After a pair of postponements due to inclement weather over the weekend, the Rocket City Trash Pandas found themselves splitting a pair of one-run games Sunday against the Birmingham Barons at Regions Field. The Trash Pandas rebounded from a 3-2 opening game loss to a 8-7 victory in extra innings in the second game.

The win in the nightcap by the Trash Pandas gave them a split of the six-game series with the Barons.

The Barons scored first in the opener on a leadoff home run from Romy Gonzalez off of Trash Pandas starting pitcher Kyle Tyler. The Barons scored again on a RBI single from Craig Dedelow.

Rocket City finally got on the board in the sixth, as Torii Hunter Jr. reached on a one-out walk. Luis Aviles Jr. followed that up with a two-run blast over the right field wall to tie the game at 2-2.

Tyler gave up two runs on nine hits with three walks and six strikeouts in his six innings of work.

In the seventh, Birmingham’s Micker Adolfo gave the Barons a 3-2 win on a walk-off home run to left off Trash Pandas reliever Oliver Ortega.

In the second game, the Trash Pandas got off to a hot start offensively using the long ball. Michael Cruz launched his sixth home run of the season, a solo shot to center, in the top of the second.

Birmingham’s Tyler Neslony tied the game in the third on a solo home run off of Trash Pandas starter Cooper Criswell. Joel Booker gave the Barons a 2-1 lead with a RBI double to center in the bottom of the fourth.

The Trash Pandas once again got things going at the plate in the fifth. Mitch Nay led off with a walk. Cruz singled, and Ray-Patrick Didder also got a free pass to load the bases. Two batters later, Aviles tied the game with a RBI single to left. The Trash Pandas then took a 3-2 lead on a RBI groundout by David MacKinnon. Orlando Martinez capped the scoring with a two-run double to give them a 5-2 lead after five innings.

After each team traded runs in the sixth to make it 6-3, the Barons tallied three runs to tie the game at 6-6 off of relievers Ryan Clark and Adrian Almeida.

After a scoreless seventh, the game went to extra innings, where the Trash Pandas rallied for a pair of runs without getting a single hit. A wild pitch and a passed ball allowed Cruz to come around to score for the go-ahead run. Hunter then reached on a throwing error, allowing Didder to cross home plate for an 8-6 lead.

Connor Higgins came in to close the game out for the Trash Pandas in the eighth. After allowing the automatic runner at second to score on a RBI groundout, Higgins sealed the 8-7 win with a strikeout of Birmingham’s Jameson Fisher.

The Trash Pandas will be back at Toyota Field beginning tonight with a six-game series against the Tennessee Smokies. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

Saturday’s game

Barons 3, Trash Pandas 0

The Rocket City Trash Pandas offense could not get anything going, failing to score and ultimately losing 2-0 to the Birmingham Barons Saturday afternoon at Regions Field.

Reid Detmers started on the mound for the Trash Pandas.

Birmingham hit three straight two-out singles in the third, one of which was a RBI single to right from Carlos Perez to give the Barons a 1-0 lead.

The Trash Pandas threatened to score in the fourth after a double and two walks loaded the bases with two outs. But Birmingham starter John Parke managed to get a fly out from Rocket City’s Dalton Pompey to strand the runners and keep the Trash Pandas off the board.

In Detmers’ first start of the second half of the season, he gave up one run on four hits with one walk and six strikeouts over four innings of work.

A sacrifice fly in the fifth from Birmingham’s Micker Adolfo off of Trash Pandas reliever Keith Rogalla made it a 2-0 game and what would end up being the final score.

Parke pitched six scoreless innings, giving up just two hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Birmingham’s closer Lane Ramsey shut down the Trash Pandas bats in order to seal the victory for the Barons in the seventh.

This game, originally scheduled to be a doubleheader, had the second game postponed.