Trash Pandas Finish Regular Season with 9-2 Loss
September 18, 2022 – Southern League (SL) – Rocket City Trash Pandas News Release
The Rocket City Trash Pandas ended an incredible 2022 regular season with a 9-2 loss to Birmingham Barons in front of a crowd of 5,052 in the finale of their six-game series at Toyota Field on Sunday afternoon.
Despite the loss, the Trash Pandas end the season as the first and second half North Division Champions with the best record in the Southern League at 81-57. They finished with nearly identical records in both halves, going 41-28 in the first half and 40-29 in the second half. They will begin their first playoff run in team history with Game 1 of the North Division series against the Tennessee Smokies on Tuesday night.
At home, the Trash Pandas were one of the best teams in Minor League Baseball with a 49-20 record. Over 12 series, Rocket City was undefeated, winning 10 series and splitting two at Toyota Field.
The game began with a little excitement on the base paths for the Trash Pandas. Leading off the bottom of the second, Sonny DiChiara lined a single to left off Birmingham starter Garrett Schoenle. Later in the inning, DiChiara got a terrific jump and stole second without a throw for his first professional stolen base. However, the Trash Pandas couldn’t advance him past second as the game remained scoreless.
Birmingham took the lead in the top of the third on Moises Castillo’s RBI single against Trash Pandas starter Coleman Crow. In the fifth, Birmingham plated two more on back-to-back RBI doubles from Luis Mieses and Castillo for a 3-0 lead.
The Trash Pandas got one back in the bottom of the inning. Jordyn Adams and Preston Palmeiro each singled to start the frame. Kyren Paris’ fielder’s choice ground out scored Adams to get Rocket City on the board.
Crow (L, 9-3) ended a quality start on the mound by striking out Adam Hackenberg to strand two runners on base in the sixth. Over six innings, he allowed three earned runs on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts. However, he would suffer the loss, his third of the season and first since April 29.
Glenn Albanese was first out of the Rocket City bullpen and struggled, allowing three runs over two innings, including solo home runs to Tyler Osik and Adam Hackenberg, as the Barons increased their lead to 6-1.
Rocket City got another run back on Kevin Maitan’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth. The Barons capped the scoring in the ninth with a three-run homer by Bryan Ramos off Nick Jones.
At the plate for the Trash Pandas, DiChiara went 2-for-4 with the stolen base while Adams and Palmeiro each went 2-for-4 as well. With the six-inning start, Crow finished as the Southern League leader in innings pitched with 128.0.
The Trash Pandas (81-57, 40-29 second half) will hit the road to begin the playoffs with Game 1 of the best-of-three North Division Series against the Tennessee Smokies (71-66, 34-34 second half) on Tuesday night. First pitch at Smokies Stadium is set for 6:15 p.m. Josh Caray will be on the call for 103.9 FM THE UMP and 730 AM SportsRadio.
Rocket City will return home to Toyota Field for Game 2 and Game 3 (if necessary) on Thursday night, September 22 and Friday September 23. Great seats are still available for both games and can be found online at trashpandasbaseball.com.
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