Defense betrays Mussels in 4-3 loss to Dunedin

DUNEDIN, Fla. (August 21, 2021) – The Mighty Mussels committed a season-high five errors Saturday, surrendering a pair of leads for the second straight night to lose 4-3 to the Dunedin Blue Jays at TD Ballpark.

The Blue Jays (43-51) walked off on the Mussels (46-44) for the second consecutive day, rallying late against the Fort Myers bullpen.

After the Mussels stranded seven runners over the first four innings, Jesus Feliz broke the ice with a solo home run to left to give Fort Myers a 1-0 lead. Feliz has now connected on three home runs in the series.

Twins rehabber Randy Dobnak started for the Mussels, retiring all nine batters he faced while striking out five. Four of his five strikeouts came swinging against sliders.

With the Mighty Mussels up 1-0 in the bottom of the sixth, Dunedin second baseman Jose Rivas walked to start the inning. After stealing second and advancing to third on an error, Harrison Ray tied the game with a sacrifice fly to center. With two outs and nobody on, three different left-handed hitters beat the shift for Dunedin – stringing together three straight hits to take a 2-1 lead.

In the top of the seventh, Kyler Fedko singled before Alerick Soularie moved him to third on a base hit. After Soularie stole second, the next two Mussels struck out. The next batter was Feliz, who grounded a ball past Miguel Hiraldo at third to plate two and put the Mussels in front 3-2.

In the bottom of the seventh, Rivas singled with two outs. Ray then grounded a ball to shortstop, which Keoni Cavaco flipped to Soularie to presumably end the inning. However, the base umpire ruled that Soularie’s foot came off the base and the force was not recorded. By the time the call came in, Soularie had flipped the ball to the mound. Rivas attempted to go to third, and pitcher Zaquiel Puentes (1-1) fired wildly past third. That allowed Rivas to score and make it 3-3.

With the score still tied in the bottom of the ninth, Rivas dropped a one-out single into left center. After Ray replaced Rivas on a fielder’s choice, he stole second and advanced to third on another error. With two outs, Miguel Hiraldo reached on an infield single to score Ray and win the game for the Blue Jays.

The Mussels will look to salvage a split of the six-game series at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Bobby Milacki (0-2, 3.73) makes the start for Fort Myers, opposed by LHP Naswell Paulino (4-4, 4.12) for the D-Jays. Coverage begins at 12:45 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.