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 (48-46) BILOXI SHUCKERS (35-61) 2nd PLACE, DOUBLE-A SOUTH (NORTH) AT 4th PLACE, DOUBLE-A SOUTH (SOUTH) LHP RYAN SMITH (0-2, 6.53) RHP NOAH ZAVOLAS (4-6, 4.79) MGM PARK - BILOXI, MS - TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2021 - 6:35 PM CT GAME 95 | ROAD GAME 49 | 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 ....................... 48-46 Home Record ......................... 26-20 Wed., August 25 6:35 PM @ Biloxi Shuckers RHP Davis Daniel (1-2, 2.75) RHP Carlos Luna (1-3, 3.29) Road Record ........................... 22-26 Thursday, August 26 6:35 PM @ Biloxi Shuckers RHP Robinson Pina (0-1, 12.60) RHP Lucas Erceg (1-5, 5.05) vs. North Division .................. 41-36 Friday., August 27 6:35 PM @ Biloxi Shuckers RHP Janson Junk (1-2, 6.27) RHP Jesus Castillo (3-7, 5.11) vs. South Division .................. 7-10 vs RHP .......................................... 37-33 LAST TIME OUT: An eight-run sixth inning brought the Lookouts back from a 4-0 deficit and on to a 10-7 win over Rocket City vs LHP .......................................... 11-13 Night ............................................ 42-40 Sunday evening. The Trash Pandas received a two-run double from Michael Cruz in the second, an RBI single from Brendon Day ................................................. 6-6 Davis in the fourth, and a solo homer by Izzy Wilson in the fifth to get out to their lead. However, in the sixth, the first eight Last 10 .......................................... 6-4 men reached for the Lookouts with the big blow coming on a grand slam by Wilson Garcia to give Chattanooga the lead. Streak ........................................... L1 There were also four single including two for RBI, two hit batsmen one of which came with the bases loaded, two walks, and 1-Run Games ........................... 12-11 Home Attendance ................ 243,468 an RBI groundout. Rocket City got a run back in the sixth on a solo shot from Carlos Herrera before solo dingers in the sev- Home Avg. Attendance .... 5,797 enth and eighth from Chattanooga put the Lookouts up 10-5. The Trash Pandas registered a two-run single in the ninth from Season Sellouts ...................... 6 Ray-Patrick Didder and had runners at second and third with two out, however Cruz struck out swinging to end the game. BASEBALL RETURNS: The Rocket City home opener on May 11 marked the first professional baseball game in North Alabama TEAM STATS since May 25, 2015, when the Biloxi Shuckers temporarily called Joe Davis Stadium home while their new stadium was being Batting Average .................... .243 built. That day, the Shuckers beat the Birmingham Barons 7-2. Previously, the Huntsville Stars called Joe Davis Stadium home Hits .................................................. 745 Runs ............................................... 472 from 1985-2014 and finished with an overall record of 2,112-2,099 (.502). The Trash Pandas were originally scheduled to begin Runs/Game .............................. 5.0 play in April 2020, but the season was canceled due to the pandemic. May 11 was also 978 days since the name Rocket City Doubles ...................................... 148 Trash Pandas was name was unveiled to the public on September 5, 2018. Triples ............................................ 10 Home Runs ............................... 146 RBI ................ ................................... 440 GETTING K’S: The pitchers are racking up the strikeouts against opposing hitters whiffing 968 batters through the first 94 Stolen Bases ............................. 75 games. That is good enough for first in AA-South. The most the Trash Pandas have struck out in a game was 19, which hap- Team ERA ................................... 4.91 pened on 6/26 against Chattanooga when former starting pitcher Reid Detmers set a new season-high for Rocket City pitchers Innings Pitched ..................... 795.0 with 16Ks followed by reliever Ryan Clark who punched out three more Lookouts. Twice the Trash Pandas have struck out 16 Hits Allowed .............................. 801 Strikeouts ................................... 