Game Info: Sunday, July 20 vs. Columbus (ATL) Doubleheader: 12:05 PM: Toyota Field
SL Rocket City Trash Pandas

Game Info: Sunday, July 20 vs. Columbus (ATL) Doubleheader: 12:05 PM: Toyota Field

Published on July 20, 2025 under Southern League (SL)
Rocket City Trash Pandas News Release


Sunday, July 20, 2025 - 12:05 PM Doubleheader - Toyota Field - Madison, Alabama

Matchup: Rocket City Trash Pandas - LAA (7-12, 31-56, 4 th SL North, 5.0 GB) vs. Columbus Clingstones (10-9, 36-49, 2 nd SL South, 1.5 GB)

Pitching Matchups:

Game 1: LHP Mitch Farris (0-6, 5.04) // RHP Lucas Braun (4-2, 3.99)

Game 2: LHP Nick Jones (1-2, 4.35) // RHP Ian Mejia (9-1, 1.89

Game: 88/89 of 137 - Second Half: 20/21 of 69 - Home Game: 44/45 of 69

TV/Radio: WAAY-TV "MORE" 31.6, Bally Sports Live, MiLB.TV, Talk Radio WZZN 97.7 HD-2

TODAY'S PROMOTIONS:

Sunday, July 20 | First Pitch: 12:05 pm | Gates Open: 11:00 am | Trustmark VIP Gates: 11:00 am

Lunáticos de Rocket City Day: Rocket City will wear Lunáticos uniforms for the second of three Sundays this season. The Lunáticos moniker pays tribute to North Alabama's growing and diverse community, allowing everyone to show off their wild side at Toyota Field.

Los Amigos Mariachi Band will perform, and Shirley's Facepainting will be available.

Food trucks on site will be El Palomino #2 and Sabor Latino Taqueria

Other vendors on the Bill Penney include Sevini Boutique, Michelle's Sweet Creations, Clinica Medica Moscati, Mama Faye's, Stucchi's Jewelry, Rena's Homemade Butter Rolls, and Ashakiran

Milagro Cups Giveaway and Drink Special: The first 1,500 adults, 21 and over, get a Milagro Cup and $6 Milagro and Lemonade fill-ups, with $1 going to Hurricane Relief throughout the game.

Margaritaville Night & Jersey Auction (Game 2): Trash Pandas will wear Margaritaville-themed jerseys during game two of the doubleheader, which will be auctioned off, presented by First Stop, with proceeds benefiting the Center for the Developmentally Disabled in North Central Alabama. The auction is live, both in-person and online at pandaritaville.givesmart.com

Post-Game Kids Run the Bases: Kids can run the bases at Toyota Field after game two of the doubleheader, presented by Listerhill Credit Union! Sprocket's Kids' Club members can skip to the front of the line by presenting their ID cards.

FOR STARTERS: The Rocket City Trash Pandas wrap up a weekend series against the Atlanta Braves' affiliate, Columbus Clingstones with game two and three of the three-game set. Rocket City is coming off a 3-3 series split in Chattanooga (July 8-13), before the All-Star break, and kicks off the first three of 15 second-half matchups with Columbus. The Pandas will head to Synovus Park for the first time from August 5-10, then host the Clingstones again for a six-game set at Toyota Field, August 16-21.

WASHED OUT ON SATURDAY: George Klassen The Trash Pandas suffered their first weather postponment of the second half on Saturday. This season, Rocket City has had 16 home games impacted by rain delays or postponements, adding up to 9 hours and 2 minutes of total delay time. According to wunderground.com, rain has been recorded on 23 out of 43 home game days.

"In order to buy runs, you need to get on base": Five Trash Pandas enter Sunday's game with on-base streaks of five games or more. David Mershon leads the way with an 11-game on base streak. Also riding active streaks are Oscar Colás and Nelson Rada (8 games each), along with Travis Blankenhorn and Sam Brown (6 games each). Denzer Guzman has reached in 13 of 14 games, and Joe Redfield has been on in 11 of 12.

DID YOU ORDER SOME HITS?: The Trash Pandas are 3-1 over their last four games, racking up 45 hits-an average of 11.3 per game. Despite playing one fewer game, that total ranks T-2nd in all of Double-A (alongside Amarillo), trailing only Birmingham's 48.

