Rocket City Trash Pandas throw no-hitter — and still lose against Chattanooga Lookouts

The Rocket City Trash Pandas pitched the first no-hitter of the minor league baseball season and somehow lost.

Through an unconventional way, the Los Angeles Angels Double-A affiliate let up seven runs to ultimately lose, 7-5, against the Chattanooga Lookouts, a minor league affiliate for the Cincinnati Reds, in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday.

The chaos occurred in the seventh inning after Rocket City starting pitcher Coleman Crow threw six scoreless innings and struck out six batters.

But Ben Joyce, who was put in to close for Rocket City, imploded.

The reliever and 2022 third-round pick walked four batters and allowed five runs, and after loading up the bases, Rocket City center fielder Jeremiah Jackson failed to catch a pop fly from the Lookouts’ Jose Torres, which counted as an error.

To stop the bleeding, Trash Pandas then replaced Joyce with Eric Torres, who was charged with two more runs and hit four batters before closing out the horrific inning with Rocket City down, 7-3.

Rocket City tried to battle back, putting up two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning but was unable to make a comeback after blowing the potential no-hitter win.

Chattanooga’s Twitter account joked around about the unconventional victory, posting “the formula” it took to win on Sunday.

Rocket City also commented on the awkward loss on Twitter by trying to have a silver-lining outlook.

“Well, we did not give up a hit in the first game of today’s doubleheader. Unfortunately, we also did not win,” Rocket City posted. “So, there’s that.”

The Trash Pandas moved to 0-2 for the season with the loss, while Chattanooga improved to a 2-0 record.