Following a strong team win on Monday night, the Dunedin Blue Jays looked well on their way to another home victory on Tuesday night before squandering a late lead and falling 9-8 to the Palm Beach Cardinals. The Blue Jays bullpen, which has been one of the league's strongest in
Following a strong team win on Monday night, the Dunedin Blue Jays looked well on their way to another home victory on Tuesday night before squandering a late lead and falling 9-8 to the Palm Beach Cardinals. The Blue Jays bullpen, which has been one of the league's strongest in the month of August, allowed 7 runs after the fifth inning and the Blue Jays defense committed two costly errors in the eighth inning to hand themselves just their fourth home loss of the second half.
RHP Jordan Romano provided Dunedin with a strong start, going 5.0 innings and allowing two runs on just three hits while striking out six. Romano struggled with his control early, allowing both runs and walking four in the first three innings, before settling in and allowing just one hit to his final nine batters. With his six strikeouts tonight, Romano vaulted himself into the league-lead in strikeouts this season with 129.
The Blue Jays scored five times in the second inning to take a big early lead. RF Connor Panas led off the inning by beating a Palm Beach pull shift with a double down the line into the left field corner. Following a strikeout, C Michael De La Cruz singled him home. LF D.J. Davis followed with a single, and a walk to SS J.C. Cardenas loaded the bases. LF Jake Thomas worked a bases loaded walk to push home the second run of the game for Dunedin. A Vladimir Guerrero Jr. single scored two more, and 1B Juan Kelly followed with a single of his own to plate another run.
The Blue Jays scored again in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly by Guerrero Jr. to go up 6-2.
Palm Beach started their comeback in the sixth inning, scoring twice on a walk and three consecutive singles off reliever Adonys Cardona. A strange base running gaffe by Palm Beach helped the Blue Jays turn a unique 6-5-4 double play and helped prevent further damage in the inning. With the bases loaded and no outs, Cardinals 2B Andy Young hit a ground ball to Dunedin SS J.C. Cardenas. Neither the runner on second or the runner on first attempted to advance while Cardenas lobbed the ball to 3B Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the first out who then leisurely tossed the ball to 2B Cavan Biggio covering second for the second out.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his fourth run of the game, a new career high, in the bottom of the inning with a triple to right, and Connor Panas doubled and scored in the seventh to increase the Blue Jays lead to 8-4.
Dunedin fell apart in the top of the eighth, allowing Palm Beach to tie the game. RHP Ryan Cook entered in relief of Cardona to begin the inning in just his second appearance since being activated from the Disabled List on August 11th. Cook walked the first batter he faced before allowing a two-run home run to straightaway center by Thomas Spitz. Following the home run, Cook left the game with the Blue Jays training staff appearing to have reaggravated the arm injury that led to his DL stint.
Blue Jays closer LHP Kirby Snead replaced Cook. Snead walked Luke Dykstra to begin his outing and allowed a single to the second batter Andy Young. A missed catch error by Guerrero Jr. on a strong throw to third from Panas in right prevented the Jays from retiring Grayson attempting to advance to third on the single. Young was retired on a fielder's choice ground ball to short off the bat of Jeremy Martinez for the first out of the inning. A missed catch error by Kelly at first prevented Dunedin from picking up the second out of the inning and allowed Dykstra to score from third. An RBI ground out by José Martínez tied the game at 8-8.
The Jays put runners at second and third with one out in the bottom of the eighth but were unable to score. In the top of the ninth off reliever Jackson McClelland, the Cardinals used a single, a fielder's choice, a hit by pitch, and an RBI single by Young to push what would prove to be the winning run across.
Dunedin had 12 hits on the night in the losing effort. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. finished 3-4 with a triple and 4 RBIs. Connor Panas finished 3-5 with two doubles and two runs scored. DH Jake Thomas scored twice and drove in one as part of his 2-4 night.
Reliever Eric Carter picked up the win for Palm Beach, throwing 2.0 scoreless innings to end the game while McClelland was saddled with his second loss of the season.
With the loss, the Jays sit 7.0 games behind the Tampa Yankees in second place in the Florida State League's North Division with just 18 games remaining in the regular season. The loss also prevented Dunedin from widening their lead over the Clearwater Threshers, who also lost tonight, for the North Division's wild card playoff spot. The Jays remain 2.5 games ahead of Clearwater going into game three of their four-game set with the Cardinals tomorrow evening.
