Late Home Run Dooms Trash Pandas in 3-2 Loss

MADISON, Alabama – Despite a pair of solo home runs, the Rocket City Trash Pandas dropped a tightly contested affair to the Birmingham Barons 3-2 in the third game of their series in front of a crowd of 6,183 on Thursday night at Toyota Field.

With the game tied 2-2 in the eighth, Rocket City reliever Boomer Biegalski surrendered a solo home run to Birmingham third baseman Laz Rivera to put the visitors in front 3-2.

Pitching with the lead, Birmingham reliever Bennett Sousa kept the Trash Pandas off the board in the eighth and Ofreidy Gomez (S, 1) did the same in the same in the ninth to finish the win for the Barons.

Birmingham wasted no time in scoring first as Zack Granite led off the game with a walk against Rocket City starter Denny Brady. Granite then stole second and come around to score on a ground out from Romy Gonzalez. JJ Muno doubled the Barons’ lead in the second as he walked and later scored on a throwing error from Brady.

Brady pitched a scoreless third inning to end his start. In his second Double-A appearance, Brady gave up two runs, one earned, with two walks and three strikeouts without giving up a hit over 3.0 innings.

The Trash Pandas used the long ball to get back in the game against Birmingham starter Konnor Pilkington. Ray-Patrick Didder trimmed the two-run deficit in half in the third with his first home run of the season, a line drive blast that just cleared the left-field wall.

An inning later, Ibandel Isabel tied the game with one monstrous swing. On Pilkington’s 1-0 pitch, Isabel unloaded for a towering 456-foot solo home run that completely left Toyota Field to even the score 2-2. Isabel’s second home run of the season left his bat at 116 mile per hour.

Biegalski (L, 0-1) was first out of the City bullpen and kept the game tied for four innings before Rivera’s home run in the eighth. Over 5.0 relief innings, he gave up one run on two hits with two walks and four strikeouts but was saddled with the loss. Nathan Bates kept the deficit at one run with a clean ninth. However, the Rocket City bats were unable to mount a comeback.

Isabel led the way for Rocket City by going 2-for-4 with a home run and a single while Didder finished 1-for-2 with a home run and a walk. The Trash Pandas pitching trio of Brady, Biegalski, and Bates held the Barons to just two hits in the loss.

The Trash Pandas (9-12) and Barons (14-7) meet for the fourth time on Friday night. First pitch from Toyota Field is set 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.