Late Barons Surge Sinks Trash Pandas In 10-4 Loss

The Rocket City Trash Pandas bullpen struggled in the eighth and ninth innings, turning a close game into a 10-4 loss to the Birmingham Barons in the opener of a six-game series on Tuesday night at Toyota Field.

Birmingham opened the scoring in the top of the second on a solo home run from Tim Elko, his third of the season to put the visitors ahead off Robinson Pina.

Birmingham righty Cristian Mena retired the first eight hitters he faced before a two-out double from Mac McCroskey in the third. The Barons doubled the lead in the fourth, with former Trash Pandas catcher Edgar Quero cashing in for an RBI single to make it 2-0.

The Trash Pandas finally broke through with two outs in the bottom of the fifth. Bryce Teodosio reached with an infield single and moved to second on an error. McCroskey followed with a ground rule double to deep center, his second double of the night, to cut the Barons lead in half at 2-1.

The Barons responded in the sixth. Jose Rodriguez started the inning with a double and scored on an RBI single from Bryan Ramos. Wilfred Veras followed with a double off the wall in left-center to score Ramos for a 4-1 advantage. Luke Murphy entered and was able to clean up the mess, stranding runners on second and third with a pair of strikeouts to end the inning.

Over 5.1 innings, Pina (L, 3-3) allowed four earned runs on six hits, walking one and striking out five to suffer the loss, his third of the season.

Rocket City got one back when Kyren Paris led off the bottom of the sixth with his 14^th home run of the season, a 370-foot solo blast over The Bullpen Bar in left field to make it 4-2. Mena (W, 7-6) ended the sixth with the two-run lead. He would earn the win after allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits with one walk and six strikeouts over six innings.

Murphy fired a scoreless seventh to end the night with 1.2 innings, recording all five of his outs with strikeouts. Elko plated one more against Kelvin Caceres in the top of the eighth with an RBI double off the wall in center. The Barons put the game out of reach in the ninth against Erik Martinez on a two-run double from Veras and RBI singles from Elko and Luis Mieses to double their run total at 10-2.

Down to their last out, the Trash Pandas ended the night’s scoring with a 414-foot two-run homer to right from Tucker Flint, his 10^th of the season and sixth against Birmingham to make it 10-4.

Out of the Barons bullpen, relievers Chase Plymell, Haylen Green, and Jonah Scolaro combined to pitch the final three innings to finish the victory.

McCroskey was the only Rocket City player to record more than one hit, going 2-for-3 with two doubles and an RBI in the loss. In his Double-A debut, D’Shawn Knowles went 1-for-4 with a run scored at the plate.

The Trash Pandas (52-62, 21-24 second half) continue the series with the Birmingham Barons (42-73, 17-29 second half) on Wednesday 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 be broadcast locally on WAAY 31.6, This TV.

Wednesday’s game is the final All You Can Eat Wednesday of the 2023 season. All tickets are specially priced to include an unlimited selection of food including hot dogs, burgers, fries, nachos, popcorn, and fountain drinks. Click HERE to learn more about All You Can Eat Wednesdays. At the game, 1,500 adults ages 18 and older will receive a Trash Pandas Yard Mug upon entry, presented by Milagro Tequila.

Wednesday is also a Tito’s Dog Day, where fans can bring their furry friends and sit with them on the Budweiser Berm. A $1 donation per dog is requested, benefitting Rocket City Rescue. During the game as part of Wheels Up Wednesday, fans can enter to win a $250 flight voucher from Breeze Airways. The winner will be announced during the game.