Dunedin Escapes with One Win in Palm Beach

JUPITER, FL.---The offensive struggles continued again for Dunedin in a 4-2 to the Palm Beach Cardinals in game one of a four game set at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.
Things started to trend in a positive direction in the first inning for a Blue Jays team that came in losers of nine of their last 11. In the top of the frame, Cal Stevenson led off the game with a single that was quickly followed by a walk issued to Cullen Large to put two aboard. Alejandro Kirk walked to the plate and ripped a two-run double to left to score Stevenson and Large to make it 2-0 Dunedin early on in the contest.
The scoring was halted right there as the Blue Jays bats were stifled for the next eight times they came up to the plate. RHP Edgar Gonzalez notched his second consecutive win on the hill for the Cardinals, throwing five innings and striking out two. RHP Ramon Santos and LHP Patrick Dayton tossed a combined four scoreless, striking out eight and allowing just one runner to reach second for the seventh inning to the end of the contest.
Palm Beach chipped away with a run in the first, and then tied and took the lead with two in the bottom of the third. Dennis Ortega singled and Nolan Gorman doubled to put to runners on for Luken Baker who smacked a single to left to plate Ortega from third. The next batter Nick Dunn lifted a sacrifice fly to left that allowed Gorman to score uncontested to give Palm Beach the 3-2 lead.
Dunedin threatened with the bases loaded in the sixth but were held off the scoreboard in what proved to be their final real rally of the game. Julio Rodriguez added a run to the Cardinals side in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI double to extend the Palm Beach lead to 4-2 and bring the score to its' final.
Saturday
For the second consecutive Saturday, Mother Nature forced Dunedin to play a doubleheader on the road.
GAME ONE:
Palm Beach defeated Dunedin by the final of 2-1 in game one. After both teams were held scoreless through four innings, the Blue Jays cracked the scoreboard with a run in the top of the fifth on Cal Stevenson's RBI single to score Kevin Vicuña to make it 1-0 Dunedin.
The offense was quieted after that small rally as RHP Alvaro Seijas (1-1) tossed six innings and striking out four en route to his first win of the year.
In the bottom of the sixth, Dennis Ortega and Nolan Gorman switched places at second with back to back doubles to tie the ballgame at one apiece. LHP Nick Allgeyer (7-5) was lifted for righty Jackson Rees and three batters later Rees uncorked a wild pitch to allow Gorman to score from third to give the Cardinals their first lead of the game.
RHP Cole Aker (1) set the D-Jays down in the order in the top of the seventh to secure the victory for Palm Beach.
GAME TWO:
The Blue Jays managed just three hits as Palm Beach snuck by Dunedin by the 1-0 final in game two of the doubleheader and game three of the four game set.
Palm Beach's pitching combination of Michael Baird, Zach Prendergast, and Ramon Santos threw seven scoreless and struck out a 10 total Jays hitters. The Cardinals offense took advantage of the efficient pitching and scored the lone run of the game in the home half of the sixth on Zach Gahagan's RBI single to center off RHP Mike Ellenbest (1-3) to score Nick Dunn to bring the score to its' final.
Sunday
Dunedin came into today's game with a single digit hits streak of nine games before an 11 hit performance in a 10-6 victory over the Palm Beach Cardinals on Sunday afternoon.
The Blue Jays tacked on three runs early in the top of the second. Samad Taylor (1-3) ripped a two-run bomb to left for his fifth home run of the year. Cal Stevenson followed later in the inning with a single to left to score Norberto Obeso to cap off the runs scoring second.
The two teams exchanged runs in the third and in the visiting half of the fourth, Stevenson ripped a line drive to left center that rattled around in the alley to allow Cal to circle the bases for his second inside-the-park homerun in 2019 and extend Dunedin's lead to 5-1.
RHP Maximo Castillo (7-5) started for Dunedin and went 5.2 innings, giving up two runs, on six hits, and striking out five but did not factor in the decision. RHP Connor Law tossed 1.1 Innings scoreless to notch his seventh hold of the year.
Palm Beach chipped away though with three runs in the sixth on Luken Baker's three-run shot to left, and tied the game off RHP Sean Rackowski with a run in the bottom of the eighth on Zach Gahagan's RBI single.
The two clubs remained tied at five apiece until the 11th when the D-Jays busted out for five runs. With one out and a man at second, Norberto Obeso singled to center to score Ryan Noda and two batter later Cal Stevenson sneaked a groundball into center to plate Samad Taylor to give the Blue Jays the two-run advantage. Two batters later, RHP Cole Aker replaced lefty Patrick Dayton (2-1) on the hill for the Cardinals and gave up a bases loaded double to Alejandro Kirk to clear the bases and give Dunedin the 10-5 cushion.
Palm Beach mustered a run in the bottom of the frame, but fell short as RHP Emerson Jimenez (5-1) picked up the victory after completing two innings in the 11th.
 After an off-day tomorrow, Dunedin will visit CenturyLink Sports Complex on Tuesday to begin a three game series, and continue their stretch of 11 in a row against South Division opponents. The first pitch is set for 7:00 E.T. on Tuesday evening.