The Springfield Cardinals lost two out of their three games at Route 66 Stadium to the Amarillo Sod Poodles this weekend to ultimately lose the six-game series 4-2.

Following a 4-2 series loss to the Frisco RoughRiders to kick off the month of June, the Cardinals returned to Springfield with hopes of getting back on track against the team it swept in a three-game set on the road back at the beginning of the season.

Despite some flashes of greatness, the club failed to outperform the determined Sod Poodles.

Friday, June 12: Amarillo Sod Poodles 3, Springfield Cardinals 18

After getting beat by a combined 19 runs on Wednesday and Thursday, the Cardinals bounced back on Friday, June 12, to beat the Sod Poodles 18-3 for their first victory as the Ozarks Snipe Hunters.

The Cardinals teed off on the Sod Poodles arms for the club’s most runs in a single game since Aug. 24, 2022. Though the high-powered run production allowed the bats to hit this impressive mark, the total of 18 runs seems a bit inflated for how the game played out.

Springfield did erupt at the dish – crushing five home runs and racking up 16 hits. However, eight of the 18 runs came from baserunners who reached base via a free pass, and the team scored its last five runs off Sod Poodles position player Jesus Valdez. Two of the runs allowed by Amarillo were also unearned.

Although the Cardinals led the whole way after third baseman Dakota Harris’ two-run blast that opened the scoring in the second, 16 of their 18 runs came across from frames five and beyond, as the crew oscillated between three and five-run innings.

Right fielder Jose Cordoba hit two long balls out of the ninth spot in the lineup and finished with a game-high five runs batted in and four hits in five at-bats.

Center fielder Miguel Ugueto and shortstop Jon Jon Gazdar drove in three runs each, and left fielder Zach Levenson and Harris both plated a pair. Gazdar, Levenson and Harris all hit the ball out of the park, and Ugueto racked up his RBIs from a base-clearing double in the sixth.

The team’s pitching combination of Braden Davis, Ryan Murphy and Michael Watson allowed two earned runs for the entirety of the contest – both of which were charged to Murphy, who earned the win out of the bullpen.

Davis had his stuff working well in this outing, punching out a game-high six batters, allowing only four baserunners and ultimately falling just one out shy of earning the win. The run he allowed was the lone unearned score allowed by Springfield in the contest.

Watson struck out three and permitted three walks in his two innings of work to conclude the evening.

5,077 fans – the second-highest attendance total of the season for the Cardinals – witnessed the beatdown to bring the total attendance mark over the 7 million threshold all-time for the Springfield organization, dating back to 2005.

Saturday, June 13: Amarillo Sod Poodles 6, Springfield Cardinals 2

The Sod Poodles got all the run support they needed in the first inning with three runs that propelled them to a 6-2 victory over the Cardinals on Saturday, June 13.

Similar to Thursday evening, Springfield could not seem to crack the code on the Amarillo starter, as a second inning solo home run from third baseman Trey Paige was the only run the Cardinals were able to score off the Sod Poodles’ Ashton Izzi.

The Springfield offense failed to attract very many opportunities with runners in scoring position, and, when it did, the lineup struggled to cash in with any runs, going just 1-for-6 in those spots throughout the evening.

Chen-Wei Lin got the start for the Cardinals and accepted the loss after four innings of work. The 6-foot-7-inch right-hander from Taiwan walked five on his way to allowing four runs, three of which were earned.

Lin’s successor, Andrew Schultz, took over at the commencement of the fifth frame and recorded just one out against six batters. However, fortunately for the former independent ball slinger, righty Domenic Picone did not let any of Schultz’s three inherited runners come across, as he retired the first and second hitters in the Amarillo order to end the inning.

Picone struck out five, including a stretch of four in a row from the last out of the fifth through the last out of the sixth, and did not permit a single Sod Poodle to reach base.

Gazdar’s seventh inning solo blast, though productive, did little to chip away at the hole Springfield had already dug itself into.

