MADISON – In a historic pitching performance Saturday night, Rocket City Trash Pandas pitchers Chase Silseth, Luke Murphy, and Eric Torres combined to throw the first no-hitter in franchise history in a 8-0 win over Biloxi at Toyota Field.
Silseth got it started, retiring the first 20 hitters he faced before a brief bump in the seventh. Luke Murphy entered in the eighth and worked around a pair of walks to keep the no-no alive. Closer Eric Torres entered in the ninth and was his dominant self, striking out three while walking two to finish the extraordinary game.
From the start, Silseth was dominant. He struck out the side in the first, then fanned the first two hitters he faced in the second before a groundout ended the inning. Two groundouts and a flyout got him through a quick third.
In the bottom half, the Trash Pandas offense went to work. Jordyn Adams led off with a walk, followed by Aaron Whitefield’s single. Two outs later, Zach Neto connected on a towering 429-foot three-run home run, his third Double-A homer and fourth as a professional, to give the Trash Pandas the early 3-0 edge.
In the fourth, Corey Ray nearly had the Shuckers’ first hit with a sharp grounder to Sonny DiChiara at first. But the Rocket City first baseman made a sliding stop, got to his feet, and stepped on first for the out.
An inning later, the Trash Pandas broke the game open. A lead-off single from Kyren Paris, another walk by Adams, and a double steal put runners on second and third. Aaron Whitefield’s ground out to second plated Paris. Livan Soto then crushed a two-run blast over the wall in right for his sixth home run of the season and a 6-0 Trash Pandas advantage.
Silseth struck out the side in the fifth, got a fly out, a ground out, and another strikeout to complete the sixth. He began the seventh with two more strikeouts to retire the first 20 batters he faced. But on the 0-1 pitch to Garrett Whitley, catcher’s interference on Whitley’s swing broke up the perfect game and allowed Whitley to reach. Thomas Dillard drew a walk before Silseth escaped the frame by inducing a ground ball to Wes Clarke.
That would be the end of Silseth’s night. Over seven innings, he struck out 10 and walked just one in the best performance of his professional career.
Murphy entered in the eighth and walked Zavier Warren. Felix Valerio then hit a weak ground out to third for the first out and Yeison Coca struck out. After a walk to Terence Doston, Murphy caught Ray looking on the outside corner for the third out.
In the Trash Pandas’ eighth, Adams plated the final runs of the night with a two-run double in the bottom of the eighth.
Torres was called on to get the final three outs, and he delivered. Following a leadoff walk, he struck out Whitley and Dillard for the first two outs. Clarke took a four pitch walk to extend the game. Torres finished it off by getting Zavier Warren to swing and miss for strike three, setting off a wild celebration on the mound.
The pitching trio combined to strike out 15 and walk five.
The Trash Pandas (74-51, 33-23 second half) wrap up their Toyota Field series with the Shuckers (58-64, 24-31 second half) today at 2:35 p.m. Josh Caray @BigPoppaPanda will be on the call for 103.9 FM The Ump and 730 AM SportsRadio. The game will also be televised on WAAY 31.6, This TV.
At today’s game, 2,000 adults ages 18 and older will receive a special Trash Pandas Military Style T-Shirt, presented by AKIMA. After the game, all kids are invited to run the bases, presented by The Yard Milkshake Bar.
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