GAME NOTES DOUBLE-A AFFILIATE OF THE LOS ANGELES ANGELS DIRECTOR OF BROADCASTING AND BASEBALL INFORMATION: JOSH CARAY - [email protected] MEDIA RELATIONS COORDINATOR: AARON CHERIS - [email protected] ROCKET CITY TRASH PANDAS (25-26) TENNESSEE SMOKIES (20-30) 3rd PLACE, DOUBLE-A SOUTH (NORTH) 4th PLACE, DOUBLE-A SOUTH (NORTH) RHP COOPER CRISWELL (5-3, 3.59) AT RHP PEYTON REMY (0-1, 2.51) SMOKIES STADIUM - KODAK, TN - SATURDAY, JULY 3, 2021 - 6:00 PM CT GAME 52 | AWAY GAME 29 | TODAY’S BROADCASTS ONLINE MiLB TV RADIO SPORTSRADIO 730 AM/103.9 FM THE UMP UPCOMING STARTERS ROCKET CITY STATS DATE TIME (CT) OPPONENT TRASH PANDAS STARTER OPPONENT STARTER Overall Record ....................... 25-26 Home Record ......................... 14-9 Sunday, July 4 6:00 PM @ Tennessee RHP Davis Daniel (Double-A Debut) RHP Cam Sanders (1-3, 5.44) Road Record ........................... 11-17 Monday, July 5 OFF vs. North Division .................. 20-19 Tuesday, July 6 6:35 PM vs. Montgomery TBA TBA vs. South Division .................. 5-7 vs RHP .......................................... 19-17 LAST TIME OUT: The Trash Pandas were swept in a doubleheader Friday evening against the Smokies, losing 9-2 in the opener vs LHP .......................................... 6-9 Night ............................................ 21-22 before falling 2-0 in the nightcap. Rocket City managed only five hits for the twinbill, all singles. Rocket City has dropped Day ................................................. 4-4 six of its last seven games. In game one, Tennessee lifted four homers including two two-run blasts from Christopher Morel. Last 10 .......................................... 3-7 Streak ........................................... L4 Rocket City’s lone runs came on two sacrifice flies to center from Luis Aviles Jr. Kyle Tyler suffered the loss for Rocket City as he 1-Run Games ........................... 5-6 allowed six runs on 10 hits over four innings. In game two, the Trash Pandas got a strong start by starting pitcher Reid Detmers, Home Attendance ................ 129,457 however Tennessee blasted two more dingers, both solo shots. Morel went deep for the third time on the day in first while Home Avg. Attendance .... 6,165 Season Sellouts ...................... 3 Jared Young went yard in the fourth. Detmers took the loss after allowing both runs on three hits over five innings with eight strikeouts. The Trash Pandas loaded the bases in the seventh with two away, however closer Cayne Ueckert struck out Torii Hunter Jr. swinging to end the game. Rocket City has only mustered 14 hits over the last four games. Morel went 4-6 for the TEAM STATS doubleheader with three dingers and five RBI. He is now 7-13 for the series with four round-trippers, nine RBI and six runs scored. Batting Average .................... .242 Hits .................................................. 403 Runs ............................................... 223 SMOKIES SMOKE TRASH PANDAS: The current six-game series has been quite a shock for Rocket City. In addition to only 14 Runs/Game .............................. 4.4 hits for the series, the Trash Pandas have now lost their last five games to the Smokies after winning 10-straight from Tennessee Doubles ...................................... 66 earlier in the season. Tennessee won the first meeting between the teams on 5/11 in the first-ever game at Toyota Field before Triples ............................................ 6 Home Runs ............................... 72 Rocket City reeled off the next 10 contests. More remarkable is the fact that in the Trash Pandas’ most-recent series against RBI ................ ................................... 211 Chattanooga last week, Rocket City compiled 54 hits over the final four games of the six-game set. Stolen Bases ............................. 34 Team ERA ................................... 4.52 Innings Pitched ..................... 434.0 CLOSING THE DOOR: While the bullpen has been suspect at times this season, the closers have been pretty solid. Leading Hits Allowed .............................. 416 the team in saves currently is Connor Higgins. The former Arizona State Sun Devil has allowed six earned runs over 20 innings Strikeouts ................................... 530 while going 5-6 in the saves department. Complementing him is fellow-righty Keith Rogalla. Though he only has two saves, the TRASH PANDAS LEADERS Illinois native has been steady allowing only four earned runs in 19.1 innings this season while notching two saves. Rounding it Games ......................................... 