Game Info: Tuesday, July 29 vs. Birmingham: 6:35 PM: Toyota Field
SL Rocket City Trash Pandas

Game Info: Tuesday, July 29 vs. Birmingham: 6:35 PM: Toyota Field

July 29, 2025 - Southern League (SL)
Rocket City Trash Pandas News Release


Tuesday, July 29, 2025 - 6:35 PM - Toyota Field - Madison, Alabama

Matchup: Rocket City Trash Pandas - LAA (10-17, 34-61, 4 th SL North, 9.0 GB) vs. Birmingham Barons - CHW (19-8, 57-39, 1 st SL North, +4t.5 GB)

Pitching Matchup: LHP Sam Aldegheri (5-6, 4.41) // LHP Shane Murphy (7-3, 1.45)

Game: 96 of 137 - Second Half: 28 of 69 - Home Game: 46 of 69

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

TODAY'S PROMOTIONS:

Tuesday, July 29 | First Pitch: 6:35 pm | Gates Open: 5:30 pm | Trustmark VIP Gates: 5:00 pm

Reeds Jewelers Ladies Night: Ladies in attendance can enter to win prizes all game long at the Sun Cruiser Guest Services booth behind Section 5. Additionally, canned wine will be available for $5 for all fans 21 and older.

THIS WEEK:

Wednesday, July 30: Tito's Dog Days, Educator Appreciation Night, presented by COUNTRY Financial®, and a school supply drive benefiting North Alabama teachers.

Thursday, July 31: Throwback Thursday with $3 beers and a Negro Leagues tribute featuring Rickwood Classic uniforms.

Friday, August 1: Friday Night Fireworks, presented by SAIC, Space Night with NASA, and a space jersey auction benefiting local nonprofits.

Saturday, August 2: Dinosaur Weekend begins with animatronic dinos, themed activities, and Jurassic photo ops.

Sunday, August 3: Dinosaur Weekend continues with pregame autographs and postgame Kids Run the Bases.

FOR STARTERS: The Rocket City Trash Pandas return to Toyota Field to open a six-game homestand against the Birmingham Barons, Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. Rocket City is coming off a 2-4 road trip in Biloxi and looks to bounce back in the first matchup of the second half against Birmingham. This marks the third of four series between the division rivals this season, with the final meeting set for August 19-24 at Regions Field.

BROWN'S NINTH-INNING BLAST LIFTS TRASH PANDAS TO COMEBACK WIN: Sam Brown crushed a go-ahead two-run homer in the top of the ninth to lift the Trash Pandas to a 3-2 win over Biloxi on Sunday night at Keesler Federal Park. Rocket City trailed 2-1 entering the ninth before Brown's fifth home run of the season capped the comeback, marking just their second win when trailing after eight innings this year. Walbert Ureña matched a career high with eight strikeouts over 6.0 innings of one-run ball, notching his seventh quality start. Oscar Colás added an RBI double in the first, and Denzer Guzman extended his on-base streak to eight games before exiting after being hit by a pitch. The Trash Pandas split the 12-game season series with the Shuckers, 6-6.

GUZ GONE WILD: DENZER'S BLAZING THROUGH JULY: The San Pedro de Macorís native has been one of the hottest hitters in Double-A this July, leading the Southern League-and all of Double-A-with a 1.089 OPS, 45 total bases, and 13 extra-base hits. He ranks second in the league with a .352 batting average and is also first in slugging (.634) and on-base percentage (.455). His nine doubles rank second in the league, and his 25 hits are tied for third. On July 13 in Chattanooga, he recorded the second five-hit game in Trash Pandas history, going 5-for-5 with three doubles, a home run, and four RBIs.. He now ranks among league leaders in several offensive categories in 2025, including doubles (2nd, 23), extra-base hits (T-1st, 35), RBIs (T-5th, 53), total bases (5th, 137), home runs (T-7th, 11), and slugging (7th, .424), and OPS (9th, .760). Guzman leads the team with 16 multi-RBI games.

ALDEGHERI SHINES IN JULY: Today's starter, Sam Aldegheri, has been one of the Southern League's most effective starters in July, leading the league with a 1.06 ERA and tying for the lead with three wins. In three starts this month, the left-hander is 3-0, allowing just four earned runs over 17.0 innings while recording 13 strikeouts and 10 walks.

