Mussels Win Sixth Straight, Defeat Dunedin 6-2

DUNEDIN, Fla. (July 25, 2024) – Spencer Bengard tossed five shutout innings and Brandon Winokur delivered his sixth home run of the season in a 6-2 Mighty Mussels’ victory over the Dunedin Blue Jays at TD Ballpark Thursday.

The Mussels’ (49-41, 18-7) winning streak now sits at six games, one game short of their longest winning streak this season (May 31-June 6). Their 18-7 start to the half is the franchise’s best start to any half through 25 games since the 2017 Miracle started the second half 19-6.

Fort Myers has outscored their Pinellas County opponents 38-12 during the winning streak and have held Dunedin (46-45, 12-13) to 7-for-79 (.089 AVG) at the plate with only one extra-base hit through three games.

Bengard (7-2) needed just 60 pitches to put up five zeroes, allowing just two hits and one walk. He lowered his season ERA to a minuscule 1.64 and now ranks top-five in the FSL in wins.

Juan Mercedes tossed two scoreless innings in relief before Kyle Bloor worked a perfect eighth. Xander Hamilton surrendered two runs on three consecutive singles in the ninth but was able to finish off the victory.

The Mighty Mussels got the scoring going in the top of the fifth on a pair of errors and a Byron Chourio double.

Still leading 1-0 in the sixth, Winokur clobbered an opposite field homer at 104.4 mph. His homer matched Rixon Wingrove for the team lead with six.

The game unraveled for Dunedin in the top of the seventh. Reliever JJ Sanchez failed to cover first base on two separate grounders, allowing Maddux Houghton and Chourio to reach on infield singles. After a walk loaded the bases, Yasser Mercedes rolled a ground ball to second base. Blue Jays infielder Bryce Arnold flipped to second for the force, but his throw went into left field which allowed three runs to score. The catcher, Edward Duran then tried to throw out Chourio at second, but air mailed the throw to move him to third. The next batter was Winokur, who capped the inning with a sacrifice fly to center to make it 6-0.

With three wins to begin the series, Fort Myers has clinched both a winning road trip and a winning season record against the Blue Jays.

They’ll look to clinch the six-game set at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. RHP Tanner Hall (2-0, 4.85) is set to start for Fort Myers, opposite RHP Fernando Perez (3-1, 3.48) of Dunedin. Coverage begins at 6:15 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.