CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The Rocket City Trash Pandas pounded out 11 hits and starting pitcher George Klassen (W, 1-1) collected his first Double-A victory, as the Rocket City Trash Pandas emerged with a 4-1 win over the Chattanooga Lookouts on Friday night at AT&T Field.
Rocket City struck early as infielder Sam Brown put a pair of runs on the board with a two-run homer over the right-field wall in the first against Lookouts starter Thomas Farr (L, 1-13). It was Brown’s third homer of the season, all of them coming on the road.
The Lookouts cut the deficit in half with a sacrifice fly off the bat of outfielder Austin Hendrick in the fourth. Rocket City got that run back in the sixth with a sacrifice fly of its own, courtesy of catcher Myles Emmerson to make it a 3-1 Trash Pandas lead.
In just his second start as a Trash Panda, Klassen allowed one run through five innings of work. The Angels No. 3 prospect allowed two hits during that span.
Rocket City added another run in the seventh as outfielder Tucker Flint launched a solo shot for the second straight night. Flint now has a team-leading 15 home runs on the season as the Trash Pandas took a 4-1 lead. Flint finished a double shy of the cycle while going 3-4 with his homer.
Lookouts third baseman Austin Callahan collected two of the Lookouts five hits by going 2-4 with a double.
The Trash Pandas held on to win thanks to scoreless bullpen appearances from John O’Reilly (H, 3), Hayden Seig (H, 7) and Luke Murphy (S, 1). Murphy slammed the door with a 1-2-3 ninth for his first save with the Trash Pandas this season.
In addition to Flint, infielders Christian Moore, Chad Stevens and designated hitter Matt Coutney each provided two hits of their own. Chattanooga got a solid five innings from Farr who allowed just two earned runs in the loss.
Rocket City will now look to even the seven-game series back up against the Lookouts on Saturday. First pitch is set for 6:15 CT.