2 Tied, 48 out is righty Nathan Bates. Not seen as a closing candidate at the beginning of the season, Bates has been outstanding allowing Batting Average ..................... MacKinnon, .327 At-Bats .......................................... Martinez, 183 on five earned runs in 22.1 innings with only one save. He allowed three of those earned runs in one appearance this season. Runs .............................................. 2 Tied, 27 Hits ................................................. MacKinnon, 50 RETURN OF THE MAC: On 5/30, the Angels promoted leading hitter Michael Stefanic to AAA after he started the season Doubles ....................................... MacKinnon, 12 Triples ............................................ Didder, 4 batting .345. On the same day, first baseman David MacKinnon returned to lineup after resting the previous seven days to Home Runs ............................... Nay, 12 repair a sore shoulder he suffered while trying to backhand a groundball on 5/21. With Stefanic gone, MacKinnon becomes RBI ................................................... Martinez, 28 Stolen Bases ............................. Wilson, 12 Rocket City’s most consistent hitter. At .327 for the season, MacKinnon has hits in 35 of the 41 games he has played in and saw Walks ............................................ 3 Tied, 21 a 12-game hitting streak come to an end on 6/4. He also has a flare for the dramatic. Not known as a home run hitter, two of On-Base % ................................ MacKinnon, .416 MacKinnon’s bombs were especially memorable. He hit a walk-off grand-slam to end a 13-inning marathon against Tennessee Slugging % ............................... MacKinnon, .523 Innings Pitched ..................... Tyler, 54.0 on 5/16, he then hit a three-run shot in his return against Birmingham on 5/29. The University of Hartford alum currently leads Wins .............................................. Criswell, 5 the league in batting average (.327), on-base percentage (.416), on-base plus slugging (.939), tied for second in doubles (12), ERA ................................................ Tyler, 3.17 third in slugging (.523), and tied for fourth in hits (50). He was named both Double-A South Player of the Month of June and Strikeouts ................................... Detmers, 84 Saves .............................................. Higgins, 5 the MAG Aerospace Trash Pandas Player of the Month after hitting .377 in June. vs DOUBLE-A SOUTH TODAY'S STARTING PITCHER: Right-hander Cooper Criswell will take to the bump today after garnering two wins last week OVERALL HOME ROAD against Chattanooga, including the first nine-inning complete game in Trash Pandas history on 6/22. Against Chattanooga, he BUFFALOBIRMINGHAM 2- 4 2- 4 0--0 allowed two runs on six hits and struck out five in a 5-2 win. This is in addition to another sensational performance he game on COLUMBUSCHATTANOOGA 81--19 3-- 2 51-17 6/16 when Criswell fired 6.2 shutout innings, walked none, and struck out 14 batters in a 3-0 win over Biloxi. The 14 strikeouts DURHAMTENNESSEE 105--66 55--41 05-25 were, at the time, a season-high for Trash Pandas pitchers, which was tied four days later by Reid Detmers in another win over GWINNETTNORTH DIVISION 2010-195 105--37 105--212 the Shuckers, then surpassed by Detmers with a 16-strikeout performance on 6/26 against Chattanooga. The performance INDIANAPOLIS 3-7 1-2 2-5 was needed as Criswell struggled in his two previous outings (6/3, 6/10). In those games the right-hander allowed eight ER LEHIGHMISSISSIPPI VALLEY (NOT ON2- 12021 SCHEDULE2-1 - ) on 12 hits over 10 innings (7.20 ERA). Before that, in a three-outing stretch earlier in the season (5/28, 5/21, 5/15), Criswell had LOUISVILLEBILOXI 62-32 45-12 01--20 allowed only three ER over 12.1 innings on 11 hits (2.19 ERA). 2021 is only Criswell’s second season in professional ball. He pitched NORFOLKMONTGOMERY 70--40 30--00 40--40 2019 at then high-A Inland Empire where he went 4-8 with a 4.60 ERA in 25 games and 21 starts, striking out 111 in 117.1 innings PAWTUCKETPENSACOLA 1-5 0- 0 1-5 pitched. After an injury derailed his senior season of high school, Criswell pitched two seasons at Southern Union Community ROCHESTERSOUTH DIVISION 3-33-7 3-04-2 0-31-5 College before spending 2018 in Chapel Hill. While at Carolina, Criswell appeared in 26 games including nine as a starter. He SCRANTON/WB - - - went 6-2 with a 2.99 ERA, striking out 86 in 75.1 innings. The highlights included a save in the College World Series against SYRACUSE 3-3 2-1 1-2 Oregon State when he tossed 2.1 scoreless innings. TOLEDO 4-2 2-1 2-1 WHAT IS A TRASH PANDA? The name was chosen in a name-the-team contest and is a reference to the area's association with the space industry and the determination and ingenuity of raccoons, aka trash pandas. Trash Pandas, slang for raccoon, was included in the original 10 nominations following several