Game Info: Thursday, July 3 vs. Knoxville: 6:05 PM: Toyota Field
SL Rocket City Trash Pandas

Game Info: Thursday, July 3 vs. Knoxville: 6:05 PM: Toyota Field

July 3, 2025 - Southern League (SL)
Rocket City Trash Pandas News Release


Thursday, July 3, 2025 - 6:05 PM - Toyota Field - Madison, Alabama

Matchup: Rocket City Trash Pandas - LAA (1-7, 25-51) vs. Knoxville Smokies (4-4, 36-40)

Pitching Matchup: RHP Walbert Urena (3-5, 5.37) // RHP Grant Kipp (5-2, 3.22)

Game: 77 of 137 - Second Half: 9 of 69 - Home Game: 42 of 69

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

TODAY'S PROMOTIONS:

Thursday, July 3 | First Pitch: 6:05 pm | Gates Open: 5:00 pm | Trustmark VIP Gates: 4:30 pm (LIMITED STANDING ROOM ONLY TICKETS REMAIN)

Independence EVE Celebration: Our Independence EVE Celebration, presented by SAIC, includes a Patriotic Fireworks Extravaganza after the game.

Throwback Thursday: Enjoy $3 domestic draft beers available at the Rock Porch, Clyde Mays Clubhouse Bar, and SportsMED Stadium Club for fans 21 and older.

Fourth of July Festival | Friday, July 4 | Gates Open: 5:30 pm

The Fourth of July Festival will take place from 5:30 pm to 9:00 pm, featuring a spectacular fireworks show to conclude the evening! The event will include live music, yard games, and various activities for kids, along with a diverse selection of food from the Trash Pandas concession stands. Attendees will have the opportunity to view the fireworks from the field, and kids can enjoy activities such as face painting, bounce houses on the infield, and tasty treats like snow cones and cotton candy. Additionally, fans can catch the Trash Pandas' road game against the Smokies on the video board.

FOR STARTERS: The Rocket City Trash Pandas continue a split six-game series with the third of three games at Toyota Field against the Knoxville Smokies. The remaining three games will be held at Covenant Health Park in Knoxville from July 4 to 6. The Trash Pandas are coming off a 0-6 road trip to Montgomery from June 24 to 29 and a 3-10 homestand, going 0-7 against Chattanooga from June 17 to 22, and a 3-3 record against Pensacola from June 10 to 15. This season, the Pandas have a 6-7 record against the Smokies and are 3-5 at Toyota Field. Overall, Rocket City leads the all-time series against Knoxville, 66-64.

THE STREAK IS OVER!!! PANDAS BLAST KNOXVILLE: The Rocket City Trash Pandas ended a 16-game losing streak with a decisive 9-1 victory over the Knoxville Smokies, their first win since June 13. Denzer Guzman hit a three-run homer during a four-run third inning, while the team added two more runs in the fourth and three in the seventh. Sam Aldegheri had a strong pitching performance, allowing just one unearned run over six innings. Ben Gobbel led the offense with three hits and two RBIs, and Guzman contributed with multiple hits and his ninth home run of the season. The win marked Aldegheri's first victory since late May.

CELEBRATING AMERICA: The Trash Pandas are playing their fourth game in team history on July 3rd, and their first at Toyota Field tonight. The team's record on July 3rd is 1-2, while their July 4th record stands at 2-2, with the two wins coming at home. The game on July 3, 2023, in Birmingham was postponed due to rain. During the inaugural season in 2021, the games on July 3rd and 4th were played in Tennessee.

THE GUZ IS EXTRA SPECIAL: 21-year-old Denzer Guzman has three extra-base hits over his last two games, and is climbing the charts in the Southern League leading the club, and ranking among the Southern League leaders in doubles (T-5th, 15), RBIs (T-8th, 38), extra-base hits (T-4th, 25), home runs (T-8th, 9), and total bases (T-10th, 101).

"GOBBEL"ING THE COMPETITION: After a three-hit performance on Wednesday night from Ben Gobbel, he has 11 hits over his last 10 games, batting .314 with 6 RBI. The Georgia native is batting .289 overall since joining the club on June 17, and hit .228 over 68 games for Rocket City last season.

