Trash Pandas Walk Off With Wild 2-1 Win

The Rocket City Trash Pandas got strong pitching to strand runners on base all night before getting the break they needed in the tenth to walk off with a 2-1 win over the Montgomery Biscuits in front of a lively crowd of 5,970 on Friday night at Toyota Field.

In the top of the tenth, new Trash Pandas reliever Luke Murphy (W, 2-2) immediately walked Ronny Simon to put runners on first and second. Murphy buckled down from there, striking out Junior Caminero, inducing a ground out from Austin Shenton, and striking out Tristan Peters to strand the go-ahead run on third base.

In the bottom of the inning, Jose Gomez placed a sacrifice bunt to move automatic runner Livan Soto to third with one out. Two hitters later with David Calabrese at the plate, a wild pitch by Biscuits reliever Nelson Alvarez (L, 3-1) allowed Soto to score, giving the Trash Pandas the thrilling win and sending the crowd at Toyota Field into a frenzy.

Trash Pandas starter Brett Kerry and Biscuits starter Mason Montgomery both were on their game from the start. Kerry worked around trouble early and often throughout the night. In the first, a pair of two out hits didn’t lead to any runs when Kerry struck out Mason Auer to get through the opening frame.

In the second, Rocket City drew first blood when Jeremiah Jackson crushed his second home run in as many days and fifth of the season, a 400-foot solo blast that left his bat at 110 miles per hour to give the Trash Pandas the early 1-0 lead.

The Biscuits responded in the fourth on back-to-back two-out doubles from Logan Driscoll and Heriberto Hernandez to tie the game at one off Kerry. An inning later, the visitors nearly had the lead when Caminero lined a double to the gap in left-center. Looking to score all the way from first, Erik Ostberg was thrown out at the plate on a strong relay from center fielder Bryce Teodosio to shortstop Kyren Paris, with catcher Edgar Quero applying the tag on a close play at home to keep the game tied.

Kerry ended a stellar start by retiring the side in both the sixth and seventh. In his longest start of the season, Kerry pitched seven innings, allowing one run on eight hits with no walks and seven strikeouts to keep the game close. Kelvin Caceres was first out of the Rocket City bullpen and kept the game tied with a clean eighth.

Montgomery threw 5.1 innings for the Biscuits, allowing one run on three hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. Carlos Garcia threw two scoreless relief innings to keep the game close but left in a jam.

In the bottom of the eighth, Rocket City threatened with a single by Gomez and a walk to David Calabrese to put two on with one out. Antonio Jimenez entered out of the Montgomery bullpen and walked Kyren Paris to load the bases. He got out of the jam by inducing a shallow fly out from Quero and a pop up to shortstop from Sonny DiChiara to keep the game tied at one.

Kenyon Yovan worked around danger in the ninth, walking two and striking out two as well in a scoreless innings. Enmanuel Mejia retired the Trash Pandas in order in the bottom half, sending the game to extra innings.

The Trash Pandas were limited to four hits in the win. The Rocket City pitching staff combined to strike out 11, leaving 10 Biscuits runners on base.

The Trash Pandas (30-36) continue the series with the Biscuits (34-32) with a single-admission doubleheader on Saturday night. First pitch of Game 1 at Toyota Field is set for 4:05 p.m. The second game will begin shortly after the conclusion of the first, but no earlier than 6:35 p.m. Josh Caray and Bryan Neece will be on the call for 103.9 FM THE UMP and 730 AM SportsRadio. The game will also be broadcast locally on WAAY 31.6, This TV. After Friday night’s game, fireworks will electrify the Rocket City sky, presented by SportsMED.

The Trash Pandas will be wearing Marvel Super Hero themed jerseys for the second game of the doubleheader as part of Marvel Defenders of the Diamond Night. Fans can bid on game-worn, autographed jerseys from Trash Pandas players and coaches by clicking HERE. Following the second game of the doubleheader, fireworks will amaze fans of all ages, presented by SAIC.