Ernesto Martinez Jr. launched a three-run home run in the seventh inning for the lead and Justin Yeager locked it down with a scoreless ninth for his Southern League-leading 19th save of the season as Adam Hall and his Biloxi Shuckers teammates inched closer to a playoff spot with a 4-2 win over the Rocket City Trash Pandas (57-72, 24-37) at Toyota Field.
With the win and a Mississippi Braves loss, the Shuckers extended their lead to 2.5 games for the wild card with eight games remaining in the regular season.
Shuckers’ starter Nate Peterson turned in his second consecutive strong start, facing two over the minimum through four innings with five strikeouts. In the fifth, the Trash Pandas took a 1-0 lead on an RBI single from Nelson Rada, but Peterson limited the damage by inducing a flyout from David Mershon. Peterson ended his night with five innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts. Since rejoining the rotation on August 25, Peterson has allowed one earned run over 13.2 innings with 17 strikeouts.
The Shuckers responded with a bases-loaded walk from Hall in the sixth, tying the game at one. In the seventh, Ernesto Martinez Jr. smashed a three-run shot to right-center, giving the Shuckers a 4-1 lead. The blast, his 13th of the year, gave him 11 extra-base hits and five home runs over his 14-game on-base streak. In the bottom of the inning, the Trash Pandas made it 4-2 with a sacrifice fly from David Mershon, but Chase Costello entered and struck out two to end the inning and end the threat. In the ninth, Justin Yeager worked around two baserunners to record his 19th save of the year, putting him one away from becoming the first Shuckers pitcher since 2019 to 20 in a season. Will Childers (2-3) earned the win for the Shuckers while Jared Southard (0-1) took the loss.
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