LIVING ON THE BASES LATELY: Over the Trash Padas' last 12 games, highlighted by a four-game win streak from July 12-20. During this stretch, they've posted a .346 OBP, ranking third in Double-A baseball, racking up 94 hits and 50 walks.

"YOU CAN'T SCORE IF YOU DON'T GET ON BASE." Two Trash Pandas enter Tuesday's game riding on-base streaks of seven games or more, led by Denzer Guzman, who has reached safely in eight games and hit safely in seven consecutive games, while Myles Emmerson has reached in seven straight. Nelson Rada has reached in 15 of his last 16 games, and Sam Brown has reached in 12 of his previous 13. Guzman has also been consistent over the long haul, getting on base in 21 of his last 23 games, while Travis Blankenhorn has reached in 21 of 24, and David Mershon in 16 of his previous 18.

REACHING THE 100 STRIKEOUT MARK: Mitch Farris became the seventh pitcher in Trash Pandas history to reach 100 strikeouts in a single season on Friday with six over 6.0 innings at Biloxi. He currently ranks second in the Southern League with 103 strikeouts across his first 18 outings (17 starts) in 2025. The league leader is Biloxi's Tate Kuehner, who sits at 104. The single-season franchise record belongs to Caden Dana, who tallied 147 strikeouts in 2024.

ROCKET CITY IS LIVING UP TO ITS NAME: Since July 3, the Trash Pandas have launched 18 home runs over 19 games, leading the Southern League and ranking tied for fifth in all of Double-A baseball. That stretch includes a five-homer outburst on July 3 against Knoxville at Toyota Field, tying a franchise record. Before that, Rocket City had hit 53 home runs over 76 games-an average of just 0.7 per game. The recent surge has seen the average jump to 1.0 per game, fueled by Oscar Colás and Ben Gobbel, who have combined for 10 of the 17 homers. Colás leads the league in that span with six, while Gobbel is right behind with four.

SOUND THE BLANKENHORN: OF Travis Blankenhorn has reached base in 21 of his last 24 games, and 28 of 33 since returning from the Injured List on June 13. The veteran outfielder ranks third in the Southern League with a .883 OPS, while batting .252 with six doubles, a triple, eight home runs, 20 RBIs, and 18 walks over that span. During the June 24-29 series at Montgomery, Blankenhorn went 7-for-25 with a double, five home runs, nine RBIs, and a 1.360 OPS. He also became just the fifth Trash Panda to homer in three straight games, doing so from June 22-25.

COLÁS CLEANING UP FOR PANDAS: Rocket City outfielder Oscar Colás is second in all of Double-A with six home runs in his last 17 games since July 3, along with two doubles, 14 RBIs, and nine runs scored. On July 3 vs. Knoxville, Colás recorded his first career three-homer game, hitting solo home runs to lead off the third, fourth, and sixth innings. This marked only the second three-homer game in franchise history, the first being Orlando Martinez's performance on May 7, 2021, at Chattanooga.

RADA REPORT: CF Nelson Rada, the youngest player in the Southern League at just 19 years and 11 months, has reached in 15 of his last 16 games, and ranks T-2nd in the league and T-4th in all of Double-A with 33 stolen bases this season-19 of which came in a blistering month of May. His 33 steals already rank third in Trash Pandas single-season history, trailing only his 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 (T-2nd, 33), OBP (6th, .381), batting average (9th, .282), and hits (T-8th, 87). Rada has recorded a team-best 25 multi-hit games, including five three-hit games.

PROSPECTS WITH A HALO: The Trash Pandas roster features four of the Angels' top 11 prospects and eight of the top 20 in MLB Pipeline's newest prospect rankings released on July 22; included in the top 11 are RHP George Klassen (3), OF Nelson Rada (6), LHP Sam Aldegheri (8), and INF Denzer Guzman (11). The other members of the roster included in the Top-30 include LHP Samy Natera Jr. (16), RHP Walbert Ureña (17), RHP Joel Hurtado (19), and RHP Camden Minacci (20).

Check out the Rocket City Trash Pandas Statistics



Southern League Stories from July 29, 2025


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