SL Rocket City Trash Pandas

Trash Pandas Lead from Start to Finish in 5-1 Win

Published on July 9, 2023 under Southern League (SL)
Rocket City Trash Pandas News Release


The Rocket City Trash Pandas got plenty of offense to support a strong performance on the mound, defeating the Chattanooga Lookouts 5-1 to earn a split of the six-game series on Sunday afternoon at Toyota Field.

Rocket City starter Ky Bush was at the top of his game from the start. In the first, he induced a double play from Ivan Johnson to erase a leadoff walk, then struck out Francisco Urbaez to strand a runner on second.

The Trash Pandas worked hard to take the lead in the bottom of the inning. David Calabrese walked, Orlando Martinez singled, and Sonny DiChiara walked to load the bases with one out against Teddy Stankiewicz. Tucker Flint then took a four-pitch walk of his own, scoring Calabrese to open the scoring.

Bush continued his strong work with by working around a couple walks in the second, as well as baserunners in both the third and fourth innings to maintain the one-run edge.

Tyler Payne got the Trash Pandas started in the bottom of the fourth with a one-out double. Mariano Ricciardi singled to put runners on the corners, and David Calabrese cashed in with an RBI single to right to double the lead at 2-0 with Payne crossing the plate. Two hitters later, Orlando Martinez connected on three-run home run 404 feet over the right field fence for his ninth homer of the season, giving the Trash Pandas breathing room at 5-0.

Bush ended his afternoon with a one, two, three top of the fifth, striking out the first two hitters in the frame. Over five scoreless innings, Bush (W, 1-2) allowed just three hits and walked three, striking out five to earn his first victory of the season. Stankiewicz (L, 1-2) was pulled after five innings as well. He would take the loss after allowing five runs on seven hits, walking four and striking out five.

Luke Murphy was first out of the Rocket City bullpen and pitched two innings, allowing one run on Daniel Vellojin's solo shot in the seventh as the Lookouts got on the board. Kelvin Caceres entered in the eighth and shut down the Lookouts. Kenyon Yovan was next in the ninth and finished the win with a clean inning.

At the plate, Martinez led the way with the three-run homer in a 2-for-4 performance. From the bottom of the lineup, Ricciardi and Payne each also went 2-for-4 with a run scored in the victory. The win earns the Trash Pandas a series split, their second series split at home in 2023.

After a four-day break Trash Pandas (37-43, 6-5 second half) return to action on Friday night against the Biloxi Shuckers (39-42, 5-7 second half). First pitch at MGM Park is set for 6:35 p.m. Josh Caray will be on the call for 103.9 FM THE UMP and 730 AM SportsRadio.

Check out the Rocket City Trash Pandas Statistics

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Southern League Stories from July 9, 2023


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