MADISON, Ala — The Rocket City Trash Pandas returned home and gave Trash Panda Nation plenty to cheer about, extending their winning streak to five games with a 9-2 victory over the Biloxi Shuckers in the opener of a six-game series at Toyota Field on Tuesday night.
The Trash Pandas fell behind early on Tyler Black’s first-inning home run off starter Landon Marceaux in the top of the first. Rocket City wasted no time in responding against former Trash Pandas southpaw Adam Seminaris. Jose Gomez capped a two-out rally with an RBI double to left off his old teammate to tie the game at one.
Biloxi restored the lead in the third on Isaac Colins’ RBI double into the left field corner. That would be the last time the Shuckers led for the rest of the night. David Calabrese tied the game with an RBI double to right, bringing in Gomez.
In the fourth, the Trash Pandas took the lead for the first time on Aaron Whitefield’s first home run of the season, a solo home run on a line drive to left. The rally continued with a double from Edgar Quero and a walk by Tucker Flint, bringing an end to Seminaris’ (L, 0-2) start. Reliever T.J. Shook entered, and Gomez greeted him by breaking the game open with a three-run homer to left, his first of the season, to extend the Rocket City advantage to 6-2 after four.
An inning later, Rocket City put the game out of reach with another two-out rally. Orlando Martinez laced an RBI single to bring in Bryce Teodosio before Quero capped the night’s scoring with a two-run double to the gap in right-center, giving the Trash Pandas a 9-2 lead.
Marceaux (W, 1-0) ended his night with a one, two, three sixth inning. He would earn his first Double-A victory after pitching six innings, allowing two runs on six hits with one walk and four strikeouts.
Ivan Armstrong was first out of the Trash Pandas bullpen and dominated for two scoreless innings, striking out a pair. Kenyon Yovan wrapped up the victory with a clean ninth inning.
At the plate, all nine Trash Pandas starters reached with either a hit or a walk. Gomez led the way by going 2-for-3 with a home run, four RBI, and two walks. Quero went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI while Calabrese also hit a pair of doubles in Rocket City’s seventh victory in their past eight games.
The Trash Pandas (7-3) continue their series with the Shuckers (5-5) with an Education Day matinee on Wednesday morning. First pitch at Toyota Field is scheduled for 11:05 a.m. Josh Caray will be on the call for 103.9 FM THE UMP and 730 AM SportsRadio. The game will also be televised locally on WAAY 31.6, This TV.