CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — One night after setting a new season-high in hits (19) and losing, the Rocket City Trash Pandas set a new season high in strikeouts (19) and again lost, this time 8-6 to the Chattanooga Lookouts in front of 3,689 fans at AT&T Field.
For the third consecutive night, the Trash Pandas scored in the first. Centerfielder Ray-Patrick Didder singled to third and went to second on a throwing error. He then scored on a bloop single from first baseman David MacKinnon to put Rocket City on the board.
Chattanooga came right back with a two-out, solo homer to left from rightfielder Lorenzo Cedrola to tie the game. It was Cedrola’s 10th hit of the series, fourth RBI and fifth run. However, Rocket City starting lefthander Reid Detmers struck out the other three batters he faced, which was a sign of things to come.
Rocket City retook the lead in the fourth as MacKinnon belted his fourth dinger of the year. It was a solo shot to left and put the Trash Pandas back in front 2-1.
All the while, Detmers continued to dominate. The first 10 outs for the 10th overall pick in the 2020 draft were all recorded by way of strikeout. He had 13 punchouts through the first five innings before the Lookouts used the longball to turn the tide.
In the sixth, leftfielder Braxton Lee singled to center, then catcher Mark Kolozsvary walked to put runners at first and second with one away against Detmers. Designated hitter Brian Rey stood in next and lifted his second homer of the series and season down the leftfield line for a three-run round-tripper to put Chattanooga in front. First-baseman Wilson Garcia came up next and lined a solo dinger to right to up the Lookouts’ lead to 5-2. It was the second time Chattanooga had gone back-to-back against Rocket City.
Detmers would then strike out the next two men to end his night with 16 strikeouts in six innings pitched. He allowed seven hits, five earned runs, and walked one. The 16 strikeouts were a career-high for him and a new season-high for any Trash Pandas hurler.
Rocket City came back to get Detmers off the hook. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with two away in the seventh when Didder lined a two-run single to left to pull the Trash Pandas to within one. In the eighth, designated hitter Ibandel Isabel lifted his seventh homerun of the season, a solo rainmaker, to left center to tie the game at five.
However, Chattanooga responded with three more in the eighth against Rocket City reliever Ryan Clark. A walk to Kolozsvary and a single by Rey put runners at first and second to start the inning. Garcia came up next and ripped a single to right to score Kolozsvary and move Rey to third. Garcia tried to go to second on the throw back to the infield, however the cutoff throw from Trash Pandas second baseman Luis Aviles to second went into leftfield for another error bringing in Rey. After a groundout moved Garcia to third, Clark uncorked a one-out wild pitch which scored Garcia and gave the Lookouts an 8-5 lead.
The Trash Pandas put up one last effort in the ninth. With two out and nobody on base, rightfielder Torii Hunter Jr. singled to left then Didder brought him home with a double to right to make the score 8-6. However, shortstop Gavin Cecchini came up next as the tying run and grounded to second to end the game.
Taking the loss for the Trash Pandas was Clark (0-1) who allowed three earned runs on two hits with a walk and three strikeouts. He and Detmers combined to strike out 19 Lookouts, setting a new season-high in a single game for Rocket City pitchers.
Despite giving up the tying run in the eighth, reliever Julio Pinto (1-1) got the win for Chattanooga as he retired the other three batters he faced. Closer Nick Howard notched his sixth save despite allowing a run on two hits in the ninth.
The late-inning scoring parade overshadowed a strong outing by Lookouts starter Connor Curlis who allowed three earned runs on five his in 6.1 innings with one walk and nine strikeouts.
Each team had nine hits. The Trash Pandas were led by Didder who went 3-5 with a double, two singles, three RBI and a run scored. MacKinnon chipped in with a 2-4 effort on a homer and two RBI. The Lookouts got a 3-5 effort from Garcia who finished a triple shy of the cycle. He scored twice and drove in two. Rey had the three-run blast and two runs scored as well.
The Trash Pandas (24-22) will complete their six-game series against Chattanooga (26-20) Sunday afternoon at AT&T Field. First pitch is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. CT. The game can be heard on 103.9 FM THE UMP and SportsRadio 730 AM with Josh Caray on the call.
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