Barons Drop Series Opener, Fall 5-3 to Trash Pandas on Friday

By Birmingham Barons

July 17, 2026

The Birmingham Barons hit two home runs but lost 5-3 to the Rocket City Trash Pandas before 4,516 at Regions Field on Friday night. The Barons could only get six hits in the loss. Starting pitcher Lucas Gordon (3-6, 5.09) took the loss, going 4.2 innings, giving up seven hits,

The Birmingham Barons hit two home runs but lost 5-3 to the Rocket City Trash Pandas before 4,516 at Regions Field on Friday night. The Barons could only get six hits in the loss.

Starting pitcher Lucas Gordon (3-6, 5.09) took the loss, going 4.2 innings, giving up seven hits, two earned runs, and no walks with five strikeouts. Jackson Kelley pitched 1.1 innings and got one strikeout. Recent call-up Mathias LaCombe pitched one inning, giving up three hits, two earned runs, and a walk with a strikeout. Phil Fox pitched one inning, giving up only one hit and a walk with a strikeout. Pierce George pitched one inning, giving up two hits, one earned run, and one walk with a strikeout.

The Barons (6-13, 32-56) scored first in the game. In the bottom of the second inning, Boston Smith hit a solo home run to right field, and the Barons took the early 1-0 lead.

Rocket City (10-9, 45-42) took the lead for good when a Mac McCroskey RBI triple and a Nick Rodriguez RBI single gave the Trash Pandas a 2-1 lead.

In the top of the seventh inning, a Cole Fontenelle RBI triple scored Jake Thompson, and the Trash Pandas led 3-1. A McCroskey RBI single scored Fontenelle, and Rocket City took the 4-1 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Smith singled on an infield single, and Dylan Campbell followed with a two-run home run to left field, and the Barons closed the gap to 4-3.

In the top of the ninth inning with two outs, Raudi Rodriguez walked, Tucker Flint singled, and Caleb Bartolero singled, scoring Rodriguez, and the Trash Pandas led 5-3.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Campbell singled, and Colby Shelton flied out to deep center field to end the game, and Luke Murphy got his 17th save of the season.

For the Barons, Smith and Campbell each had two hits apiece with home runs.

Up next for the Barons is Game 2 of the three-game series with the Trash Pandas. The Barons will send Juan Carela (0-1, 4.50) to the mound, while the Trash Pandas will send Joel Hurtado (6-3, 3.36) to the mound.