Six-Run Fifth Inning Downs Dunedin At Home

The Dunedin Blue Jays celebrated their 2017 Florida State League Championship on Friday evening at Dunedin Stadium, giving away Championship T-shirts to fans and raffling off an authentic championship ring at the game, but the team fell 8-4 to the Daytona Tortugas on the field in the opener of a three-game series.
After being 3-hit by Fort Myers last night, the Blue Jays offense jumped out to an early 2-0 lead over Daytona, scoring twice in the second inning. LF Eduard Pinto walked with one out in the inning, reaching base for the fourth consecutive game. 2B Yeltsin Gudino followed with a single to right. With two on, CF D.J. Davis drove a single through the right side of the infield, scoring Pinto. After a strikeout, RF Joshua Palacios singled to right, scoring Dunedin and putting Dunedin up by two.
With the lead, RHP Justin Dillon started strong on the mound, allowing just three hits through the first four innings. Having had his innings carefully watched to begin his professional career, Dillon headed back out for a fifth inning for the first time since being drafted in the 10th round of last year's draft. Unfortunately for Dillon and the Jays, Daytona knocked five hits and scored six times off Dillon in the fifth inning, spoiling his impressive start to the game.
Daytona wasn't finished, adding a pair of runs in the sixth inning against the Dunedin bullpen to extend their lead. A triple by Taylor Trammell brought home T.J. Freidl Jr., who had walked. A single by Ibandel Isabel plated Trammell and increased the Daytona lead to 8-2.
In the home half of the inning, 3B Ivan Castillo knocked a one-out double. Two wild pitches by Daytona starter Wennington Romero brought Castillo home and left the score 8-3. The Jays added an additional run in the ninth when J.C. Cardenas followed a double by Pinto with an RBI single, but it was too little too late and the Jays fell by the final score of 8-4.
Dillon (4.1 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 4 K) took the loss for the Blue Jays. Romero (5.1 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) was credited with the win for Daytona. Out of the Blue Jays bullpen, RHP William Ouellette allowed a pair of runs over 1.1 innings while LHP Travis Bergen (2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 K) and RHP Jackson McClelland (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 K) had scoreless outings.
Davis was the only Blue Jay with multiple hits, going 2-4. Pinto finished the night 1-2 with a walk and two runs scored.
The Blue Jays record falls to 6-8 with the loss, dropping them 4.5 games behind Daytona in the North Division. The win improves the Tortugas to 11-4 on the season, best in the North and second best in the Florida State League. The two teams will continue their three-game series tomorrow evening at Dunedin Stadium at 6:30 PM. LHP Tayler Saucedo (0-1, 3.24 ERA) will take start on the mound for the Blue Jays.