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 (26-27) MONTGOMERY BISCUITS (25-27) 3rd PLACE, DOUBLE-A SOUTH (NORTH) VS 3rd PLACE, DOUBLE-A SOUTH (SOUTH) RHP CHRIS RODRIGUEZ (0-0, 0.00) RHP TOBIAS MYERS (4-3, 4.01) TOYOTA FIELD - MADISON, AL - TUESDAY, JULY 6, 2021 - 6:35 PM CT GAME 54 | HOME GAME 24 | TODAY’S BROADCASTS ONLINE MiLB TV RADIO SPORTSRADIO 730 AM/103.9 FM THE UMP TV WAAY 31.6 UPCOMING STARTERS ROCKET CITY STATS DATE TIME (CT) OPPONENT TRASH PANDAS STARTER OPPONENT STARTER Overall Record ....................... 26-27 Home Record ......................... 14-9 Wednesday, July 7 6:35 PM vs. Montgomery LHP Reid Detmers (2-3, 3.91) RHP Tommy Romero (0-0, 1.91) Road Record ........................... 12-18 Thursday, July 8 6:35 PM vs. Montgomery RHP Aaron Hernandez (2-2, 6.89) RHP Adrian De Horta (0-1, 9.00) vs. North Division .................. 21-20 Friday, July 9 6:35 PM vs. Montgomery RHP Kyle Tyler (4-2, 3.17) RHP Easton McGee (0-0, 5.40) vs. South Division .................. 5-7 vs RHP .......................................... 20-18 LAST TIME OUT: The Trash Pandas blew a 6-1 lead in falling to the Tennessee Smokies 7-6 Sunday evening. Rocket City used vs LHP .......................................... 6-9 Night ............................................ 22-23 the long ball to race to an early lead. Rightfielder Izzy Wilson ripped a two-run homer in the first and centerfielder Torii Hunter Day ................................................. 4-4 Jr. went to straightaway center on a three-run shot in the fourth. Mixed in was an RBI single from David MacKinnon in the Last 10 .......................................... 3-7 Streak ........................................... L1 third. However, Tennessee came back by scoring one in the fourth, then four more in the sixth off of Trash Pandas reliever 1-Run Games ........................... 5-7 Adrian Almeida. The four-run outburst came on only two hits as Almeida also walked two batters as well. Fellow reliever Keith Home Attendance ................ 129,457 Rogalla suffered the loss after allowing the winning run in the eighth. After the fourth, the Trash Pandas offense mustered only Home Avg. Attendance .... 6,165 Season Sellouts ...................... 3 three hits and left 11 men on base for the game. Wilson, shortstop Ray-Patrick Didder, and second baseman Gavin Cecchini each had two hits to pace the Rocket City attack. TEAM STATS BASEBALL RETURNS: The Rocket City home opener on May 11 marked the first professional baseball game in North Alabama Batting Average .................... .242 since May 25, 2015, when the Biloxi Shuckers temporarily called Joe Davis Stadium home while their new stadium was being Hits .................................................. 420 Runs ............................................... 238 built. That day, the Shuckers beat the Birmingham Barons 7-2. Previously, the Huntsville Stars called Joe Davis Stadium home Runs/Game .............................. 4.5 from 1985-2014 and finished with an overall record of 2,112-2,099 (.502). The Trash Pandas were originally scheduled to begin Doubles ...................................... 69 play in April 2020, but the season was canceled due to the pandemic. May 11 was also 978 days since the name Rocket City Triples ............................................ 6 Home Runs ............................... 76 Trash Pandas was name was unveiled to the public on September 5, 2018. RBI ................ ................................... 225 Stolen Bases ............................. 37 Team ERA ................................... 4.53 RETURN OF THE MAC: On 5/30, the Angels promoted leading hitter Michael Stefanic to AAA after he started the season batting Innings Pitched ..................... 451.0 .345. On the same day, first baseman David MacKinnon returned to lineup after resting the last seven days to repair a sore Hits Allowed .............................. 436 shoulder he suffered while trying to backhand a groundball on 5/21. With Stefanic gone, MacKinnon becomes Rocket City’s Strikeouts ................................... 549 most consistent hitter. At .331 for the season, MacKinnon has hits in 37 of the 43 games he has played in and saw a 12-game TRASH PANDAS LEADERS hitting streak come to an end on 6/4. He also has a flare for the dramatic. Not known as a homerun hitter, two of MacKinnon’s Games ......................................... 