Jays Drop Series Finale 9-3 To Florida

The Dunedin Blue Jays finally came back down to earth after winning 14 of 15 games and posting a miniscule 1.58 team ERA over the last two weeks, losing 9-3 to the Florida Fire Frogs on Wednesday night at Dunedin Stadium. The Fire Frogs took an early 3-0 lead before coasting to the series finale victory, finishing the Blue Jays and Fire Frogs season series and leaving Dunedin with a 6-4 overall record against Florida in 2018.
Florida scored twice in the second inning off RHP Yennsy Diaz, using a single by first rounder Braxton Davidson and a double by Garrison Schwartz followed by a pair of RBI groundouts to go up 2-0.
An RBI double by Jared James after a walk to Isranel Wilson made it 3-0 in Florida's favor in the third.
Dunedin answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. 1B Kacy Clemens opened the inning with a single and scored on a triple by RF Rodrigo Orozco. A sac fly by 2B Yeltsin Gudino brought home Orozco and cut the Fire Frogs lead to 3-2.
That would be as close as Dunedin would get as Florida scored four times in the fifth inning to open a large lead. Singles by Christian Pache, Brett Cumberland, and Jared James made it 4-2 and a three-run shot off the bat of Davidson increased Florida's lead to 7-2.
Cumberland hit a solo shot in the seventh to increase the deficit further. Two singles, a ground out, and a passed ball allowed an additional run in the eighth to make it 9-2.
Dunedin attempted a rally in the ninth, pushing across a run on singles by Clemens and Gudino, a walk, and a hit by pitch, but the Blue Jays left the bases loaded to end the game.
Diaz (3-3) took the loss for the Blue Jays, allowing seven runs on eight hits over 5.0 innings while striking out six. LHP Juliandry HIguera (2.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 K), RHP Jonathan Cheshire (1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 K), and LHP Jake Fishman (1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 K) pitched in relief for Dunedin. Troy Bacon (2-1) picked up the win in relief for Florida, throwing 2.0 scoreless innings and striking out three.
Even with the loss, the Blue Jays remain on top of the Florida State League in the second half with a 19-8 record, 3.0 games ahead of Lakeland in the North Division. With their series against the Fire Frogs, now 13-14 in the second half, finished, the Jays will take on the Tampa Tarpons in a three-game series at Dunedin Stadium starting tomorrow evening at 6:30 PM. RHP Maverik Buffo (2-0, 1.38 ERA) will start on the mound for Dunedin in Thursday night's opener.