MADISON, Alabama – In a high scoring battle, the Rocket City Trash Pandas came out on top in a 10-6 victory Thursday evening at Toyota Field for their first double-digit offensive night of 2024.
With a trio of hits to open the ballgame against Rocket City starting pitcher Victor Mederos (W, 4-3), Chattanooga took an early 1-0 lead with an RBI single from infielder Dominic Pitelli. The Trash Pandas countered in the bottom half with a bases-loaded walk from infielder Tucker Flint.
Chattanooga brought in a pair of runs home in the second on a force out off the bat of infielder Rueben Ibarra and a run-scoring single from outfielder Justice Thompson to make it a 3-1 Lookouts lead.
Trash Pandas infielder Ben Gobbel got both runs back in the bottom half with his first Double-A home run. Gobbel’s two-run blast was his sixth of the season across High-A Tri-City and Rocket City.
Rocket City took its first lead of the ballgame in the third as a throwing error from Chattanooga third baseman Nick Northcut off the bat of shortstop Denzer Guzman, allowed outfielder Eric Wagaman to score from second and give the Trash Pandas a 4-3 lead.
The Lookouts gained the lead right back in the fourth as infielder Ruben Ibarra singled in a pair of runs to make the score 5-4 Chattanooga. With the hit, Ibarra has driven in six runs in the first three games of the series.
Gobbel struck again as he tied by belting a solo homer in the fourth. It was his second dinger of the day and his first multi-homer game as a professional. A throwing error from Chattanooga later in the inning scored the go-ahead run for the Trash Pandas to make it a 6-5 game.
The lead didn’t last long as Lookouts designated hitter Francisco Urbaez tied the game with his first home run of the season in the fifth. Rocket City responded with its third home run as a team, this time from Wagaman. It was his fifth of the year and it came off of Lookouts reliever Brooks Crawford (L, 1-2) on his first pitch of the night.
With Rocket City holding a 7-6 advantage, the Trash Pandas were able to extend their lead on another bases-loaded walk from Lookouts pitchers with Flint picking up the RBI. Later in the inning, a double from infielder Denzer Guzman with the bases juiced brought home two more.
That put Rocket City up 10-6 and set the stage for the bullpen as Nick Jones, CD Pelham and Michael Darrell-Hicks each fired a scoreless inning to wrap up the game.
Rocket City will look for a second straight win on Friday for Friday Night Fireworks sponsored by Axient. First pitch is set for 6:35 CT. Tickets start at $8 and are available at TPTix.com. Josh Caray will have the call on Talk Radio WZZN 97.7-2 FM HD-2, WAAY 31.6 The Grio and streaming on MiLB.TV, the MLB App, and Bally Live!
Probable Starters: Caden Dana (RCT) vs. Kevin Abel (CHA)
