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 (26-26) TENNESSEE SMOKIES (20-31) 3rd PLACE, DOUBLE-A SOUTH (NORTH) 4th PLACE, DOUBLE-A SOUTH (NORTH) RHP DAVIS DANIEL (DOUBLE-A DEBUT) AT RHP CAM SANDERS (1-3, 5.44) SMOKIES STADIUM - KODAK, TN - SUNDAY, JULY 4, 2021 - 6:00 PM CT GAME 53 | AWAY GAME 30 | 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 ....................... 26-26 Home Record ......................... 14-9 Monday, July 5 OFF Road Record ........................... 12-17 Tuesday, July 6 6:35 PM vs. Montgomery TBA RHP Peyton Battenfield (2-0, 1.15) vs. North Division .................. 21-19 Wednesday, July 7 6:35 PM vs. Montgomery TBA RHP Tobias Myers (4-3, 4.01) vs. South Division .................. 5-7 vs RHP .......................................... 20-17 LAST TIME OUT: Rocket City snapped a four-game losing streak by scoring five first-inning runs, and getting another strong vs LHP .......................................... 6-9 Night ............................................ 22-22 outing from starting pitcher Cooper Criswell, in a 9-2 win over Tennessee Saturday evening. The Trash Pandas got a two-run Day ................................................. 4-4 double from David MacKinnon and a three-run homer by Mitch Nay to cap the scoring in the first. Rightfielder Izzy Wilson Last 10 .......................................... 3-7 Streak ........................................... W1 blasted a two-run dinger in the fifth to up the lead to 7-0. After single runs by the Smokies in the sixth and eighth innings, 1-Run Games ........................... 5-6 the Trash Pandas added two unearned runs in the ninth to finish the scoring. A fielding error from Smokies shortstop Andy Home Attendance ................ 129,457 Weber and an RBI single from Luis Aviles Jr. did the trick. Criswell, meanwhile, got the win by allowing one run on five hits Home Avg. Attendance .... 6,165 Season Sellouts ...................... 3 over six innings with no walks and nine strikeouts. MacKinnon had three of the eight hits on the night with three doubles, two runs scored and two RBI. Aviles chipped in with two singles, an RBI, a stolen base and a run scored. TEAM STATS DETMERS DEALING: The 10th overall pick of the 2020 Draft, Reid Detmers has quickly become a contender to see a trip to Batting Average .................... .242 “The Show” in the near future. Over a three-outing span from 5/12-5/25 he had allowed only three ER in 15.2 innings. His best Hits .................................................. 411 Runs ............................................... 232 performance came on 5/25 when he allowed an unearned run on one infield single in six innings of work with 10 strikeouts Runs/Game .............................. 4.5 against one of the top hitting teams in AA, Birmingham. Unfortunately, the Trash Pandas only provided Detmers three runs of Doubles ...................................... 69 support over those three outings, leading to three straight no-decisions. Detmers finally notched his first professional win as Triples ............................................ 6 Home Runs ............................... 74 he K’d 10 and walked none on five hits over five innings in a 3-1 win over Chattanooga on 6/5. A couple of so-so performances RBI ................ ................................... 219 followed before he punched out 14 Shuckers in a 3-2 win over Biloxi on 6/20. Detmers racked up the K’s over six innings. He Stolen Bases ............................. 35 Team ERA ................................... 4.47 then topped all of that with 16 strikeouts of Chattanooga on 6/26, which set a new season and individual-high for Trash Pandas Innings Pitched ..................... 443.0 pitchers. Unfortunately, the southpaw also allowed three homers and left trailing 5-2 after six frames. He wound up with a Hits Allowed .............................. 424 no-decision. He leads all AA-South hurlers with 84 strikeouts, which is good enough for tops in AA-South and second in all of Strikeouts ................................... 541 AA. He is scheduled to pitch for the AL squad in the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game at Coors Field on July 11. TRASH PANDAS LEADERS Games ......................................... 