Trash Pandas Drop Finale In Tennessee 12-5

The Rocket City Trash Pandas struggled out of the gate and couldn’t mount much of a comeback, suffering a 12-5 loss to the Tennessee Smokies in the finale of a six-game series on Sunday afternoon at Smokies Stadium.

The Trash Pandas ended their first trip to Tennessee with a six-game split against their North Division rivals and currently sit seven and a half games behind the Smokies in the second half North Division standings with 25 games remaining in the regular season.

Rocket City starter Cole Percival got off to a shaky start with a double, a walk, and a hit batter loading the bases with one out. BJ Murray took a bases-loaded walk to drive in the first run of the game. Cole Roederer singled on a ground ball that deflected off Percival to plate two more and Nelson Maldonado’s sacrifice fly made it 4-0 after one inning.

Tennessee continued to add on in the second on an RBI ground out from Haydn McGeary and a two-run double by Murray to make it a seven-run game. Percival (L, 1-1) was pulled after two innings, allowing seven runs, four earned, on four hits with three walks and no strikeouts for his first Rocket City loss.

John Swanda was first out of the Trash Pandas bullpen and surrendered a two-run homer to Jordan Nwogu in the third as the Smokies increased their lead to nine.

Rocket City finally broke through against Tennessee starter Kohl Franklin in the top of the fourth. Kyren Paris was hit by a pitch, Gabe Matthews singled, and Tucker Flint walked to load the bases. Jose Gomez got the Trash Pandas on the board with an infield single up the middle and a wild pitch plated Matthews to make it 9-2 before a double play got the Smokies out of the inning.

Swanda limited the damage over the rest of his outing. Over three innings, he allowed two runs on three hits with one walk and three strikeouts. McGeary got the Smokies into double digits with a solo home run off Jack Dashwood in the sixth.

The Trash Pandas used the long ball to cut into the deficit. Tyler Payne cranked a 410-foot two-run shot to left against his former team, his second homer of the season, to make it 10-4 in the seventh. An inning later, Sonny DiChiara blasted his sixth home run of the season, a 413-foot drive over the left-center field wall to cut the Smokies deficit in half at 10-5.

Tennessee capped the game’s scoring with two runs in the bottom of the eighth against Nick Jones. Porter Hodge finished the win with a scoreless ninth.

Offensively, Gomez went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI for the Trash Pandas. Paris went 1-for-3 with a run to extend his on-base streak to 22 games while Matthews, DiChiara, and Payne each went 1-for-4 with a run scored in the loss.

All nine Tennessee starters recorded at least one hit in the win. Reliever Riley Martin (W, 5-1) earned the victory with two scoreless innings.

The Trash Pandas (52-61, 21-23 second half) return home to begin a six-game series against the Birmingham Barons on Tuesday 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 be broadcast locally on WAAY 31.6, This TV. At Tuesday’s game, 1,500 adults ages 18 and up will receive a limited-edition Trash Pandas Beach Tote bag upon arrival, presented by SAIC.