Gomez Provides Heroics In 6-5 Walk-Off Win

Although a late lead slipped away, the Rocket City Trash Pandas rallied to win with their final swing, walking off with a 6-5 win over the Mississippi Braves on Thursday night at Toyota Field in the second game of their six-game series.

Leading 5-4 in the ninth, the Trash Pandas turned to Ivan Armstrong (W, 2-3) in search of his first Double-A save. It wasn’t meant to be, as Tyler Tolve tied the game with a solo home run, his seventh of the year, to even the score at five.

The Rocket City offense quickly went to work in the bottom half against Braves reliever Kyle Wilcox. Sonny DiChiara got it started with a one-out single. Tucker Flint worked a walk to put runners on first and second, where pinch-runner Mariano Ricciardi entered for DiChiara. Jose Gomez then hit a soft single to right. Manager Andy Schatzley waved Ricciardi around third and he scored on a close play at the plate, giving the Trash Pandas the victory.

WALK(OFF) THE MOON 🌙 pic.twitter.com/aD9KeCxBgC

— Rocket City Trash Pandas (@trashpandas) August 11, 2023

Both pitchers got through the first two innings quickly, with Rocket City’s Cole Percival and Mississippi’s Nick Margevicius navigating through the top of the lineup with ease.

The M-Braves broke through in the top of the third, loading the bases with nobody out. Luke Waddell’s RBI fielder’s choice brought in the first run of the game. Percival limited the damage to just one run by striking out Tolve and getting Drew Lugbauer to fly out and end the inning.

Rocket City wouldn’t be behind for long. David Calabrese reached with a one-out and walk advanced to second on a wild pitch to start the bottom of the third. Margevicius got the second out then walked Nolan Schanuel to extend the inning. DiChiara followed with a line drive RBI single to left-center, plating Calabrese to even the score at one. Flint then crushed a three-run home run into orbit past right field, traveling an estimated 404 feet with an exit velocity of 107 miles per hour for a 4-1 Trash Pandas lead.

Pitching with the lead for the first time, Percival navigated through a leadoff single in the fourth for a scoreless frame. Bryce Teodosio led off the bottom of the inning with a walk, advanced to second on a balk, and later scored on Mac McCroskey’s RBI single to extend the Rocket City lead to 5-1 after four.

Percival quickly got through the fifth and got the first out in the sixth. But after a single and a walk, Percival was removed in favor of Luke Murphy. The Rocket City reliever struck out the first two batters he faced to end the inning with the 5-1 lead intact. In his third Trash Pandas start, Percival pitched 5.1 innings, giving up one run on four hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

Nick Jones was next out of the Trash Pandas bullpen and struck out three in a scoreless inning.

Kelvin Caceres entered in the eighth and struggled, allowing a solo homer to Jesse Franklin V and a solo shot to Hudson Potts to cut the Rocket City lead down to 5-4. The Braves would eventually tie it in the ninth before the Trash Pandas walked it off in the bottom half.

Offensively, Flint went 2-for-4 with the three-run home run, his ninth of the season. DiChiara and McCroskey also went 2-for-4, with McCroskey recording the first multi-hit game of his professional career.

The Trash Pandas (48-56, 17-18 second half) continue the series against the M-Braves (47-56, 14-21 second half) with a doubleheader on Friday. First pitch of Game 1 at Toyota Field is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. The second game will begin no earlier than 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.

At Friday’s games, 1,500 adults will receive a Trash Pandas Cooler Bag upon entry, presented by Alabama 811. Following the game, a stunning fireworks show will light up the sky above Toyota Field, also presented by Alabama 811.