The Arkansas Travelers again failed to maintain an early lead fell to the Amarillo Sod Poodles on Friday night at Hodge-town Stadium in Amarillo, Texas.
For the second night in a row, the Travelers took an early 2-0 lead, this time on a 2-run home run from Josh Morgan off Sod Poodles starter Luke Albright in the second inning.
Arkansas extended the lead to 4-0 in the fourth before Amarillo responded on a 2-run homer from Deyvison De Los Santos.
In the top of the eighth, Morgan drove in another run on an RBI single that scored Kaden Polcovich and gave Arkansas a 5-2 lead. But the Sod Poodles had a response in bottom of the inning. Following a wild pitch by Travelers reliever Jorge Benitez that scored a run, Neyfy Castillo lined a single to left that drove in two more runs for Amarillo and tied the game at 5-5. One batter later, Juan Centeno smacked a double center that scored Castillo and gave the Sod Poodles their first lead.
Christian Montes De Oca came on for Amarillo in the top of the ninth and earned the save, striking out Morgan for the final out. Conor Grammes was credited with the win for the Sod Poodles (4-2), while Benitez (2-3) took the loss for Arkansas.
The Travelers resume their series against the Sod Poodles at 7:05 p.m. Central today.