The Arkansas Travelers defeated Amarillo in dominant fashion Wednesday night at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock. The Travelers jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in the second inning and never looked back.
With Arkansas already holding a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second, Leo Rivas blew the game open by hitting a grand slam off Sod Poodles starter Dylan Ray (0-2), who gave up 9 earned runs and walked 4 in just 3 1/3 innings. Amarillo trimmed the lead to 6-2 in the third inning when Seth Beer scored on an RBi single hit by Juan Centeno. However, the Sod Poodles’ momentum was quickly quelled in the bottom of the third when Robert Perez Jr. hit a three-run home run that extended the Travelers’ lead to 9-2.
Arkansas added to its lead by scoring three runs in the seventh, and another three runs in the eighth.
Five Travelers pitchers combined for nine strikeouts. Rob Kaminsky (3-1) was credited with the win for Arkansas. The Travelers have four of five games with four home games remaining on the regular-season schedule.