Trash Pandas Drop Matinee In Biloxi 6-2
A rough first inning on the mound from starter Victor Mederos was too much for the Rocket City Trash Pandas to overcome in a 6-2 loss to the Biloxi Shuckers on Wednesday afternoon in the opener of a six-game series at MGM Park. Shuckers starter Carlos F. Rodriguez got the
A rough first inning on the mound from starter Victor Mederos was too much for the Rocket City Trash Pandas to overcome in a 6-2 loss to the Biloxi Shuckers on Wednesday afternoon in the opener of a six-game series at MGM Park.
Shuckers starter Carlos F. Rodriguez got the game started with a one, two, three top of the first. In the bottom of the inning, Jackson Chourio led off with a walk and stole second. Tyler Black opened the scoring with a two-run homer to right-center. Wes Clark followed with a solo home run of his own to right-center, giving Biloxi back-to-back homers and a 3-0 lead against Mederos.
The inning continued when Freddy Zamora was hit by a pitch. Carlos D. Rodriguez reached on an error to put two on with one out. Two hitters later, Zavier Warren cracked a three-run homer to right, doubling the Shuckers lead to 6-0 after one inning.
Mederos settled down after the rocky first. He didn’t give up a hit for the rest of his outing, which lasted five more innings. Over six innings, Mederos (L, 1-2) allowed six runs, three earned, on three hits, all home runs, with three walks and seven strikeouts to suffer his second loss of the season.
The Trash Pandas got on the board on the fourth against Rodriguez with Edgar Quero’s first Double-A home run, a line drive solo shot down the right field line. That was the only hit Rodriguez (W, 1-1) allowed, giving up the one run with two walks and six strikeouts over six innings to earn the win, his first of the season.
Rocket City got one more back in the seventh with a double from David Calabrese and a two-out RBI single to right from Kevin Maitan, bringing the score to 6-2 against reliever Robbie Baker.
Dakota Donovan was first out of the Rocket City bullpen and worked around a couple baserunners for a scoreless seventh. Brandon Dufault did the same in the eighth to maintain the four-run deficit.
The Trash Pandas threatened in the ninth, putting two on with one out against Biloxi reliever Cam Robinson. But the visitors were unable to get any closer, as Calabrese and Maitan struck out to end the game.
Rocket City was held to four hits in the loss, with Quero’s home run and Calabrese’s double marking the only extra-base hits. Kyren Paris went 0-for-3 with a walk and stole his team-leading 10th base of the season.
The Trash Pandas (14-14) continue their series in Biloxi with a doubleheader against the Shuckers (16-12) on Thursday night. First pitch of Game 1 at MGM Park is set for 5:35 p.m. The second game will follow shortly after the conclusion of the first. Josh Caray will be on the call for 103.9 FM THE UMP and 730 AM SportsRadio.