Power, Pitching Blast Trash Pandas Past Barons 11-0

The Rocket City Trash Pandas once again led from start to finish, getting contributions from everyone in their lineup while five pitchers combined on a four-hit shutout in a 11-0 victory over the Birmingham Barons on Friday night at Regions Field.

For the third time in four games, the Trash Pandas took the lead in their opening turn at the plate. This time, they did so without the benefit of a hit. Zach Neto led off the game with a walk against Birmingham starter Matt Thompson. Neto moved to second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on a ground out from Orlando Martinez, and came home on another wild pitch from Thompson. From there, Thompson walked Kyren Paris, Tucker Flint, Bryce Teodosio, and Ryan Aguilar to bring in a second run. That would be it for Thompson (L, 0-1), as the Barons went to the bullpen in the first inning for the second straight night.

Staked to an early lead, Rocket City starter Coleman Crow was spectacular. He fanned a pair in the first, then struck out three in a row following a leadoff walk in the second.

Rocket City used their bats to increase the lead in the third. Aguilar got it started with a leadoff walk. Three hitters later, David Calabrese lined a double into the right field corner, scoring Aguilar for a 3-0 lead. Myles Emmerson followed with a double of his own to right-center, doubling the Rocket City lead to 4-0.

Crow continued his brilliance with a one, two, three third. A one-out walk in the fourth was erased when Crow picked Yoelqui Cespedes off first base for the second out before Luis Mieses flied out to end the frame. The Barons finally got their first hit of the night in the fourth on Taylor Snider’s leadoff single, snapping a streak of 10 hitless innings for Crow to start the 2023 season.

Not deterred, Crow ended his outing on a high note. The next two hitters were quickly dispatched, and then Crow picked Snyder off between first and second base, ending the inning. Crow (W, 1-0) finished with five scoreless innings, allowing one hit and walking three while striking out seven to earn his first victory of the season. Over two starts, Crow has pitched 11 scoreless frames, giving up one hit, walking five, and striking out 13.

The Trash Pandas put the game out of reach for good with the long ball. Myles Emmerson got the sixth underway with a single. Zach Neto followed with a towering two-run homer into the Birmingham bullpen in right-center, giving the Trash Pandas a 6-0 lead. Two hitters later, Paris launched a home run of his own into the left field stands, his second homer of the season.

An inning later, Rocket City continued the onslaught. Teodosio got the inning going with a double. Calabrese was hit by a pitch. Emmerson singled home Teodosio to make it 8-0 against reliever Gil Luna. In his second at-bat in as many innings, Neto crushed his second home run of the night, a line drive down the left field line for a three-run homer and his first career multi-home run game, bringing the score to 11-0 at the seventh inning stretch.

In relief for the Trash Pandas, José Soriano fired a scoreless sixth and Kenyon Yovan did the same in the seventh. Eric Torres was next out of the bullpen and struck out three in the eighth. Making his second appearance of the season, Ben Joyce finished the game with a pair of strikeouts in a clean ninth. The five Rocket City pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts in the second shutout of the season, with no pitcher allowing more than one hit.

Offensively for the Trash Pandas, all nine starters recorded either a hit or an RBI. Neto led the way by going 3-for-4 with a career-high five RBI. His three homers led the Trash Pandas through the first week of the season. From the bottom of the order, Emmerson went 3-for-5 with a double, two RBI, and two runs scored. Paris and Martinez each recorded a pair of hits in the victory, the Trash Pandas’ third in four games in Birmingham.

The Trash Pandas (4-3) and Barons (2-5) meet again on Saturday night with a 6:30 p.m. matchup at Regions Field. Josh Caray will be on the call for 103.9 FM THE UMP and 730 AM SportsRadio.