The Rocket City Trash Pandas will have to settle this one the hard way.
After Tuesday night’s 7-0 loss to the Biloxi Shuckers, the Southern League championship series is tied 1-1 and headed for a winner-take-all Game Three Wednesday night at Toyota Field. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. CT.
Rocket City had the kind of stage you dream about: a Toyota Field-record postseason crowd of 4,756, a chance to clinch the franchise’s first title, and Tyler Bremner on the mound. Instead, the Shuckers turned a scoreless game into a runaway after five innings, riding a big sixth and steady late pressure to keep the series alive.
Bremner, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft and MLB Pipeline’s No. 43 prospect, was sharp enough to give Rocket City a real shot. He worked five scoreless innings, allowed two hits, walked two and struck out seven. He threw 78 pitches, with 50 going for strikes.
But Biloxi’s Bishop Letson was even better. The right-hander needed just 87 pitches to navigate seven scoreless innings, giving up four hits while striking out 12.
The game cracked open in the sixth against reliever Chris Cortez. Braylon Payne opened the rally with a single, Jesus Made followed with an RBI double, and Andrew Fischer then unloaded a two-run homer, his 50th of the season, to make it 3-0.
Biloxi kept piling on from there. Fischer struck again in the eighth with a two-run double, finishing 2-for-4 with four RBIs. Dylan O'Rae and Made added RBI singles in the ninth to put the game fully out of reach.
Rocket City’s best chance came in the first inning. Nick Rodriguez singled, Jacob Cozart followed with a two-out double, and Rodriguez was thrown out at the plate trying to score from first, ending the inning and wiping away the early threat.
Wande Torres handled the final two innings for Biloxi and was dominant, retiring all six batters he faced, five on strikeouts.
In Other News...
Angels Face A Costly Veteran Reset With Free Agency Looming
The Angels are headed into another familiar winter with a roster that could look a lot different by the time next season rolls around. Anthony Rendon, Robert Stephenson, Travis dArnaud, Yoan Moncada, Adam Frazier and Jeimer Candelario are all set to hit free agency, and the mix says plenty about where the club stands after a season defined by uneven production and plenty of injury concern.
For Los Angeles, the bigger question is not just who leaves, but how much of the veteran-heavy reset is already underway. Rendons health has been a constant issue, Stephenson and the others have each carried their own recent questions, and the expectation is that most of this group will not be back in 2027. John Mozeliak is expected to stay on as interim general manager, which means the Angels may soon have to make a series of decisions that will shape the next stage of the roster rather than patch up the present one. [Read more 🡒]
Zach Netos Finish Could Force An Angels Decision This Winter
Zach Netos 2026 season has given the Angels a different kind of offseason question than they usually face with a young core player. He has put together a strong year overall, backed by a 113 wRC+ and 3.6 fWAR, and his play since Aug. 17 has only sharpened the attention around him. For a club trying to decide how to balance short-term competitiveness with long-term direction, that kind of finish tends to change the conversation quickly.
The front office has already explored trade possibilities involving Neto in the past, and this winter could bring the same sort of discussion with more urgency attached to it. The looming MLB lockout adds another layer of pressure, making the timing feel important if the Angels believe this is the moment to capitalize on his current value. Whether they actually move him or not, Netos finish has put them back in a familiar but uncomfortable spot. [Read more 🡒]
Angels Just Reopened A Bullpen Fear Fans Know Too Well
The Angels had built a comfortable cushion through five innings, carrying a 6-0 lead into the sixth before the game began slipping away in a hurry. What followed was the kind of collapse that can turn a routine road win into a bruising reminder of how fragile a bullpen day can become, especially when a division opponent starts stringing together traffic and extra-base damage.
The Athletics piled up nine runs over the final three innings and finished the comeback with back-to-back go-ahead two-run homers from Carlos Cortes and Zack Gelof in the eighth. Even a run in the ninth could not stop the bleed for Los Angeles, leaving the Angels with a familiar worry: a game that looked secure until the late innings turned it into another frustrating bullpen story. [Read more 🡒]