Blue Jays’ bats silenced by Lakeland

DUNEDIN, FL – For the first time since July 13, the Blue Jays were held without a run as Lakeland shutout Dunedin 4-0 on Thursday night at TD Ballpark.

While the evening was originally scheduled to feature a doubleheader, a two-hour rain delay before first pitch forced the teams to pivot to one nine-inning contest.

The Blue Jays had two early opportunities to score the game’s first runs but failed to capitalize. In the first inning, Sean Keys ripped a two-out triple but was left stranded on third.

In the second inning, Nick Mitchell and Tucker Toman poked back-to-back one-out singles. The Jays eventually loaded the bases with two outs as JR Freethy reached on an error but couldn’t convert.

Lakeland opened the scoring in the third inning, as Jack Penney worked a bases loaded walk, then Franyerber Montilla scored on a balk. In the fourth, the lead grew to 3-0 on a Nomar Fana solo homer.

The fourth frame marked the final inning of Dunedin starter Daniel Guerra’s outing. The righty finished with five strikeouts and three walks.

On the other side of the scorebook, Lakeland’s bullpen silenced the Blue Jays bats, keeping Dunedin without a hit from the third through the seventh inning.

The Jays got back in the hit column in the eighth, as Arjun Nimmala lined a single. With two outs, Keys sent a pop up down the left field line that dropped out of the reach of Flying Tigers third baseman Cristian Santana. Nimmala attempted to score from first, but Santana recovered to fire a strike to the plate to retire Nimmala and maintain the shutout.

Dunedin will have two chances to get back in the win column on Friday with a doubleheader. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 4:00pm, with game two set to follow 30 minutes following the conclusion of game one. Tickets are available online at DunedinBlueJays.com.