Denzer Guzman está ardiendo: The San Pedro de Macorís native leads the league, and is 3rd in Double-A with a 1.142 OPS in July. He also leads the league, and is T-1st in Double-A doubles with seven this month. On July 13 at Chattanooga he logged the second 5+-hit game in team history, finishing 5-for-5 with three doubles, a home run, and four RBI. He now ranks among league leaders in several offensive categories, including doubles (2nd, 21), extra-base hits (2nd, 32), and RBIs (T-5th, 46), total bases (T-6th, 122), and home runs (T-8th, 10).

SOUND THE BLANKENHORN: OF Travis Blankenhorn has reached base in 15 of his last 16 games, and 23 of 26 since returning from the Injured List on June 13; the veteran outfielder is tops in the league, and is 4th in Double-A with a 1.005 OPS, and batting .283 (26-for-92) with six doubles, eight home runs, 20 RBIs, and 15 walks. In the series at Montgomery, June 24-29, he finished 7-for-25 with a double, five home runs, nine RBIs, and 1.360 OPS ... Blankenhorn became the fifth Panda to homer in three straight games, June 22-25.

ROCKET CITY POWER SURGE: Over the last 11 games since July 3rd, the Trash Pandas lead the Southern League, and are T-4th in all of Double-A baseball with 13 home runs, including five on July 3 vs. Knoxville at Toyota Field, which tied a club record. Oscar Colás and Ben Gobbel have combined for seven of the 12, leading the league individually with four and three respectively.

Colás CLEANING UP FOR PANDAS: Rocket City outfielder Oscar Colás has four home runs, two doubles, 10 RBIs, seven runs scored, .289 batting average (11-for-38), and 1.015 OPS (2nd, SL) in his last 11 games. He recorded his first three-homer game on July 3 vs. Knoxville, leading off the third, fourth and sixth innings with solo shots. It was the second in club history, with the first coming in game four of the franchise by Orlando Martinez on May 7, 2021 at Chattanooga.

GUZMAN AND BROWN GO BACK-TO-BACK FOR LEAGUE POW: INF Denzer Guzman was named Southern League Player of the Week for July 1-6 after leading the league with a 1.316 OPS and seven extra-base hits, along with six RBIs and six walks during a six-game series against Knoxville. One week later, INF Sam Brown earned the honor for July 8-13, posting a league-best .444 batting average (8-for-18) over five games in Rocket City's road series at Chattanooga. Brown added four extra-base hits, six RBIs, five walks, four runs scored, and a 1.398 OPS-also the highest in the league that week. Guzman and Brown became the 13th and 14th players in Trash Pandas history to win the award, and for the second consecutive season, Rocket City produced back-to-back weekly honorees, following Tucker Flint (Aug. 12-18) and Christian Moore (Aug. 5-11) in 2023.

RADA REPORT: CF Nelson Rada, the youngest player in the Southern League at just 19 years and 11 months, ranks second in the league and T-5th in all of Double-A with 31 stolen bases this season-19 of which came in a blistering month of May. His 31 steals already rank 3rd in Trash Pandas single-season history, trailing only his own mark of 35 from last year and Kyren Parris' franchise record of 44 set in 2023. Rada ranks among the league leaders in stolen bases (2nd, 31), OBP (6th, .388), batting average (6th, .282), and hits (T-8th, 80). Rada has recorded a team-best 26 multi-hit games, including four three-hit games.

ROCKET CITY BRINGS THE ATTENDANCE BOOM: Despite the addition of two brand-new ballparks in Columbus and Knoxville, the Trash Pandas continue to lead the Southern League in attendance, averaging 4,455 fans per game, inlcuding an average of 5,238 in July. Rocket City has topped the league in average attendance every season since 2021-a testament to the club's strong fan support and game-day experience.

BACK FROM THE FUTURES GAME: RHP George Klassen made a brief but electric appearance for the American League squad at the Futures Game last Saturday, throwing 11 pitches in the bottom of the third inning. He fired two 99 ‚ mph heaters-striking out Chicago's Owen Caissie and inducing a weak groundout from Colorado's Charlie Condon. Klassen allowed one infield single and issued one walk, but managed to escape further damage. The No. 3 prospect for the Angels is the only representative for the Angels and becomes the sixth Rocket City player to earn a Futures Game selection, joining RHP Caden Dana ('24), OF Kyren Paris (' 23), C Edgar Quero (' 23), RHP Ky Bush (' 22), and LHP Reid Detmers ('21).

Check out the Rocket City Trash Pandas Statistics

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Southern League Stories from July 20, 2025


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