Lundquist Launches Walk-Off Shot For 7-5 Win

It took LF Brock Lundquist a few weeks to adjust to the constant heat in the Florida State League.
"I was adjusting to the weather, getting a little more tired than I usually was in Lansing because of the heat," Lundquist said after tonight's game about his first two weeks in Dunedin. "It took a toll on my body, so my approach was to stay short with everything and hit line drives."
The approach at the plate worked. Through his first ten games with Dunedin, he hit .387, peppering left field with opposite field singles. Despite the high average, he had just two extra base hits and no home runs, a distinct change for a hitter that had launched 13 longballs in Lansing.
With tonight's game tied at 5-5 in the bottom of the ninth, Lundquist ditched his opposite field approach and swung for the fences.
"Once Kacy [Clemens] got on and I got up to the plate, I was looking for something to drive. He happened to leave one middle-in and I was able to get it up in the air."
Lundquist didn't just get the ball up in the air, he also hit it a long, long way over the fence in right field, giving the Blue Jays a 7-5 walk-off win over the Tampa Tarpons for Dunedin's league-leading 20th win of the second half.
The walk-off shot ended a long back-and-forth affair between Dunedin and Tampa in the middle game of a three-game set at Dunedin Stadium. 
The Blue Jays opened the scoring in the second inning. DH Kacy Clemens lined a double to right with two outs. 3B Nash Knight followed with a single to right, bringing Clemens home and putting Dunedin up 1-0.
RF Rodrigo Orozco led off the third inning with another double for Dunedin. A fly ball off the bat of CF Joshua Palacios advanced him to third, and a sacrifice fly by SS Logan Warmoth brought him home to put Dunedin up by two.
Tampa responded in the fifth inning, scoring twice to tie the game. Angel Aguilar led off the inning and appeared to be hit by a pitch from RHP Connor Eller. However, the home plate umpired ruled it had hit his bat, leading to a lengthy argument with Tampa Manager Pat Osborne that ended with his ejection. Aguilar returned to the batter's box and worked a walk. A fielding error by Warmoth on what should have been a tailor-made double play put two runners on with no outs. Keith Skinner singled to score Aguilar and a fielder's choice ground out by Estevan Florial scored the tying run.
Entering the game in relief of rehabbing Roberto Osuna  after the Toronto closer threw a scoreless first, Eller worked into the sixth inning. After allowing the two runs in the fifth (only one earned), Eller appeared to run out of steam with one out in the sixth. After inducing a ground out to open the inning, he walked the next three hitters to load the bases. The Blue Jays turned the jam over to RHP Andy Ravel out of the bullpen and it took him just two pitches to force a double play ground ball to end the inning without any damage.
Ravel wasn't so fortunate in the seventh. Skinner led off the inning by lining a ball deep into the right field gap. The Blue Jays relayed the ball in quickly and appeared to have Skinner thrown out easily at third base as he tried to stretch the hit into a triple, but the relay throw hit Skinner as he began his slide and caromed out of the reach of Knight at third. Florial followed with an RBI single to put the Tarpons up 3-2.
Dunedin wasted no time taking the lead back after the seventh-inning stretch. 2B Ivan Castillo singled to lead off the home half of the frame. After a fly out by Clemens, Knight lined his first home run since returning from AA-New Hampshire over the tall wall in left, giving Dunedin a 4-3 lead.
Ravel recorded the first two outs of the eighth before handing the ball off to RHP Jackson McClelland, who recorded the final out.
The Blue Jays added an insurance run in the bottom of the inning. Palacios opened the inning with a single and came into score on a double by 1B David Jacob.
Going for a four-out save, McClelland ran into trouble in the ninth. Skinner worked a walk leading off the inning. After a line out, Diego Castillo knocked a one-out single. Brandon Wagner followed with a single to center, scoring Skinner, and a bobble by Palacios fielding the ball allowed the runners to advance an extra base, putting two in scoring position. A sacrifice fly by Isiah Gilliam tied the game at 5-5.
Tampa turned to righty Matt Frawley to try to send the game to extras in the bottom of the ninth, but the Blue Jays had other plans. Clemens worked a walk to open the inning. After a strikeout, Lundquist stepped to the plate and launched his first FSL home run to give Dunedin the 7-5 win.
The win is Dunedin's league-best 20th of the second half, giving them a 3.5 game lead over Clearwater in first place. The Tarpons fall even at 14-14 in the second half with the loss. The two teams will finish their three-game series tomorrow evening at Dunedin Stadium with the first pitch scheduled for 6:30 PM.