Following an eighth inning fielding error, Blue Jays left fielder D.J. Davis wasted little time redeeming himself in Dunedin's thrilling 3-2 extra innings win over the Palm Beach Cardinals on Wednesday night at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium. In the tenth inning, Davis proved his dropped fly ball in the eighth
Following an eighth inning fielding error, Blue Jays left fielder D.J. Davis wasted little time redeeming himself in Dunedin's thrilling 3-2 extra innings win over the Palm Beach Cardinals on Wednesday night at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium. In the tenth inning, Davis proved his dropped fly ball in the eighth to be a fluke by making a spectacular leaping catch on the warning track in the left field gap to take a surefire extra base hit away from Palm Beach. In the eleventh, he delivered a walkoff double to almost the exact spot on the field he had made his web gem in the tenth.
Nearly three hours before Davis' walk-off hit, the Blue Jays scored their only other runs of the game on a two-run home run off the bat of 2B Cavan Biggio in the bottom of the first inning. Following the Biggio homer, the Jays managed just three more hits through the first nine innings as an impressive pitching duel between Dunedin starter Conor Fisk and the Cardinals pitching staff ensued.
Fisk was sharp from start, striking out the first two batters of the game and allowing just one hit through the first five innings. In the sixth, the Cardinals knocked a single and a double and put runners on second and third, but a leaping snare at first base by Juan Kelly of a line drive headed to the corner and a diving catch of a line drive at shortstop by J.C. Cardenas prevented the Cardinals from scoring.
The Cardinals finally got to Fisk in the seventh when Shane Billings and Jeremy Martinez hit back-to-back doubles to push the first Palm Beach run of the game across. Following the doubles, Fisk struck out Vince Jackson to end the inning, the threat, and his night, finishing his outing with a line of 7.0 innings pitched, five hits and run run allowed, no walks, and five strikeouts.
Attempting to lock down a two-inning save, LHP Alonzo Gonzalez entered in relief of Fisk in the eighth inning. Gonzalez tossed a scoreless eighth, but Palm Beach 2B Andy Young hit a solo home run that just cleared the tall wall in left field at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium to tie the game in the ninth inning. Dunedin went down in order in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extras.
In the top of the tenth, Davis made his stellar catch in left behind LHP Kirby Snead for the first out of the inning, and Snead set down the next two on ground balls. The Jays put two runners on in the bottom of the tenth, but were unable to score. Similarly, Palm Beach put a pair of runners on base in the top of the eleventh against LHP Daniel Lietz, but a pair of ground balls ended the threat.
After being held scoreless for ten straight innings, the Blue Jays offense finally broke through in the bottom of the eleventh. CF Edward Olivares, a recent addition from A-Lansing, poked a single to center with one out. With Olivares on first, Davis stepped to the plate and played the hero, lining a double deep to the gap in left that scored Olivares standing up to give Dunedin the win.
Lietz was credited with his first Florida State League victory for his relief effort, and the win improved Dunedin to an FSL-best 22-4 at home in the second half. With tonight's victory, the Jays (30-23, 64-58 overall) sit 7.0 games behind Tampa (36-15) for first place in the North Division, and they hold a 2.5 game lead over Clearwater (62-61 overall) for the division's wild card playoff spot. Dunedin and Palm Beach will finish their four-game set tomorrow evening in Dunedin with the first pitch scheduled for 6:30 PM.
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