Trash Pandas Winning Streak Ended With 12-5 Loss

The Rocket City Trash Pandas’ four-game winning streak was snapped on Friday night with a 12-5 defeat to the Birmingham Barons in the fourth game of their six-game series in front of a crowd of 5,791 at Toyota Field.

Birmingham got off to a hot start in the top of the first against Trash Pandas starter Coleman Crow (L, 0-2). Lenyn Sosa led off with a single. Tyler Neslony followed with a two-run homer to right-center to give Birmingham the early 2-0 lead.

In the third, the Barons offense added to the lead as Sosa walked, Neslony singled, and Yoelqui Cespedes brought everyone home a three-run homer over the bullpen in left-center field to make it a 5-0 game.

The Trash Pandas got a run back in the bottom of the third when Kevin Maitan led off with a single and came around score on Aaron Whitefield’s double play ground out.

Birmingham again added on in the fifth on an RBI double from Neslony, who came home to score himself on an RBI single from Jose Rodriguez. That would be the end of Crow’s night. Over 4.2 innings, the righty allowed seven runs on eight hits with one walk and a season-high eight strikeouts to suffer his second loss of the season.

Down 7-1 in the sixth, the Trash Pandas looked to get back into the game as they loaded the bases with two outs for Maitan. But on his ground ball up the middle, Birmingham second baseman Jagger Rusconi made a glove flip to the shortstop Rodriguez to get the final out of the inning.

In relief for the Trash Pandas, Jack Dashwood allowed four runs on five hits while striking out four over 2.1 innings as the Barons increased the lead to 11-1.

The Trash Pandas got one back in the bottom of the eighth on Jose Gomez’s RBI fielder’s choice to score Bryce Teodosio with the second Rocket City run.

Luis Ledo struck out the side for the Trash Pandas in the eighth and Zach Linginfelter ended the game on the mound for the Trash Pandas, allowing a run in the ninth.

Trey Cabbage continued his torrid pace with a long three-run homer to right in the bottom of the ninth to cut the deficit to 12-5, the eventual final score. The home run is Cabbage’s Southern League leading eighth home run of the season to increase his RBI total to 21 on the season, also tops in the Southern League.

Despite the loss, Rocket City still leads the season series over Birmingham six games to one, with the teams meeting 23 more times during the 2022 season.

The Trash Pandas (12-7) and Barons (8-11) continue their series on Saturday night. First pitch at Toyota Field is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Josh Caray will be on the call for 103.9 FM THE UMP and 730 AM SportsRadio.

The game will also be televised locally on WAAY-31.6, This TV (Ch. 1181 on XFinity, Ch. 155 on WOW! Legacy, Ch. 45 on WOW'S TV+, Ch. 150 on Scottsboro Cable, Ch. 176 on Fayetteville Utilities).

After Saturday night’s game, fireworks will light up the Rocket City sky, courtesy of Outdoor Alabama. As part of Hunting and Fishing Night, fans can enter to win a Yeti Cooler at the Outdoor Alabama table.