Barons Comeback Falls Short and Lose 4-3 to Trash Pandas

The Birmingham Barons fall to the Rocket City Trash Pandas 4-3 before 4,143 at Regions Field on Thursday night. The Barons have dropped seven in a row and three one-run games to Rocket City in this current series.

Rocket City (19-17) scored three runs on sacrifice flies and six stolen bases that set up the Trash Pandas runs. Birmingham (14-22) now has the longest losing streak in the Southern League, giving up eight more walks in the game that continue to plague the Barons' pitching.

Starting pitcher Christian Oppor (0-4, 8.34) took the loss. The lefty went 4.0 innings, giving up one hit, three runs, two earned runs, five walks with six strikeouts. Phil Fox pitched one inning, giving up a hit with two strikeouts. Carson Jacobs pitched 2.0 innings, giving up no hits, one earned run, three walks with a strikeout. Nick Altermatt pitched two innings, giving up two hits, no runs, no walks with three strikeouts.

The Trash Pandas scored first in the top of the second inning. A Matthew Lugo walk, stole second base, and advanced to third base on a catcher's throwing error put Lugo at third base. Tucker Flint sacrifice fly, scored Lugo, and that was the formula that Rocket City used for most of the game. The Trash Pandas led 1-0.

In the top of the third inning, Mac McCroskey walked. Stole second, stole third base. Gustavo Campero hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring McCroskey, and the Trash Pandas led 2-0.

In the top of the fourth inning, Raudi Rodriguez walked. Lugo tripled to left field, scoring Raudi Rodriguez, and Rocket City led 3-0.

In the top of the sixth inning, Lugo walked, and he stole second. Lugo was moved to third base on a ground ball to second base. J.J. D'Orazio hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Lugo. The Trash Pandas led 4-0.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Andy Weber singled, and Wilfred Veras walked. With two outs, Drake Logan homered to right field for a three-run home run. The Barons still trailed 4-3 and could not get any closer in the last two innings.

For the Barons, Weber had two hits, and Logan had the big three-run home run in the loss.