2 Tied, 50 bombs were especially memorable. He hit a walk-off grand-slam to end a 13-inning marathon against Tennessee on 5/16, he Batting Average ..................... MacKinnon, .331 At-Bats .......................................... Martinez, 189 then hit a three-run shot in his return against Birmingham on 5/29. He followed that by providing the game-winning RBI on Runs .............................................. MacKinnon, 29 a single against Tennessee in the eighth inning on 6/9. The University of Hartford alumn currently leads the league in batting Hits ................................................. MacKinnon, 54 average (.331), on-base percentage (.415), on-base plus slugging (.949), doubles (15), and fourth in hits (54), and second in slug- Doubles ....................................... MacKinnon, 15 Triples ............................................ Didder, 4 ging (.534). He was named Double-A South Player of the Month of June after hitting .377 that month. Home Runs ............................... 2 Tied, 13 RBI ................................................... Wilson, 30 Stolen Bases ............................. READY FOR LAUNCH: The Trash Pandas have lived up to the Rocket City nickname by launching 76 homers, which is second Wilson, 12 Walks ............................................ Nay, 24 in all of AA. 12 of those dingers came in the first Tennessee series, including two grand slams in the series finale on 5/16. Third On-Base % ................................ MacKinnon, .415 baseman Mitch Nay and rightfielder Izzy Wilson each lead the way with 13, which is tied for first in AA-South. In fact, the Trash Slugging % ............................... MacKinnon, .534 Innings Pitched ..................... Criswell, 58.2 Pandas possess four of the top 10 homerun hitters in AA-South on the team. Outfielder Orlando Martinez sits behind both Wins .............................................. Criswell, 6 Nay and Wilson at 10, while designated hitter Ibandel Isabel clocks in with nine. ERA ................................................ Tyler, 3.17 Strikeouts ................................... Detmers, 84 Saves .............................................. Higgins, 5 PANDAS POUNCE AT HOME: Toyota Field has become quite the launching pad for the Trash Pandas. Of the 76 homers hit on season, Rocket City has blasted 39 of them at home. After hitting 12 in the first series against Tennessee, the Trash Pandas vs DOUBLE-A SOUTH hit 18 dingers during an 11-game homestand against Chattanooga and Birmingham. In fact, the home team had at least one OVERALL HOME ROAD homer in 10 of the 11 games. BUFFALOBIRMINGHAM 2- 4 2- 4 0--0 COLUMBUSCHATTANOOGA 81--19 3-- 2 51-17 TODAY'S STARTING PITCHER: RHP Chris Rodriguez will take the hill for the Trash Pandas for his third start as he continues DURHAMTENNESSEE 511--67 55--41 06-26 to develop into what the Angels hope will be a starting pitcher. Rodriguez is the first Trash Pandas player to have already GWINNETTNORTH DIVISION 2110--205 105--37 115-132 played with the big-league club after he was sent to Rocket City on 6/20. While with the Angels, Rodrgiuez compiled a 2-0 INDIANAPOLIS 3-7 1-2 2-5 record with a 3.66 ERA in 20 appearances. On 6/25, he tossed 1.2 innings of scoreless ball at Chattanooga and struck out two in LEHIGHMISSISSIPPI VALLEY (NOT ON2- 12021 SCHEDULE2-1 - ) a no-decision. He followed that with 2.2 scoreless frames on 6/30 against Tennessee on two hits and three strikeouts. Before LOUISVILLEBILOXI 64--32 45-12 01--20 this season, Rodriguez had not pitched above A-ball and had appeared in only three games since 2017 as back issues sidelined NORFOLKMONTGOMERY 70--40 30--00 40--40 him for 2018 and the pandemic crushed his 2020 campaign. PAWTUCKETPENSACOLA 1-5 0- 0 1-5 ROCHESTERSOUTH DIVISION 3-35-7 3-04-2 0-31-5 PROSPECT RANKINGS: The Trash Pandas' active roster features four of the Angels’ Top 30 prospects (according to MLB.com): SCRANTON/WB - - - left-handed pitcher Reid Detmers (Angels’ No. 2, No. 57 in all of baseball), right-handed pitcher Oliver Ortega (No. 14), outfielder SYRACUSE 3-3 2-1 1-2 Orlando Martinez (No. 16), and right-handed pitcher Aaron Hernandez (No. 22). 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 Brandiose-led focus groups in Madison and Huntsville. The ballot descriptor read: Our community is known for engineering, and no creature in our galaxy is as smart, creative, determined and ingenious a problem solver - dedicated to the challenge at hand - as our local raccoons! In July 2018, after the results from several focus groups in Madison and Huntsville,10 names were selected, based on their uniqueness and how each name relates