Dunedin drops second-half opener in extras

DUNEDIN, FL – After finishing the first half in walk-off fashion on Thursday night, Dunedin couldn’t channel that same walk-off magic again on Friday night, as the Blue Jays fell 6-5 to Daytona in 10 innings at TD Ballpark.

Dunedin opened the scoring in the first inning, as Victor Arias ripped a leadoff double and Edward Duran drove him in with a fielders’ choice.

Jays’ starter Fernando Perez recorded scoreless frames in the first and second to extend Dunedin’s scoreless innings streak to 19. The streak came to an end in the third with a two-run homer from Yerlin Confidan, which put the Tortugas ahead 2-1.

In the bottom of the third, Dunedin responded to take the lead back. Cristian Feliz tied the game with a line-drive, RBI single to right that brought Arias home. Manuel Beltre followed with a sacrifice fly to put the Jays back in front, 3-2.

Dunedin’s lead grew to 4-2 in the fourth as Arias collected an RBI single – his third hit in three at bats to open the game.

Following the third inning homer, Perez regained his stride, culminating in a special fifth inning. Perez fired nine strikes, striking out Trey Faltine, Johnny Ascanio and Confidan swinging to deliver an immaculate inning.

The frame marks the second immaculate inning in as many nights at TD Ballpark, as Daytona’s Adam Serwinowski pulled off the feat in the first inning on Thursday.

In the sixth, the Tortugas cracked Perez again. Following an error and a walk to open the inning, Connor Burns blasted a go-ahead, three-run homer to put Daytona back in front, 5-4.

Following another walk, Perez exited the game after 5.1 innings. Aaron Munson took over and stranded a man on second base. Munson went on to deliver 2.2 scoreless frames, punching out a season-high five.

In the eighth inning, the Blue Jays used some chaos to tie the game. Beltre led off the inning with a single. With a man on first, Tucker Toman bounced a ground ball to third base, where Faltine made a diving stop and then threw to second. His throw sailed into right field, allowing Beltre to score from first, and Toman to reach third.

Later in the inning, Toman was thrown out at the plate trying to score on a ground ball to first, and the Jays settled for one run in the inning.

After neither team scored in the ninth, JJ Sanchez took the ball for the Jays in the 10th. He retired the first two batters he faced and brought Malvin Valdez to two strikes. However, just before the two-strike pitch (on which Valdez swung and missed), Sanchez balked, which allowed placed runner Sammy Stafura to score from third to give Daytona a 6-5 lead.

In the bottom of the frame, Dunedin went down in the minimum to end the contest.

The series carries on tomorrow night at TD Ballpark, with first pitch set for 6:30. Tickets are available now at DunedinBlueJays.com.