ian Koenig. Kai Murphy traded a home run with the Amarillo backstop in San Antonio’s next turn to bat in the top of the seventh, taking Grosz deep to right center field to make it a 6-4 game.
The Murphy long ball led off the frame, but Grosz was able to retire the next three batters to end his night. Carlos Rey was next in relief, who worked around a leadoff walk to strand a runner on third with the help of two strikeouts.
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Sandro Santana** was called upon for his first save opportunity with the Sod Poodles and completed the task, keeping the tying run at the plate by catching Carson Tucker looking for the final out.
POSTGAME NOTES
ANGEL EYES: Angel Ortiz has been swinging a hot bat with the Sod Poodles in his second stint with the team this season since July 24...in his seven games this month with Amarillo, he owns a .556 slugging percentage and .832 OPS after recording a double and a home run in Thursday’s game.
SMOOTH: Sandro Santana recorded his first career Double-A save tonight, putting a bow on what has been a brilliant July for the left-hander...the No. 26 Diamondbacks prospect posted an 0.82 ERA (1 ER/11.0 IP) for the month, one of only three Texas League relievers with a sub-1.00 ERA (min. 11.0 IP).