Once again when Amarillo needed him most, Spencer Giesting shoved, but tonight he had some help early. Before Spencer Giesting could even put his cape on tonight, the Amarillo offense finally popped early. The Sod Poodles hit 3 doubles off of Frisco starter Brett Anderson in the first inning alone, courtesy of Kristian Robinson, Christian Cerda, and Caleb Roberts. Amarillo would tally 5 hits in the first inning, giving them a 5-0 score before the Amarillo starter could even deliver a pitch. Before tonight Amarillo had only put up 5 total runs in the first 12 games combined, matching that total on the evening giving their best pitcher an lead early.
Spencer Giesting didn't waste time flashing his stuff in the first at bat striking out Ranger's super prospect Sebastian Walcott (video). Big Leaguer Wyatt Langford ripped a long and loud ball that almost everyone in the park thought was gone, but it turned out to be a single off the wall. Frisco would eventually load the bases, a situation that early in games hasn't been a problem for the left hander. Giesting has faced 7 batters this year with the bases loaded, and he has gotten every one of them out, striking out 3 of those batters. 2 of those at bats would occur tonight, as Giesting struck out the side in the 1st inning.
Giesting would go on to dominate Frisco in 6 innings of work, striking out a season high for the left hander himself and the team as a whole with 8 on the evening. Jose Cabrera had a 7 strikeout earlier in the week and Alec Baker had 7 of his own in a relief apperance the second game of the season, but Giesting one upped them tonight. Giesting's only earned run came after Sebastian Walcott opened up the 3rd inning with a first pitch 111 MPH double to left field, eventually coming in on a groundout out to make the score 6-1. The former Charlotte 49er has been a rock for Amarillo so far, collecting all 3 victories for the Sod Poodles while going 5, 6, and 6 innings in those starts with the latter being the most impressive by far against a talented Frisco lineup. Giesting dropped his ERA to 2.20 and his FIP to 2.89 after another spectacular start.
Have a night Caleb Roberts. Coming into Friday night Roberts was hitting .142 (6/42) on the season, with only 3 total extra base hits, the Amarillo first basemen matched that total on the evening, lacing 3 doubles, going 3/4 and driving in 2 of Amarillo's runs. After his first two doubles Roberts fouled a ball directly off of his kneecap and was on the ground for a minute before getting up and torching his final double to left field. Amarillo smashed a season high 7 doubles of the night making the Sod Poodles the only team in Double-A with multiple games of 6 or more two-baggers. LuJames Groover and Jose Fernandez registered multi-hit games of their own, and despite going hitless on the evening Gavin Conticello extended his RBI streak to 4 after a sacrifice fly in the 1st inning to get the scoring started. It took more late inning magic for Tommy Troy to extend his hitting streak, but he got it in the 9th inning when shot a single to center field to put Amarillo's last baserunner on of the night. The Sod Poodles put up consecutive nights less than 10 strikeouts, a catagory that they had led the Texas League by a good margin before Thursday night.
Both bullpen's looked sharp last night. Amarillo's combination of Alfred Morillo and Cesar Gomez didn't give up an earned run in their short outing after Giesting's Quality Start. Morillo came in to replace the starter with the bases loaded and Wyatt Langford at the plate and got the Texas Ranger to flyout for out number one before drawing back to back ground outs to only allow Osuna to score (who had reached on a Groover error the first batter of the evening). The Roughrider pen put on a great performance of their own after the Sod Poodles jumped all over Anderson early. Krauth, Lara, and Lobus wouldn't give up a single run in 6.1 innings of work, only giving up 2 hits while striking out 6, and walking 4 to close out the game.
Amarillo picked up only their 3rd win on the year, moving to 3-10 on the year and the loss dropped Frisco to 9-4.
Probable Pitchers:
Right Handed Pitcher Roman Angelo
Unlike Giesting Roman Angelo has gotten off to a rocky start on the year. Angelo got two hacks at Springfield last week and they took advantage of it, launching 7 home runs in those outings and hanging 16 earned runs in 7.1 innings pitched and allowed 18 hits. Angelo will look to bounce back and pick up his first win of the season against a Frisco lineup that will not include Wyatt Langford, but will have Sebastian Walcott who has hit everything hard this series and really this season, and recorded 39 extra base hits off of rightys just a season ago.
Left Handed Pitcher Mitch Bratt
The Rangers #21 Prospect delivered a quality start of his own in his last outing against a good Northwest Arkansas lineup going 6 innings, with 6 hits, 2 runs, 2 earned, 0 walks and 6 strikeouts. Bratt has allowed less than 2 runs in both of his outings so far in 2025. Bratt brings a fastball, changeup, slider combo to the table with his 6'1" frame and a relativly low effort delivery. Bratt has tossed 106 strikes in 153 (69% strike rate). Lefties have spelled serious trouble for the Amarillo left handers this year, only hitting .100 (6/60) and striking out 28 times this year. Sod Poodles right handers have hit in the past against Bratt. Christian Cerda and Kristian Robinson have found success against the Frisco left hander in the past including Robinson launching a homer against him in their minor league career.
