AMARILLO, TX (June 4, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (26-27) fell to the Tulsa Drillers (35-19), 7-3, on Thursday night at HODGETOWN. Despite an exceptional start from Daniel Eagen, Amarillo failed to keep Tulsa in the ballpark as the Sod Poodles losing streak extended to three games.
Just as they did in the first two games of the series, the Soddies opened the scoring, this time against a right-handed starter for Tulsa. Manuel Pena provided the first run of the night with a run-scoring base knock in the bottom of the first, and Amarillo doubled its lead in the second with an RBI single off the bat of Junior Franco.
However, in his second at-bat against Eagen, Elijah Hainline sent a slider that stayed on the inner half of the plate over the fence in left field for a game-tying two-run homer in the third.
Eagen was otherwise brilliant over his five-inning start, inducing plenty of whiffs throughout the Drillers lineup as he racked up double-digit strikeouts. The No. 7 Diamondbacks prospect completed five innings for the second time this season, pushing his workload to a season-high 86 pitches to do so.
The Soddies offense rewarded Eagen for his efforts immediately after his night was done in the bottom of the fifth, using their second leadoff triple of the night from Danny Serretti to set up an RBI single off the bat of Druw Jones in the next at-bat.
Now trailing yet again, the Drillers used another clutch two-run shot, this time off the bat of Jake Gelof to take a 4-3 lead. Tulsa’s power stroke continued in the frame after Yordin Chalas left the game due to injury, adding another two-run blast from Josue De Paula to extend their lead to three runs.
The fourth long ball of the night for the Drillers belonged to Frank Rodriguez, which came in the eighth inning. Payton Martin crossed the century mark in his pitch count to get through six frames, and as Tulsa went to the bullpen for the final three innings, Antonio Knowles and Cam Day combined to hold the Soddies hitless to extend the Drillers win streak to nine games.
The Sod Poodles will turn to Roman Angelo on the hill in an attempt to turn their fortunes around as the first half draws closer to completion.
POSTGAME NOTES
HOUSE OF PENA: Manuel Pena extended his Double-A lead in RBI with his 55th of the year on his run-scoring single in the first inning...he has now driven in a run in three straight games.
THREE’S COMPANY: Already leading the Texas League with 14 triples, the Sod Poodles extended that mark to 16 with three-baggers from Gavin Conticello and Danny Serretti...Amarillo is the only team in the Texas League to hit multiple triples in a game on three separate occasions this season.