Patience, Speed Power 7-4 Trash Pandas Win

MADISON, Alabama – With a good eye at the plate and fast legs on the basepaths, the Rocket City Trash Pandas came from behind to defeat the Tennessee Smokies 7-4 in the third game of their six-game series at Toyota Field on Thursday night.

As a team, the Trash Pandas stole a club-record seven bases in the victory, passing the previous high of six set on August 13, 2021 at Tennessee.

Tennessee opened the scoring in the top of the second against Sam Bachman on Chase Strumpf’s solo home run to left center, his 16th of the year.

The Trash Pandas responded with persistence and hustle in the bottom of the frame against Smokies starter D.J. Herz. Ryan Aguilar was a hit by a pitch and Jose Gomez walked to put runners on first and second. After a double steal moved the runners to second and third, Herz threw a wild pitch to allow Aguilar to come in with the tying run. Jordyn Adams then took a walk of his own. Herz looked to have Adams picked off first. While Adams was caught between first and second, Gomez sprinted to the plate and slid home safely for a steal of home, with Adams reaching second on the second double steal of the inning for a 2-1 Rocket City lead.

Bachman got a double play to get out of a jam in the third. But in the fourth, an error negated another potential double play, putting runners on first and second with nobody out. Jake Washer capitalized for Tennessee, tying the game with an RBI single to center. Bachman was removed with one out and a runner on second. Jack Dashwood was first out of the bullpen and got the final two outs to keep the score tied.

On the second pitch in the top of the fifth, Alexander Canario crushed a long solo home run, his 19th of the season, to restore the Tennessee lead at 3-2. An inning later, Tennessee doubled the advantage to 4-2 on Jake Slaughter’s two-out RBI single to left.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Trash Pandas again proved that the best offense is patience to even the score against Smokies reliever Kyle Johnson. Four consecutive walks began the inning, with Gomez taking the fourth one to bring in a run. A double play ground ball plated the tying run, with Torii Hunter Jr. coming in to even the score at 4-4 after six.

Luke Murphy was next into the game and threw a scoreless seventh to keep the game tied. Leading off the bottom of the inning in his Angels organizational debut, Logan O’Hoppe took a walk to get it started. Preston Palmeiro followed with the decisive swing, a 378-foot two-run homer to left that left his bat at 102 miles per hour to put Rocket City ahead. The home run was his seventh of the season. Hunter Jr. continued the barrage of hitting with a triple to center and Aguilar brought him home with a single that deflected off Smokies reliever Bailey Horn, giving the Trash Pandas a 7-4 lead after seven.

Eric Torres was called on in the eight and worked around baserunners in both the eighth and ninth, recording four of six outs with strikeouts to finish the win and earn his Southern League-leading 12th save of the season.

Offensively, the Trash Pandas drew nine walks as a team while stealing a franchise-record seven bases in the win. Gomez led the way by going 1-for-2 with an RBI, two walks, and three stolen bases in the win. Soto went 1-for-4 and stole a pair while O’Hoppe went 0-for-2 with two walks and a run in his first game with the Trash Pandas. On the mound, Murphy (W, 7-2) picked up his team-leading seventh win of the season with the scoreless seventh.

The Trash Pandas (56-43, 15-15 second half) continue their series with the Smokies (54-45, 17-13 second half) on Friday 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.

Following Friday night’s matchup, fireworks will light up the Rocket City sky, courtesy of Budweiser.