Jays Finish First Half With Walk-Off Win

Blue Jays catcher Jonelvy Molina made his Florida State League debut on Wednesday afternoon in unexpected fashion. With the Blue Jays bullpen thin playing in their fourth game in three days, Dunedin manager Casey Candaele sent Molina to the mound in the eleventh inning with a runner on second. After borrowing a glove from teammate Yennsy Diaz, Molina made the most of the opportunity, walking the first batter he faced before setting down the next three hitters he faced.
In the bottom of the eleventh, the Blue Jays offense backed up their backstop, walking off on a sacrifice fly by 3B Nash Knight to give Molina his first career win in his professional pitching debut.
Long before the excitement in the eleventh inning, LHP Zach Logue took the mound for the Blue Jays in an 11 AM Camp Day start. Besides a three-run third inning, Logue was brilliant, only allowing three additional hits outside of the third and throwing 7.0 innings to earn his second quality start in a Dunedin uniform.
Dunedin got on the board first in the third inning. Knight worked a walk to lead off the inning and LF Rodrigo Orozco followed with a one-out single. After a flyout recorded the second out of the inning, RF Eduard Pinto lined his second home run just over the tall wall in right field to put Dunedin up 3-0.
Logue had allowed just two hits through the first three innings, but the Mets got to him in the fourth. The first four batters knocked base hits with Desmond Lindsay, Dash Winningham, and Wuilmer Becerra stringing together singles before Luis Carpio delivered a double to cut Dunedin's lead to 3-2. A sacrifice fly by Dan Rizzie followed and tied the score.
The score stayed locked at 3-3 until the eighth inning. Lindsay opened the frame with a double off reliever RHP William Ouellette. A single by Winningham brought home Lindsay and put the Mets up 4-3.
Strong defense by the Blue Jays prevented additional damage in the eighth. With Winningham on second, Wuilmer Becerra hit a fly ball deep to center. CF Josh Palacios made a leaping grab on the warning track before running into the fence for the first out of the inning. A walk and a wild pitch put runners at second and third, but Ouellette recorded a strikeout for the second out. With two down, Rizzie hit a hot shot down the line at third. Knight made a stellar backhand grab on one knee, spinning and throwing to first to record the third out.
The Blue Jays tied the score in the bottom of the eighth. Palacios and Pinto each singled to open the inning. After a strike out and a fly out, Alberto Mineo lined a ground ball back up the middle. St. Lucie second baseman Luis Carpio laid out for the grounder, but it deflected off his glove and into the outfield while Palacios rounded third and scored to tie the game at 4-4.
RHP Ty Tice set the Mets down in order in the ninth and then again in the tenth, striking out a pair while allowing no hits. The Blue Jays put a runner in scoring position in the ninth and loaded the bases in the tenth, but were unable to score in both innings.
Molina trotted to the mound to begin the eleventh. With the pace-of-play runner opening the inning at second, he walked the first hitter. The next batter dropped down a sacrifice bunt and Molina popped off the mound to field it and record the out at first. The following hitter hit a sharp two-hopper to Knight at third who made a perfect throw home to nab the runner trying to score from third. Molina induced a fly out to right to end his first professional inning without allowing a run.
Mineo opened the home half of the eleventh at second as the pace-of-play runner. Kacy Clemens led off the inning by drilling a single into the right field gap to put runners on the corners with no outs. Knight sent the Camp Day fans home happy by lofting a sacrifice fly from right, bringing home Mineo with the winning run and giving the Blue Jays their fourth straight win.
With the victory, the Blue Jays conclude the season's first half with a 31-37 record, leaving them with a fifth place finish in the North Division. The Blue Jays will begin the season's second half tomorrow evening in Clearwater against the Threshers with All-Star Angel Perdomo (1-3, 3.20 ERA) on the mound.