Blue Jays Down Flying Tigers with Productive Outs and Patient At-Bats

Lakeland, FL — The Dunedin Blue Jays (49-56, 17-22) came back from an early 3-0 deficit to beat the Lakeland Flying Tigers (52-52, 26-13) to take a 2-1 series-advantage at Joker Marchant Stadium.
The Flying Tigers jumped out to an early lead, scoring a run in each of the first three innings. Despite the three runs allowed, only one was charged earned to Blue Jays’ starter LHP Kendry Rojas, who stayed effective throughout the night. Rojas was able to put what he couldn’t control behind him, finishing with a strong line of five innings pitched, just the one earned run, no walks and three K’s.
And while Rojas continued to get outs, the lineup took advantage of a great start to the fourth inning after Roque Salinas and Abiezel Ramirez singled and doubled respectively to put runners on second and third with no outs. Back-to-back RBI-groundouts by Glenn Santiago and Bryce Arnold brought both in to score, trimming the deficit to just one.
After both teams put up zeroes in the fifth and sixth innings, Dunedin found their chance in the seventh. Lakeland reliever RHP Quinn Gudaitis ran into command issues, being pulled from the game after walking two, and RHP Tanner Kohlhepp was just as wild, walking another two to bring in the tying run.
Then in the eighth, Kohlhepp’s command struggles continued. A walk, fielder’s choice, and another walk saw Kohlhepp get pulled in favor of RHP Max Alba, who then walked the first two he faced, bringing in the go-ahead run, then an Angel Del Rosario sac-fly to make it 5-3.
Meanwhile, RHP Alex Amalfi held Lakeland at bay with two scoreless innings, including two strikeouts while pitching to his childhood friend, C Jackson Hornung. LHP JJ Sanchez pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning, and RHP Leam Mendez wrapped it up in the ninth for his second save of the season.
Great bullpen work and selfless at-bats helped lead the way for Dunedin to take Thursday night’s game 5-3, all without the benefit of an RBI-knock. The DJays will look to clinch at least a split of the series in Lakeland on Friday, with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Live coverage will also be available on the Dunedin Blue Jays Radio Network, beginning at 6:15 p.m.