969 batters. First on 5/11 when they K’d 16 Smokies in a 10-inning loss, then on 6/16 when they shutout Biloxi. They also struck out 15 Smokies in a shutout win on 5/13, 15 more against Birmingham on 5/25, another 15 against Chattanooga on 6/5, then 15 more TRASH PANDAS LEADERS on 7/22 against Tennessee. Detmers leads the way with 97K’s after his 16-strikeout performance. He and closer Oliver Ortega Games ......................................... Nay, 90 combined to strike out 15 Biloxi batters in the seven-inning game as Ortega tossed a 1-2-3 seventh for the save with one strikeout. Batting Average ..................... MacKinnon, .290 At-Bats .......................................... Martinez, 339 WHICH WAY MARTINEZ?: The wide pendulum that has been the season for outfielder Orlando Martinez appears to back Runs .............................................. Nay, 55 Hits ................................................. MacKinnon, 89 on a downswing. At .245 for the season, Martinez started decently by hitting .253 in May with seven multi-hit games out of Doubles ....................................... MacKinnon, 27 his first 22. He was white-hot in June, as he hit .293 to raise his seasonal average to .271. However, July brought Orlando back Triples ............................................ Didder, 4 to earth as he hit only .207 (18-87) for the month with four multi-hit games out of 23 to bring his average back to .250. In Home Runs ............................... Nay, 22 August, Martinez started 7-17 then went into an 0-31 spiral before going 14-29 since 8/15. He went 11-24 during the 8/17-8/22 RBI ................................................... MacKinnon, 54 Stolen Bases ............................. Wilson, 25 series against Chattanooga to garner AA-South Player of the Week honors. He homered twice, doubled twice, tripled, scored Walks ............................................ Nay, 49 four runs and drove in four more against the Lookouts. A career .280 hitter entering this season, Martinez’s name is in the top On-Base % ................................ MacKinnon, .388 ten of several statistical categories in AA-South including second in doubles (22), fourth in hits (87), tied for fourth in runs (51), Slugging % ............................... Nay, .500 and tied for seventh in home runs (15). However, he does not rank in the top 10 of any sabermetrics (Batting Average, OBP, Innings Pitched ..................... Tyler, 72.0 Wins .............................................. Criswell, 6 Slugging, OPS) and he is sixth in strikeouts with 105. ERA ................................................ Tyler, 3.38 Strikeouts ................................... Detmers, 97 ALL THE WAY NAY: Third baseman Mitch Nay has been coming on strong of late. Mired around the Mendoza line for most Saves .............................................. Higgins, 8 of the season, Nay collected a season-high four hits on 8/13 against Tennessee. The former first-round pick of the Blue Jays started the road trip on 8/3 with a .206 batting average. He enters play on 8/24 batting .235 after going 22-69 (.319) over the vs DOUBLE-A SOUTH last 18 games. He leads the team and league in homers with 22. He is also second in the league in runs (55), fourth in walks OVERALL HOME ROAD (49), and tied for fifth in RBI (48), and tied for eighth in doubles (16). BUFFALOBIRMINGHAM 8--10 5- 7 3--3 COLUMBUSCHATTANOOGA 161-114 7-- 5 91-19 DOUBLE STEAL: Rocket City has done more than just hit homers. The Trash Pandas are well-represented in both the doubles DURHAMTENNESSEE 175--612 58--43 09-29 and steals categories. The Trash Pandas are second doubles with 148. First baseman David MacKinnon leads the team and GWINNETTNORTH DIVISION 4110--365 205--315 215--221 league with 27 doubles, outfielder Orlando Martinez is second with 22 and infielder Ray-Patrick Didder sits in a tie of third INDIANAPOLIS 3-7 1-2 2-5 with 20. Infielder Mitch Nay is in a tie for eighth with 16. On the bases, the team is currently third in AA-South in steals with LEHIGHMISSISSIPPI VALLEY (NOT ON2- 12021 SCHEDULE2-1 - ) 75. Rightfielder Izzy Wilson leads the team and is second in the league with 25 while Didder is tied for fifth with 14. The team LOUISVILLEBILOXI 64--32 45-12 01--20 has stolen home three times this season with Wilson completing the cycle for steals on 8/21 against Chattanooga as he stole second, third and home on one trip around the bases. NORFOLKMONTGOMERY 72--43 32--03 40--40 PAWTUCKETPENSACOLA 1-5 0- 0 1-5 PROSPECT RANKINGS: The Trash Pandas' current roster features five of the Angels’ Top 30 prospects (according to MLB.com): ROCHESTERSOUTH DIVISION 73-3-10 3-06-5 0-31-5 right-handed pitcher Robinson Pina (No. 21), right-handed pitcher Davis Daniel (No. 22), right-handed pitcher Janson Junk (No. SCRANTON/WB - - - 23), outfielder Orlando Martinez (No. 27), and left-handed pitcher Ryan Smith (No. 28). SYRACUSE 3-3 2-1 1-2 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