2 Tied, 49 GETTING K’S: Rocket City pitchers are racking up the strikeouts against opposing hitters whiffing 541 batters through the Batting Average ..................... MacKinnon, .335 At-Bats .......................................... Martinez, 188 first 52 games. That is good enough for first in AA-South. The most the Trash Pandas have struck out in a game was 19, which Runs .............................................. MacKinnon, 29 happened on 6/26 against Chattanooga when starter Reid Detmers set a new season-high for Rocket City pitchers with 16Ks Hits ................................................. MacKinnon, 53 followed by reliever Ryan Clark who punched out three more Lookouts. Twice the Trash Pandas have struck out 16 batters. Doubles ....................................... MacKinnon, 15 Triples ............................................ Didder, 4 First on 5/11 when they K’d 16 Smokies in a 10-inning loss then on 6/16 when they shutout Biloxi. The also struck out 15 Smokies Home Runs ............................... Nay, 13 in a shutout win on 5/13, 15 more against Birmingham on 5/25, and another 15 against Chattanooga on 6/5. Southpaw Reid RBI ................................................... 3 Tied, 28 Detmers leads the way with 84 K’s after his 16-strikeout performance. He and closer Oliver Ortega combined to strike out 15 Stolen Bases ............................. Wilson, 12 Walks ............................................ Wilson, 22 Biloxi batters in the seven-inning game as Ortega tossed a 1-2-3 seventh for the save with one strikeout. On-Base % ................................ MacKinnon, .421 Slugging % ............................... MacKinnon, .544 Innings Pitched ..................... Criswell, 58.2 READY FOR LAUNCH: The Trash Pandas have lived up to the Rocket City nickname by launching 74 homers, which is second Wins .............................................. Criswell, 6 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 ERA ................................................ Tyler, 3.17 baseman Mitch Nay leads the way with 13, which is tied for first in AA-South. In fact, the Trash Pandas possess four of the top Strikeouts ................................... Detmers, 84 Saves .............................................. Higgins, 5 10 homerun hitters in AA-South on the team. Nay has 13, with outfielder Izzy Wilson right behind him at 12. Outfielder Orlando Martinez sits behind both at 10, while designated hitter Ibandel Isabel clocks in with nine. vs DOUBLE-A SOUTH OVERALL HOME ROAD WHADDYA SAY NAY?: The third-baseman put together a .261 average for the month of June with eight homers and 15 RBI. BUFFALOBIRMINGHAM 2- 4 2- 4 0--0 He has 13 round-trippers on the season, which is tied for first in AA-South. A former first-round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays COLUMBUSCHATTANOOGA 81--19 3-- 2 51-17 in 2012, Nay is in his third season of AA-South after playing in the Reds organization the last two years. There, Nay played for DURHAMTENNESSEE 511--66 55--41 06-25 Cincinnati affiliates in Pensacola and Chattanooga before taking an opportunity with the Angels this season. He slashed GWINNETTNORTH DIVISION 2110--195 105--37 115-122 .261/.356/.602 for June. His best performance may have been on 6/27, when he used his power to belt two homers and drive in INDIANAPOLIS 3-7 1-2 2-5 three with a 9-6 win over his former Lookout counterparts. LEHIGHMISSISSIPPI VALLEY (NOT ON2- 12021 SCHEDULE2-1 - ) LOUISVILLEBILOXI 64--32 45-12 01--20 TODAY'S STARTING PITCHER: Making his AA debut for the Trash Pandas tonight will be former Auburn pitcher Davis Daniel NORFOLKMONTGOMERY 70--40 30--00 40--40 who joins Rocket City after a solid partial-season for high-A Tri-City. While with the Dust Devils, Daniel went 3-2 with a 2.31 PAWTUCKETPENSACOLA 1-5 0- 0 1-5 ERA in nine starts in 46.2 innings with 64 strikeouts in 46.2 innings. A seventh-round draft choice out of Auburn in 2019, Daniel ROCHESTERSOUTH DIVISION 3-35-7 3-04-2 0-31-5 only pitched two innings for Auburn on Opening Day during his junior season before suffering an injury that required Tommy SCRANTON/WB - - - John surgery. The 2021 season is his first regular season action at the professional level. SYRACUSE 3-3 2-1 1-2 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 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