Paige and Harris led Springfield by getting on base three times and logging two hits a piece. Other than the aforementioned home runs, the designated hitter, Graysen Tarlow, and Paige yielded the lone Cardinals extra-base hits with doubles in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively.

Springfield undoubtedly missed the presence of its star catching prospect Rainiel Rodriguez in this game, as the lineup seemed to be missing a core piece of its efficiency.

Sunday, June 14: Amarillo Sod Poodles 5, Springfield Cardinals 4 (10 innings)

In their first game back with their regular identity, the Cardinals let a one-run lead slip away in the eighth inning and eventually dropped the contest to the Sod Poodles 5-4 in 10 innings.

Rodriguez slid safely into home face-first, popped up and clapped his hands twice in exclamation after scoring on a sacrifice fly from Ugueto to put Springfield ahead 4-3 in the seventh. The energy and momentum seemed palpable with the pink-covered Barbie night crowd of 4,016 at Route 66 Stadium.

However, Rodriguez’s score proved to be the final Cardinal run of the night. From there, Springfield’s lefty reliever Jack Findlay, who possesses an ERA of 2.41 with the club, uncharacteristically allowed the Sod Poodles to double home the tying run in the next half-inning. 

Amarillo then hit its second sacrifice fly of the contest in the 10th off righty reliever Randel Clemente, who fell victim to the extra-inning runner starting the frame on second base scoring to hand him the loss, to take the lead for good.

Once again, the Cardinals failed to take advantage of the majority of their golden opportunities, as they concluded the game 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position and also hit into three inning-ending double plays.

Designated hitter Ryan Campos delivered in the clutch twice, with RBI singles in the first and seventh frames. Harris knocked in the team’s only other run with an RBI single that scored Ugueto in the sixth.

Rodriguez tied the game-high in hits with three, as Gazdar reached thrice with a double (Springfield’s lone extra-base hit), a walk and a single. Paige also finished the evening with two knocks.

Starting pitcher Mason Molina performed better than his line might indicate, but both leadoff free passes he issued in the first two innings came around to score, accounting for the better part of his run total of three across four frames.

The former Arkansas Razorback did manage to keep the Sod Poodles off-balance quite often though, as half of his outs resulted in strikeouts.

Righty reliever Hunter Hayes redeemed himself with two scoreless innings after his rough outing against the same opponent earlier in the week. High-leverage arm Darlin Saladin contributed 1.2 IP of scoreless ball to give the offense a chance to score in the eighth and ninth innings, but the bats did not come through.

Final thoughts

Although both the pitching staff and the offense have had their fair share of shortcomings for the Cardinals so far this season, the bats should take most of the responsibility for the team’s recent struggles. 

With this defeat, the club has now scored four or fewer runs in seven of its last nine games. It is not a coincidence that the team is 2-7 during that stretch, with the only two victories yielding a combined 27 runs.

Rodriguez has true promise to go a long way in this game. Going 10-for-23 in the series, the 19-year-old catcher displayed his greatness this week. Even when he did not come through, his at-bats showed maturity and consistency, as he hit the ball hard pretty much every time he came to the plate.

Harris finished the set 9-for-21 and even showcased some power by hitting the ball out of the park on Friday. He also continues to demonstrate reliability on the field with his trustworthy hands and versatility on the infield.

Other players throughout the lineup produced good moments at times in the week, but the results are simply inconsistent. When Rodriguez was out of the lineup on Saturday, it seemed pretty bleak that the crew would be able to score even four runs let alone the seven it would have needed to win.

Of course, losing outfielder Travis Honeyman due to an injury in Thursday’s contest hurt the team’s efficiency by gutting out a hitter near the middle of the order, but it still seems like the offense underperformed against a pitching staff that possesses the third-highest ERA in the Texas League.

The pitching staff was far from flawless this week, but it felt like the arms still did enough for the Cardinals to at least split the set. For the hurlers, the walks remain one of the biggest issues, as the team ranks in the bottom half of the league in base on balls.

The Cardinals head back on the road this week to take on the Wichita Wind Surge for a six-game series. Game one begins on Tuesday, June 16, with first pitch slated for 6:35 p.m.