L.B. Dantzler goes deep in 3-2 loss Sunday

Dunedin, FL - For the fifth-consecutive start, LHP Matt Boyd held the opposition to less than three earned runs, but the Blue Jays (27-29, 73-52) fell to 0-5 in those stellar starts with a 3-2 loss to the Brevard County Manatees (27-27, 63-57) on Sunday at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium.

Boyd allowed a run-scoring double play in the third inning, but otherwise kept the Manatees off the board through five strong innings on five hits with one walk and two strikeouts.

LHP Chad Girodo (BS, 5)(L, 6-3) was summoned for the sixth with a 2-1 lead, and surrendered a pair of RBI doubles to give Brevard County its decisive 3-2 advantage. Victor Roache lined one to left-center to tie the game, and Parker Berberet split the gap in right-center to take the lead.

RHP Will Browning limited the damage with 2.1 one-hit innings with no walks and three strikeouts, and RHP Danny Barnes pitched a 1-2-3 ninth, his third-consecutive perfect inning since returning from the disabled list last week.

Dunedin took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on a double from CF Dwight Smith, Jr. He tucked a sharp grounder inside first base to score 2B Christian Lopes, who had reached second on a two-base throwing error by shortstop Orlando Arcia.

The Manatees tied the game at 1-1 in the third when Nathan Orf came home from third on a double play off the bat of Tyrone Taylor, but Dunedin quickly answered when 1B L.B. Dantzler drilled a solo homer over the right-field fence in the bottom of the fourth.

Manatees starter Taylor Williams (W, 1-1) surrendered just one earned run in seven impressive innings on six hits with no walks and nine strikeouts. RHP Tyler Spurlin (H, 1) loaded the bases in the eighth on two walks and a single, but LHP Stephen Peterson (S, 4) recorded the final four outs of the ballgame in consecutive order to keep Dunedin at bay.

Dantzler and RF Marcus Knecht both recorded multi hit games, while SS Shane Opitz had his nine-game hitting streak snapped with an 0-for-3, BB stat line.

The Blue Jays will host the Lakeland Flying Tigers in a four-game series starting on Monday with RHP Jesse Hernandez (6-9, 5.11 ERA) taking on RHP Edgar De La Rosa (7-9, 2.98 ERA).