Trash Pandas Pitchers Strike out 17, But Fall to Smokies on Saturday

Sports stats



SL Rocket City Trash Pandas

Trash Pandas Pitchers Strike out 17, But Fall to Smokies on Saturday

April 12, 2025 - Southern League (SL)
Rocket City Trash Pandas News Release


MADISON, Ala. - Rocket City Trash Pandas' pitchers struck out 17 batters on Saturday night but lost game five of their six-game series against the Knoxville Smokies, 5-1, at Toyota Field.

For the second time in the series, Rocket City was held hitless for the first six innings and managed only three hits throughout the game.

Walbert Urena (L, 0-1) struck out five batters but also walked four in 4.1 innings during his second start of the season. Ranked as the 17th-best prospect by MLB Pipeline, Urena allowed an unearned run in the first inning but found his rhythm in the following frames. The Smokies (4-3) took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Brett Bateman scored on a passed ball.

Between the first and fourth innings, Urena retired 11 of 13 batters, but in the fourth inning, he conceded back-to-back hits, including an RBI single from Parker Chavers, extending the Smokies' lead to 2-0. Urena was pulled in the fifth inning after allowing runs from consecutive hits. In total, he allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits and threw 84 pitches. Mitch Farris entered the game next, striking out two batters and walking one to conclude the fifth inning.

The left-hader, Farris, acquired by the Angels in December from the Atlanta Braves, made a strong first impression. In 3.2 innings of relief, he struck out nine batters-tying the Trash Pandas' career record for strikeouts by a reliever, matching Jhonathan Diaz's nine strikeouts during the team's inaugural season in 2021. However, Farris did allow two runs in the sixth inning.

Meanwhile, Smokies starter Chris Kachmar (W, 1-0) made his 10th career start against the Trash Pandas (3-4), pitching six no-hit innings and walking two batters. After Mac McCroskey broke up the no-hitter with a leadoff single in the seventh inning, Kachmar was replaced by a reliever, Robert Kwiatkowski. Travis Blankenhorn then singled against Kwiatkowski, and Denzer Guzman brought McCroskey home with an RBI single, making the score 5-1. Guzman finished the game 1-for-2 with an RBI and is now tied for the league lead with seven RBIs.

Camden Minacci pushed the strikeout total to 17 by striking out the side in the ninth inning, coming two punch-outs shy of the franchise record of 19.

The Trash Pandas and Smokies will conclude their six-game series and homestand on Sunday afternoon at Toyota Field. First pitch is scheduled for 2:35 PM, with gates opening at 1:30 PM. The Trash Pandas will start LHP Samual Aldegheri (0-0, 6.75) against Smokies RHP Sam Armstrong (0-0, 5.40), in a rematch of Tuesday's series opener. Fans who cannot attend can watch the game on WAAY-TV 31.6, Bally Live, and MiLB.tv, or listen on 97.7 HD-2 or through trashpandasbaseball.com.

Check out the Rocket City Trash Pandas Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Southern League message board...

Southern League Stories from April 12, 2025


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