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 (25-23) TENNESSEE SMOKIES (17-30) 3rd PLACE, DOUBLE-A SOUTH (NORTH) 4th PLACE, DOUBLE-A SOUTH (NORTH) RHP CHRIS RODRIGUEZ (0-0, 0.00) AT RHP ERICH UELMAN (1-5, 5.06) SMOKIES STADIUM - KODAK, TN - WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 2021 - 6:00 PM CT GAME 49 | AWAY GAME 26 | 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 ....................... 25-23 Home Record ......................... 14-9 Thursday July 1 6:00 PM @ Tennessee RHP Kyle Tyler (4-1, 2.52) RHP Dakota Chambers (0-0, 0.00) Road Record ........................... 11-14 Friday July 2 6:00 PM @ Tennessee LHP Reid Detmers (2-2, 3.95) RHP Javier Assad (0-3, 4.58) vs. North Division .................. 20-16 Saturday July 3 6:00 PM @ Tennessee RHP Cooper Criswell (5-3, 3.59) RHP Pyeton Remy (0-1, 2.51) vs. South Division .................. 5-7 vs RHP .......................................... 19-14 LAST TIME OUT: The Trash Pandas could only muster two hits in a 4-2 loss in front of 4,915 fans on Tuesday night at Smokies vs LHP .......................................... 6-9 Night ............................................ 21-19 Stadium. Both hits were provided by first-baseman David MacKinnon who belted a two-run homer in the first for all the Day ................................................. 4-4 Rocket City scoring. It was his third dinger in as many games and the fifth consecutive game Rocket City scored in the first Last 10 .......................................... 5-5 Streak ........................................... L1 inning. MacKinnon added a single in the third as well. Tennessee used a homer from Christopher Morel in the bottom-half 1-Run Games ........................... 5-6 to cut the deficit in half before using back-to-back two-out, RBI singles from Morel and Carlose Sepulveda to take a 3-2 in the Home Attendance ................ 129,457 fifth. Sepulveda added an RBI double in the eighth for the final margin. The Smokies were held to five hits. Rocket City starter Home Avg. Attendance .... 6,165 Season Sellouts ...................... 3 Boomer Biegalski pitched well but took the loss as he allowed three runs on three hits with six strikeouts over 4.2 innings. GETTING K’S: Rocket City pitchers are racking up the strikeouts against opposing hitters whiffing 502 batters through the first TEAM STATS 48 games. That is good enough for second in AA-South. The most the Trash Pandas have struck out in a game was 19, which Batting Average .................... .246 happened on 6/26 against Chattanooga when starter Reid Detmers set a new season-high for Rocket City pitchers with 16Ks Hits .................................................. 391 Runs ............................................... 219 followed by reliever Ryan Clark who punched out three more Lookouts. Twice the Trash Pandas have struck out 16 batters. Runs/Game .............................. 4.5 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 Doubles ...................................... 66 in a shutout win on 5/13, 15 more against Birmingham on 5/25, and another 15 against Chattanooga on 6/5. Southpaw Reid Triples ............................................ 6 Home Runs ............................... 71 Detmers leads the way with 76 K’s after his 16-strikeout performance. He and closer Oliver Ortega combined to strike out 15 RBI ................ ................................... 207 Biloxi batters in the seven-inning game as Ortega tossed a 1-2-3 seventh for the save with one strikeout. Stolen Bases ............................. 33 Team ERA ................................... 4.50 Innings Pitched ..................... 414.0 READY FOR LAUNCH: The Trash Pandas have lived up to the Rocket City nickname by launching 71 homers, which leads Hits Allowed .............................. 391 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 Strikeouts ................................... 