Trash Pandas walk off with wild 8-7 win

By Aaron Cheris

MADISON – In a back-and-forth affair that saw the lead change multiple times, the Rocket City Trash Pandas walked off for an 8-7 victory in 10 innings over the Birmingham Barons in the second game of their six-game series on Wednesday night at Toyota Field.

With the game tied 7-7 in the 10th, Rocket City reliever Adrian Almeida (W, 3-0) induced a pop up off a bunt and recorded a pair of strikeouts to strand the go-ahead run at third base and keep the game tied.

In the bottom half, Dalton Pompey began the inning on second and advanced to third on a single from Ibandel Isabel off Barons reliever Anderson Severino. The first pitch to Torii Hunter Jr. was wild, allowing Pompey to come home for the winning run in a close play at the plate.

The game began in similar strong fashion for the Trash Pandas.

Rocket City wasted little time in striking first. On just the second pitch in the bottom of the first, Luis Aviles Jr. hit a laser 354 feet over the left field wall with an exit velocity of 111 miles per hour for his third leadoff shot with the Trash Pandas. Later in the inning, Mitch Nay nearly grounded into a double play with runners on the corners. However, the throw to first from Barons shortstop Yolbert Sanchez was high, allowing Orlando Martinez to score the second run of the inning.

Birmingham responded in the third with a two-run homer in the third from Jameson Fisher off Trash Pandas starter Aaron Hernandez to tie the game. The Barons jumped in front in the third when Joel Booker stole third and came home to score on a throwing error by Trash Pandas catcher Michael Cruz.

Barons starter Konnor Pilkington looked like he was going to hold the lead by retiring the first two hitters in the bottom of the third. Then the Rocket City offense came to life.

Michael Cruz kept the inning alive with a two-out double. Aviles Jr. propelled the Trash Pandas back in front with a towering 429-foot two-run blast to left for his second home run of the night and 10th of the season. Brendon Davis followed with a solo home run of his own to left-center for his fourth of the season and the sixth back-to-back home runs in Trash Pandas history. Martinez and David MacKinnon kept the rally going with consecutive doubles for a 6-3 Rocket City advantage after four.

Xavier Hernandez got two of the runs back for the Barons in the fifth with a two-run home run down the left field line off Hernandez to make it a one-run game. The Trash Pandas starter rebounded to maintain the lead to end his outing. Over 5.0 innings, Hernandez gave up five runs, four earned, on seven hits with three walks and six strikeouts. He did not factor in the final decision.

Matthias Dietz was first out of the bullpen for the Trash Pandas in his Double-A debut to begin the sixth. A walk and a pair of errors allowed Booker to score the tying run in the sixth.

Rocket City restored the lead in the bottom of the sixth as Davis walked, advanced to second on a balk, and scored on a single to left from MacKinnon.

Dietz held the lead with a clean seventh and Connor Higgins did the same in the eighth.

In the ninth, Sanchez reached with a one-out walk before Almeida struck out Craig Dedelow for the second out of the inning. Down to their final out, the Barons tied the game on a triple to right-center from Ian Dawkins to level the score at 7-7. Severino kept the score even with a scoreless bottom of the ninth, setting the stage for late heroics by Rocket City.

The top four hitters in the Rocket City lineup all recorded multi-hit games. Aviles went 3-for-5 with two home runs and three RBI to lead the way. On his 24th birthday, Davis was 2-for-4 with a home run and two runs scored as the Trash Pandas improved their record to above .500 for the first time since June 30.

The Trash Pandas (36-35) continue their series with the Barons (39-34) on Thursday night. First pitch at Toyota Field is set for 6:35 p.m. Josh Caray will be on the call for 103.9 FM THE UMP and 730 AM SportsRadio. The game will also be televised locally on WAAY-31.6, This TV.