MADISON, Ala. - The Pensacola Blue Wahoos hit four homers, including a pair from red-hot Cam Cannarella and a dramatic go-ahead shot in the eighth inning from Fenwick Trimble, but a bullpen blow-up cost the club in a 14-8 defeat to the Rocket City Trash Pandas on Saturday night.
The Trash Pandas rewarded their sellout holiday crowd of 7,219 by rallying for eight runs in the bottom of the eighth, spoiling Pensacola's Independence Day heroics and sending the Blue Wahoos to their fourth loss in a row.
Brandon Compton opened the scoring for the Blue Wahoos with a solo homer in the second, his third long ball in five games since joining the club on Tuesday. Cannarella launched a solo homer of his own, his seventh of the season at Double-A, in the third as the Blue Wahoos and Trash Pandas exchanged volleys in the early innings.
Trailing 4-2 in the top of the fifth, the Blue Wahoos started a two-out rally with a pair of walks before Cristian Hernández laced an RBI double down the left field line. Juan Matheus followed with a grounder that would have ended the inning if not for a throwing error from Trash Pandas third baseman Jake Munroe, scoring a pair of runs to give the Blue Wahoos a 5-4 lead.
Holt Jones relieved Blue Wahoos starter Luis Moreno, escaping a threat in the bottom of the fifth but surrendering a pair of runs in the sixth to put the Trash Pandas back in front 6-5.
Cannarella evened the score in the seventh with another opposite-field homer, his second of the night, and Trimble put the Blue Wahoos in front 8-6 in the top of the eighth with a two-run homer.
Kenyon Yovan (W, 4-2) limited the damage after Trimble's homer, stranding two Pensacola runners on base, and Jack Sellinger (L, 1-3) was unable to protect the late lead. Out for a second inning after a quick 1-2-3 seventh, the Blue Wahoos lefty walked the first two men he faced in the eighth before giving up an RBI single to Raudi Rodriguez and a game-tying RBI double to Munroe.
Tucker Flint, who had briefly put Rocket City in front with an RBI single in the sixth, gave them the lead for good in the eighth with a two-run single off reliever Livan Reinoso. Run-scoring hits from Jake Thompson and Juan Flores followed, ultimately adding up to an eight-run inning and a 14-8 lead. Yovan returned to the mound for the top of the ninth to seal the win for the Trash Pandas.
The Blue Wahoos wrap up their series, and their two-week road trip, against the Trash Pandas on Sunday afternoon. First pitch from Toyota Field is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. CT, with a live broadcast beginning at 4:00 on Bally Sports Live, BlueWahoos.com/radio or the MiLB app.