BLANKENHORN'S BLASTING OFF: Travis Blankenhorn has reached base in 13 of 15 games since returning from the Injured List on June 13; the veteran outfielder is batting .315 (17-for-54) with four doubles, six home runs, 15 RBIs, four walks, and a 1.095 OPS. He's upped his batting average from .145 to .224 ... In the previous series at Montgomery, 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 ... Has hit all six of his home runs over his last eight games, including two on June 27, the most homers in Minor League Baseball, since June 22.

RADA REPORT: CF Nelson Rada, the youngest player in the Southern League at 19 years and 10 months, is T-1st in the Southern League, and is 4th in Double-A with 28 stolen bases this season, including 19 in May., but dropped to just four in June. He hit his first home run of 2025 on June 28 at Montgomery, his second as a Trash Panda and first since June 7 of last season against Pensacola at Toyota Field. Rada ranks among the league leaders in stolen bases (T-1st, 28), OBP (6th, .383), batting average (7th, .279), walks (T-10th, 37), and hits (7th, 72). Rada has recorded a team-best 21 multi-hit games, including four three-hit games.

KLASSEN TO THE FUTURES GAME: RHP George Klassen has been chosen to participate in the 2025 All-Star Futures Game, which will take place at 3:00 pm CT on Saturday, July 12, at Truist Park in Atlanta. 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).

THE STREAK IS OVER!!!: The Trash Pandas dropped a Southern League record 16 straight games from June 14 to July 2. The streak was the longest in Minor League Baseball this season. The streak surpassed the previous Southern League mark set by the Columbus (GA) Astros in 1971, when they dropped 15 straight games from May 17 to June 1, 1971. That season, the Southern League and Texas League played an interlocking schedule and referred to the agreement as the "Dixie Association".

HOLLOWAY PACING THE 'PEN: Veteran reliever Jordan Holloway put together a solid June, allowing just one earned run over eight outings, posting a 1.08 ERA, 13 strikeouts, three walks. On the year, Holloway has a 2.45 ERA over 14.2 innings pitched, which is tops on the club among relievers with 10+ innings pitched.

DELAYING THE LAUNCH: From June 12-29, the Trash Pandas endured 9 hours and 20 minutes of weather delays, and during the last homestand, June 10-25, they faced delays that totaled 6 hours and 20 minutes. This season, Rocket City has had 14 home games impacted by rain delays or postponements, totaling 9 hours and 2 minutes of delay time. According to wunderground.com, rain has been recorded on 22 out of 37 home game days.

NEW HALF, NEW TRASH PANDAS: In June, the Trash Pandas had 25 roster moves impact the roster, with 10 moves coming on June 17. Only 17 of the current 28-man roster were active on May 19. Newcomers joining the club in June include OF Oscar Colás (6/3), 1B Evan Edwards (6/3), INF David Mershon (6/17), INF Ben Gobbel (6/17), LHP A.J. Block (6/17), RHP Sam Ryan (6/17), while OF Travis Blankenhorn (IL, 6/7), C Jaxx Groshans (Dev. List, 6/24) and RHP George Klassen (IL, 6/1) have been reinstated from the IL, or Dev. List.

SWEET HOME ALABAMA: The Trash Pandas are in a stretch of 34 consecutive games played in the state of Alabama. This stretch began on May 27 and will continue through July 3. During this time, the Pandas will play six road games in Birmingham from (6/3-8), six games in Montgomery from (6/24-29), and 22 home games at Toyota Field.

ANOTHER ONE LAUNCHED TO THE LEAGUE: On June 20, Robinson Piña became the third former Trash Panda in June, and the sixth in 2025 to make his Major League debut. He pitched for the Miami Marlins against the Atlanta Braves, entering in the top of the eighth inning. He became the 42nd player for the Rocket City Trash Pandas to move on to the Major Leagues. The 6'5" Dominican right-hander was 4-6 with a 4.48 ERA over 78.1 innings pitched, striking out 80 batters and walking 39 across 23 games, including 11 starts, from 2021 to 2023. Piña joins former Pandas, Christian Moore (debuted on June 13), Alan Rangel (June 6), José Fermin (April 26), Edgar Quero (April 16), and Michael Darrell-Hicks (April 11), who all debuted this year.

Check out the Rocket City Trash Pandas Statistics



Southern League Stories from July 3, 2025


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