Rocket City Creeps Closer to First Place with Doubleheader Sweep of Chattanooga
SL Rocket City Trash Pandas

Rocket City Creeps Closer to First Place with Doubleheader Sweep of Chattanooga

Published on May 22, 2026 under Southern League (SL)
Rocket City Trash Pandas News Release


MADISON, AL - The Rocket City Trash Pandas (23-20) swept Friday night's doubleheader against the Chattanooga Lookouts (24-19), winning Thursday night's suspended game 7-3 before taking the scheduled nightcap 4-0 at Toyota Field. The victories gave Rocket City a 3-1 series lead and moved the Trash Pandas within 1.0 game of first place in the Southern League North Division standings.

Rocket City also moved three games above .500 for the first time since July 9, 2024, when the club sat at 42-39. The Trash Pandas were 7-11 and eight games out of first place on April 23 but have gone 16-9 since to surge back into contention.

Friday's action began with the completion of Thursday's suspended contest, which resumed at 4:35 pm, tied 2-2. Before severe weather halted play Thursday night, Raudi Rodriguez and Gustavo Campero each drove in runs for Rocket City, while Jay Allen II tied the game for Chattanooga with a two-run homer in the third inning.

Austin Gordon started the suspended game on Thursday and allowed two runs on two hits over 3.0 innings with one walk and five strikeouts. Eyeberson Polanco (W, 2-2) took over when play resumed Friday and settled in after Chattanooga briefly grabbed a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning. Ryan McCrystal doubled to begin the frame and later scored on a wild pitch, marking the first run Polanco had allowed over his previous 9.0 innings spanning five appearances.

The 22-year-old right-hander dominated from there, tossing 4.0 innings while allowing just one run on two hits with one walk and six strikeouts. Over his last five appearances, Polanco has surrendered just one run over 12.0 innings with 16 strikeouts against only one walk.

Rocket City finally broke through against Chattanooga reliever Taylor Floyd (L, 1-1) in the seventh inning. Cole Fontenelle and Nick Rodriguez opened the frame with back-to-back singles before Harold Coll laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position. David Calabrese and Raudi Rodriguez then each reached on fielder's choices that plated runs after Chattanooga attempted force plays at third and home. Two batters later, Tucker Flint crushed a three-run homer to the opposite field in left-center, giving the Trash Pandas a 7-3 advantage.

Camden Minacci finished off the suspended game with 2.0 scoreless innings, striking out one and walking two while extending his scoreless streak to six appearances covering 6.2 innings.

Wade Meckler started Thursday's suspended game and went 1-for-2 before having his contract selected by the Los Angeles Angels prior to Friday's resumption. Meckler later homered in his first Major League at-bat with the Angels, launching a three-run shot off Jacob deGrom. Fontenelle finished the suspended game 2-for-4 with two runs scored.

In the nightcap, Rocket City rode another dominant performance from starter Joel Hurtado (W, 4-1). The Angels' No. 23 prospect carried a no-hitter into the fourth inning before Chattanooga's Leo Balcazar lined a 100 mph comebacker off Hurtado's right hip area for the Lookouts' first hit of the game. Hurtado quickly recovered, inducing a double play before retiring five straight hitters.

The 25-year-old right-hander ultimately retired 16 of the 18 batters he faced over 5.2 scoreless innings, allowing one hit with one walk and six strikeouts to earn his fourth victory of the season, tying teammate Ryan Costeiu for the Southern League lead. Hurtado has won three consecutive starts since May 10 and four of his last five overall. During those three wins, he has allowed just three runs over 17.2 innings with 19 strikeouts and only three walks.

Rocket City broke through against Chattanooga starter Nate Peterson (L, 2-1) in the fourth inning of the nightcap. Matthew Lugo led off with a double before Raudi Rodriguez followed with an RBI double to put the Trash Pandas ahead 1-0. Two batters later, Tucker Flint grounded out to second to score Rodriguez and extend the lead to 2-0.

The Trash Pandas added another run in the fifth on an RBI single by Rodriguez before Elijah Dunham connected for his first home run of the season in the sixth inning to cap the scoring at 4-0.

Luke Murphy (S, 7) recorded the final four outs of the seven-inning contest, striking out two to secure Rocket City's second shutout victory of the season. Murphy has Rocket City's longest streak without allowing an earned run, 11.1 innings and nine games, striking out 13 and walking just one over that span.

Rodriguez paced the offense in the nightcap, finishing 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs, and a run scored. Across the doubleheader, he went 3-for-7 and extended his hitting streak to seven games while reaching base safely in 10 consecutive contests and 32 of his last 33 games overall.

The Trash Pandas and Lookouts meet again on Friday night at Toyota Field for game five of the six-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 pm, with RHP Jose Gonzalez (2-1, 4.12) slated to start for Rocket City against RHP Jonathan Harmon (4-1, 5.31). The game can be seen on Bally Sports Live, MLB.tv, and MiLB.tv and heard on Talk Radio WZZN 97.7 FM HD-2 and ESPN The Zone 97.7 FM.

Check out the Rocket City Trash Pandas Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Southern League Stories from May 22, 2026


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central