Dominant Diaz Leads Trash Pandas To 5-1 Win

Behind another dominant start from Jhonathan Diaz, the Rocket City Trash Pandas shut down the Chattanooga Lookouts for a 5-1 win on Thursday night at AT&T Field.

In one of his best starts of the season, Diaz (W, 5-1) tossed seven strong innings, giving up just one run on five hits with one walk and nine strikeouts to earn his fourth consecutive win.

For the third consecutive game, it was the visiting Trash Pandas that got on the board first. Leading off the top of the third, Luis Aviles Jr. crushed the second pitch of the inning from Chattanooga starter and Huntsville native Graham Ashcraft over the right-center field fence for a solo home run, his 12th home run of the season. Later in the inning, Orlando Martinez came home to score on a wild pitch for the second Rocket City run.

In the bottom of the inning, the Lookouts also produced on the second pitch of the frame as Matt Lloyd took the 0-1 offering from Diaz deep to center for a solo home run to cut the Chattanooga deficit in half at 2-1.

The Lookouts continued to threaten off Diaz as a single and hit-by-pitch put runners on first and second with one out. But Diaz induced a double play ground ball from Chuckie Robinson to end the inning and maintain the one-run lead.

An inning later, Diaz again worked around a single, this time from Yoel Yanqui, to keep the Trash Pandas ahead.

In the fifth, the Trash Pandas added to the lead on a fielder’s choice ground out with the bases loaded off the bat of David MacKinnon to score Aviles Jr. from third and make it 3-1 Trash Pandas.

Pitching with the two-run lead restored, Diaz was at his sharpest. Robinson hit into his second double play of the night in the sixth to end another Chattanooga threat.Diaz ended his start by recording a pair of strikeouts in a scoreless seventh.

The Trash Pandas put the game out of reach in the eighth with a pair of runs on an RBI ground out from Michael Cruz and a passed ball from Lookouts catcher Jose Tello to score Ray-Patrick Didder.

In relief of Diaz, Jose Marte and Connor Higgins each pitched a scoreless inning to finish the win as the Trash Pandas improved their record back to .500 at 39-39.

Over four outings since returning from the injured list on July 16, Diaz has allowed just five earned runs over 25.0 innings for a 1.80 ERA along with 36 strikeouts to tie former teammate Cooper Criswell for the Rocket City franchise record with four wins in a row.

At the plate, Aviles Jr. led the way from the leadoff spot with a 3-for-5 performance including the solo home run and two runs scored. As a team, the Trash Pandas combined to draw eight walks while the pitching trio of Diaz, Marte, and Higgins struck out 14 Lookouts in the victory.

The Trash Pandas (39-39) continue their six-game series with the Lookouts (40-38) on Friday night. First pitch at AT&T Field is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. Josh Caray will be on the call for 103.9 FM THE UMP and 730 AM SportsRadio.