Trash Pandas Hang On For 8-7 Victory In Biloxi
The Rocket City Trash Pandas erased an early deficit, broke the game open late, and then survived a late surge at the end for an 8-7 win over the Biloxi Shuckers in the opener of a three-game weekend series at MGM Park on Friday night. Getting the start in the
The Rocket City Trash Pandas erased an early deficit, broke the game open late, and then survived a late surge at the end for an 8-7 win over the Biloxi Shuckers in the opener of a three-game weekend series at MGM Park on Friday night.
Getting the start in the first game after the All-Star break, Kerry’s first pitch was crushed over the left field wall by Shuckers leadoff hitter Tyler Black, his 12th home run of the season to give the home team the early edge. Later in the inning, Kerry made a wild pickoff throw to first, allowing Jeferson Quero to advance third with one out following his single. Kerry escaped further damage by striking out Wes Clarke and Freddy Zamora to keep the deficit at one.
Shuckers starter Christian Mejias (L, 4-8) started off on the right foot, retiring the first six hitters he faced to start the night. In the third, Rocket City turned the game around. Tucker Flint reached with a leadoff double for the first Trash Pandas hit of the night. Jose Gomez was hit by a pitch and David Calabrese walked to load the bases with one out. Kyren Paris tied the game with a sacrifice fly to center, scoring flint. Edgar Quero walked to reload the bases with two outs. Jeremiah Jackson then hit a ground ball up the middle that deflected off second baseman Ethan Murray’s glove for a single to score Gomez. Calabrese alertly came home on the play as well, giving Rocket City a 3-1 lead on a two-run infield single.
Biloxi got a run back in the bottom of the third on Jackson Chourio’s solo homer to left. The Trash Pandas immediately responded to restore the two-run lead at 4-2 in the fourth when Flint hit his second double of the night and came in to score on Gomez’s RBI single to shallow right.
Pitching with the 4-2 lead in the fourth, Kerry faced the minimum his final three innings to get through six with the lead. Over six strong innings, Kerry (W, 4-3) allowed two runs on four hits with no walks and three strikeouts to earn the victory.
Jake Lee was first out of the Trash Pandas bullpen and set the Shuckers down in order on just seven pitches in the seventh to pick up a hold.
The Trash Pandas put the game out of reach in the eighth. Quero reached second on an error to start the frame. Jackson followed with an RBI double to deep left to plate Quero. Orlando Martinez then grounded a single through the left side of the infield, plating Jackson to make it 6-2. With Martinez running, Sonny DiChiara singled to left. Shuckers left fielder Carlos Rodriguez tried to throw Martinez out at third, but his throw was off the mark, allowing Martinez to score and DiChiara to advance to second. Two hitters later, Bryce Teodosio’s RBI ground out scored DiChiara to cap the scoring at 8-2 Trash Pandas.
Kelvin Caceres needed only nine pitches to pitch a one, two, three eighth. The final three outs wouldn’t come easily. Luke Murphy entered and faced four batters, recording no outs as a run scored. Kenyon Yovan entered with the bases loaded and nobody out and allowed two more runs to score on an error and a single. Yovan finally got the first two outs on a double play ground out from Zavier Warren, with a run coming in to make it 8-6. Rodriguez singled to make it 8-7 before Yovan (S, 9) ended the game with a ground out from Lamar Sparks.
Offensively, Flint went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and two runs scored to pace the Rocket City offense while Jackson went 2-for-4 with three RBI. Yovan earned his team-leading ninth save with the ninth-inning escape.
The Trash Pandas (38-43, 7-5 second half) and Shuckers (39-43, 5-8 second half) continue their series on Saturday night. First pitch at MGM Park is set for 6:05 p.m. Josh Caray will be on the call for 103.9 FM THE UMP and 730 AM SportsRadio.