By Aaron Cheris

MADISON– Starter Jhonathan Diaz threw the first nine-inning complete game in Toyota Field history to lead the Rocket City Trash Pandas to a 3-2 win over the Birmingham Barons in the third game of their six-game series on Thursday night.

In one of the best performances on the mound by a Rocket City starter this season, the southpaw allowed two earned runs on six hits with no walks and seven strikeouts to earn the win for his first career nine-inning complete game.

The Trash Pandas were able to provide Diaz (W, 4-1) with early run support, and it proved to be more than enough.

For the third straight game, Rocket City got on the board first. Brendon Davis reached with a one-out single against Birmingham starter Kade McClure. Orlando Martinez followed with an opposite-field two-run shot that just cleared the left field fence for his 12th home run of the season and a 2-0 Rocket City advantage.

An inning later, Ray-Patrick Didder drew a one-out walk. Michael Cruz then lined a double down the left field line, scoring Didder all the way from first to make it a 3-0 game.

Birmingham cut the deficit to 3-2 in the third on an RBI single from Romy Gonzalez and a solo homer from Xavier Fernandez. But Diaz maintained the lead to get through the inning, and he was able to hold it for the rest of the night.

In the fourth, he induced a ground ball double play from Joe DeCarlo to work around a leadoff single. David MacKinnon then made the catch and stepped on first base for an unassisted double play to get Diaz through the fifth.

From there, Diaz would not allow another base runner. From the fifth to the ninth, Diaz retired the final 14 men he faced, including striking out the side in the seventh, to get the one-run victory.

At the plate, Martinez was the only Trash Panda to record a multi-hit game with a 2-for-3 performance including the home run and two RBI.

The win puts Rocket City two games above .500 for the first time since June 29. Coupled with Tennessee’s victory over Chattanooga, the Trash Pandas are only one game out of first place in the Double-A South North Division.

The Trash Pandas (37-35) continue their series with the Barons (39-35) on Friday night. First pitch at Toyota Field is set for 6:35 p.m. Josh Caray will be on the call for 103.9 FM THE UMP and 730 AM SportsRadio. The game will also be televised locally on WAAY-31.6, This TV.