Too little, too late, Tarpons ninth inning rally falls short

TAMPA, Fla. - The Tampa Tarpons (1-5) saw their ninth inning comeback fall short in Thursday night’s loss to the Dunedin Blue Jays (5-1) at George M. Steinbrenner Field, 3-1. After being shutout through the first eight innings, SS Roderick Arias brought in Tampa’s lone run with an RBI single in the ninth. The Tarpons then loaded the bases but failed to capitalize and the rally fell short.

RHP Cade Smith (3.1IP, 1H, 2ER, 3BB, 6K, HP), the Yankees’ 25th ranked prospect according to MLB.com, made his second start for the Tarpons, allowing just one hit over 3.1 innings. Smith relied heavily on his fastball, which he ran up to 94.9 MPH. The only blunder on Smith’s line was a two-out blooper that fell into shallow right field and brought home two runs.

RHP Cade Austin (3.2IP, 2H, 1ER, 1BB, 6K, 1HR) and RHP Yoljeldriz Diaz (2.0IP, 1BB, 2K) were bright spots out of Tampa’s bullpen. The two combined to toss 5.2 innings while only giving up one run. Austin struck out six batters over 3.2 innings. Diaz pounded the strike zone, throwing 16 of his 29 pitches for strikes. Diaz did not allow a hit over his 2.0 innings of work, pouring his fastball into the zone for 72% of his total pitches.

Alexis Hernandez walked and swiped second base to start the third frame. Following a fielder’s choice, Nicholas Deschamps was on first when Victor Arias got plunked with a curveball. Both runners advanced when a high pop fell on the infield grass on an infield fly. Dunedin took advantage of some more miscommunication by Tampa as a fly ball off the bat of Manuel Beltre to shallow right field fell in for a double. RF Daury Arias looked at R. Arias, and with two outs, both runners were moving on contact, which gave Dunedin an early two-run lead.

Arias extended Dunedin’s lead in the fifth with a solo home run to right-center field. Arias’ first round tripper of the year traveled 351 feet.

Tampa put together a ninth inning rally, starting with a leadoff walk to C Edinson Duran. It was the sixth time the Tarpons put the leadoff runner on base. After two quick outs, R. Arias brought in his third RBI of the year with a single down the right field line. 2B Enmanuel Tejeda walked, and 1B Coby Morales got hit with a sinker to load the bases. CF Tayler Aguilar stepped up to the plate, trying to send the Tarpons home victorious, but a strikeout ended the game, leaving the bases loaded.

The Tarpons will look to get back in the win column tomorrow night when they take on the Blue Jays for game four of their six-game set at GMS Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. with LHP Allen Facundo projected to make the start.