502 baseman Mitch Nay leads the way with 12, which is tied for a league lead. In fact, the Trash Pandas possess four of the top 10 TRASH PANDAS LEADERS homerun hitters in AA-South on the team. Nay has 12, with outfielder Izzy Wilson right behind him at 11. Outfielder Orlando Games ......................................... Nay, 46 Martinez sits behind both at 10, while designated hitter Ibandel Isabel clocks in with eight. Batting Average ..................... MacKinnon, .331 At-Bats .......................................... Martinez, 173 Runs .............................................. Martinez, 27 WHADDYA SAY NAY?: AA-South veteran Mitch Nay has come around for Rocket City as well. The third-baseman has put Hits ................................................. 2 Tied, 48 together a .274 average for the month of June with eight homers and 15 RBI. He has 12 round-trippers on the season, which is Doubles ....................................... MacKinnon, 12 Triples ............................................ Didder, 4 tied for first in AA-South. A former first-round pick of the Blue Jays in 2012, Nay is in his third season of AA-South after playing in Home Runs ............................... Nay, 12 the Reds organization the last two years. There, Nay played for Cincinnati affiliates in Pensacola and Chattanooga before taking RBI ................................................... Martinez, 28 Stolen Bases ............................. Wilson, 11 an opportunity with the Angels this season. He is slashing .274/.371/.631 for the month. His best performance may have been Walks ............................................ Nay, 21 on 6/27, when he used his power to belt two homers and drive in three with a 9-6 wins over his former Lookout counterparts. On-Base % ................................ MacKinnon, .413 Slugging % ............................... MacKinnon, .538 Innings Pitched ..................... Criswell, 52.2 CLOSING THE DOOR: While the bullpen has been suspect at times this season, the closers have been pretty solid. Leading Wins .............................................. Criswell, 5 the team in saves currently is Connor Higgins. The former Arizona State Sun Devil has allowed six earned runs over 20 innings ERA ................................................ Tyler, 2.52 while going 5-6 in the saves department. Complementing him is fellow-righty Keith Rogalla. Though he only has two saves, Strikeouts ................................... Detmers, 76 Saves .............................................. Higgins, 5 the Illinois native has been steady allowing only four earned runs in 19.1 innings this season while notching two saves. Round- ing it out is righty Nathan Bates. Not seen as a closing candidate at the beginning of the season, Bates has been outstanding vs DOUBLE-A SOUTH allowing on five earned runs in 22.1 innings with only one save. He allowed three of those earned runs in one appearance this OVERALL HOME ROAD season. That was on 5/30 against Birmingham in a game that was already lopsided in the Barons favor. BUFFALOBIRMINGHAM 2- 4 2- 4 0--0 COLUMBUSCHATTANOOGA 81--19 3-- 2 51-17 FUTURES GAME: Today, it was announced that Trash Pandas starting pitcher Reid Detmers has been named to the American DURHAMTENNESSEE 105--63 55--41 05-2 League roster for the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game, a seven-inning contest as part of MLB All-Star Sunday at Coors Field in GWINNETTNORTH DIVISION 2010-165 105--37 105--29 Denver, CO on July 11. Joining Detmers on the AL roster will be fellow Angels prospect Hector Yan, who is currenlty pitching INDIANAPOLIS 3-7 1-2 2-5 for High-A Tri-City. The AL squad will be managed by former Angels pitcher LaTroy Hawkins. LEHIGHMISSISSIPPI VALLEY (NOT ON2- 12021 SCHEDULE2-1 - ) LOUISVILLEBILOXI 62-32 45-12 01--20 TODAY'S STARTING PITCHER: RHP Chris Rodriguez will take the hill for the Trash Pandas for his second start as he continues NORFOLKMONTGOMERY 70--40 30--00 40--40 to develop into what the Angels hope will be a starting pitcher. Rodriguez is the first Trash Pandas player to have already PAWTUCKETPENSACOLA 1-5 0- 0 1-5 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 ROCHESTERSOUTH DIVISION 3-33-7 3-04-2 0-31-5 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 SCRANTON/WB - - - in a no-decision. Before this season, Rodriguez had not pitched above A-ball and had appeared in only three games since SYRACUSE 3-3 2-1 1-2 2017 as back issues sidelined him for 2018 and the pandemic crushed his 2020 campaign. 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