TAMPA FL.--- Game 1:Dunedin defeated Tampa by the 5-3 final in game one of a three game set at George M. Steinbrenner Field on Monday night. The Blue Jays were down to their final out and strike in the top of the ninth but pushed across four runs to take
TAMPA FL.--- Game 1:
Dunedin defeated Tampa by the 5-3 final in game one of a three game set at George M. Steinbrenner Field on Monday night. The Blue Jays were down to their final out and strike in the top of the ninth but pushed across four runs to take the lead en route to an eventual victory.
RHP Justin Dillon got the start for Dunedin, looking for his first win since April 12th. The righty was cruising along having completed five scoreless without allowing a hit. In the bottom of the sixth, Jason Lopez smacked a double off the left field wall to register the first hit for Tampa. Welfrin Mateo dropped down a sacrifice bunt to put Lopez at third with one out. Max Burt then singled through the drawn in infield to make it 1-0 Tampa. Two hitters later, Pablo Olivares singled and Oswaldo Cabrera pushed a single to right to score Burt and make it 2-0 Tarpons. Dillon was lifted for RHP Kyle Weatherly who struck out Dermis Garcia with runners at second and third to work out of the jam and stop the bleeding.
In the top of the seventh, Samad Taylor doubled with one out and later scored on a wild pitch to pull Dunedin to within one. Tampa answered swiftly in the bottom of the seventh. Isiah Gilliam lifted a double to right and two batters later, Jason Lopez lined out to right fielder Demi Orimoloye on a diving play that allowed Gilliam to score from third to bring the score to 3-1 in favor of the Tarpons.
In the top of the ninth, RHP Hobie Harris attempted to register the save in his third inning of work. Hunter Steinmetz was hit by the pitch with one out. Kevin Vicuña then grounded out softly to second basemen Oswaldo Cabrera to move Steinmetz into scoring position. Norberto Obeso smacked a single to left that scored Steinmetz to cut the Tampa lead to 3-2. Cullen Large then singled and Ryan Noda walked to load the bases. First year skipper Aaron Holbert summoned RHP Matt Wivinis out of the pen to face Alejandro Kirk. Alejandro drilled a fastball to the left center field gap to clear the bases and give Dunedin the 5-3 lead.
RHP William Ouellette finished the game off in the bottom of the frame and picked up his first win since returning from a stint in AAA-Buffalo. Ouellette threw two scoreless while righty Kyle Weatherly threw an inning and a third out of the pen for the D-Jays.
Game 2:
The Tampa Tarpons defeated the Dunedin Blue Jays by the final score of 4-1 in game two of the three game set on Tuesday night at George M. Steinbrenner Field. RHP Joey Murray was added to the Blue Jays roster from Class-A Lansing prior to the game and threw five innings of scoreless baseball while striking out six. RHP Shawn Semple countered for Tampa and threw five innings, scattering four hits, walking two and striking out three in efforts that produced no-decisions for both starters.
Each of the two offenses were held scoreless until the bottom of the seventh. RHP Turner Larkins was working into his second inning for Dunedin out of the pen and surrendered a lead-off walk to Isiah Gilliam and a single to Pablo Olivares to put two runners aboard. Donny Sands stepped up in an RBI situation and cracked a groundball off the left leg of Larkins that deflected out to shallow right allowing Gilliam to score and put runners at the corners. Welfrin Mateo grounded into a 4-6-3 double play that allowed Olivares to score to make it 2-0 Tampa.
In the bottom of the eighth, Steven Sensley drilled a two run homerun over the wall in right off of RHP Matt Shannon to extend Tampa's lead to 4-0. In the top of the ninth, RHP Kyle Zurak was brought out of the bullpen for Tampa. The Blue Jays attempted to rally for the second consecutive night when Cullen Large served a double into the left field corner to extend his hitting streak to seven games. Two batters later, Christian Williams drilled a single through the hole on the left side to put runners at the corners. Two pitches later, Christian Williams attempted to steal and was thrown out at second base for the second out of the frame. Large scored on the next pitch that skipped by Sands and to the backstop to cut the Tampa lead to 4-1. Christopher Bec saw nine pitches and was issued the free pass and Norberto Obeso looped a single to left to put two runners on once again. Demi Orimoloye stepped up with Dunedin down to their final out and grounded a fastball to short for the fielder's choice and the final out of the game.
Game 3:
RHP Graham Spraker produced his second consecutive win and second quality start of the year in route to the Blue Jays 1-0 win in Tampa on Wednesday night. Spraker tossed six innings, surrendering just one hit in the fourth off the bat of Steven Sensley who was thrown out by right-fielder Ryan Noda at second trying to stretch a double to a single.
Tampa's lone opportunity to score came in the top of the third with runners at second third and one out. Aaron Hicks lifted a shallow fly-ball to center. Cal Stevenson made the catch and fired a one hop throw to Alejandro Kirk behind the plate to nail Max Burt trying to tag from third.
Dunedin rode that momentum and cracked the scoreboard in the top of the fourth. Alejandro Kirk smacked a double to left with two outs. Christian Williams then looped a single to center to put runners at the corners. Demi Orimoloye pushed a ground ball single through the right side to score Kirk to make it 1-0 Dunedin. Righties Emerson Jimenez, Brad Wilson, and Dany Jimenez shut the Tarpons offense down for the rest of the evening notching two holds and a save in the victory.
The Blue Jays now have seven series wins to their name and have been victorious in eight of 12 and 13 of the last 21. Dunedin begins a three game home series tomorrow against the Clearwater Threshers. The first pitch is set for 6:30 E.T. at Jack Russell Memorial Stadium.
