Blue Jays Use Early Offense to Hold off Threshers

CLEARWATER, Fla. - With another early-inning offensive outburst, the Dunedin Blue Jays held off the Clearwater Threshers, 8-3, on Tuesday night at Spectrum Field. Despite the loss the Philadelphia Phillies' affiliate remains two games ahead of the Daytona Tortugas for the Wild Card spot in the Florida State League North division.

The Blue Jays (70-48, 29-24) used early rallies against Andrew Brown (3-7) to take a 3-0 lead into the fourth inning. Reggie Pruitt's leadoff single and stolen base in the first put early pressure on Brown. Chavez Young's RBI single to center gave Dunedin its first run and the lead. Nick Podkul delivered a solo-home run in the second against Brown to left to give the D-Jays a 2-0 lead. In the third, Pruitt walked and reached third on an error. Ryan Noda lifted a sacrifice fly to left to plate Pruitt and give the the D-Jays their 3-0 advantage heading into the fourth.
Clearwater (60-61, 24-31) found a spark against right-hander Kyle Johnston (1-2) in the bottom of the fourth after Brown kept Dunedin off the board. With Madison Stokes at first after a walk and two outs, Ben Aklinski drove a ball to left for a two-run blast to cut the lead to 3-2. Dalton Guthrie followed with a deep triple to left and later scored when Johnston threw a wild pitch against Matt Kroon and tied the game at three.
Aklinski had not hit a round-tripper since April 12 against the Fort Myers Miracle before the fourth-inning blast. The outfielder finished with a single and a walk as part of a 2-for-3 performance.
Brown entered in the fifth and recorded an out before the Blue Jays found more success against the right-hander. Alejandro Kirk walked before Ryan Noda belted a long home run to right to put Dunedin ahead 5-3. The designated hitter has connected for a team high 11 long-balls in 2019 for the Toronto Blue Jays' affiliate.
Brown exited with 4.1 innings of work and allowed four earned runs on five hits with three strikeouts. Brown suffered just his first loss of the season against the Blue Jays.
With Gustavo Armas in for the Threshers, the Blue Jays tacked on a run in the sixth. After back-to-back singles from Podkul and Jesus Navarro, Pruitt grounded into a force out that pushed Podkul home and made it a 6-3 advantage for the road team.
Dunedin scored their final two runs against Austin Ross in the eighth. Podkul and Navarro walked to lead off the frame before Pruitt singled to load the bases. An infield RBI from Young gave Dunedin a 7-3 edge before Ross struck out Kirk for the second out. Noda came up to the plate and drove in his fourth run of the game with a sacrifice fly to score Navarro and put the D-Jays ahead 8-3.
Aklinski picked up a single in the ninth but was left stranded after Kyle Weatherly retired the final three to close out the game. The Threshers' offense picked up four hits against the D-Jays bullpen and walked seven times in the contest. The Philadelphia Phillies' affiliate is hitting .247 with a .715 OPS against the Blue Jays despite the loss.
Clearwater looks to get back on track in game three of the four-game set against Dunedin at Spectrum Field on Wednesday night. It is yet to be determined who will start for either side in Wednesday's contest. First pitch is scheduled at 7 p.m. with coverage beginning at 6:45 p.m. on Threshers Live! The Pregame Show at threshersbaseball.com.
Wednesday night features the Silver Sharks club by Belcher Bingo. Designed for Threshers fans aged 55 and older, membership includes admission to and parking for all Wednesday home games. Only $25 dollars per senior per season.