Dunedin falls in heartbreaking, extra-inning fashion
Jupiter, FL – The Blue Jays squandered a strong start from Toronto’s No. 24 prospect Fernando Perez and a 2-run 10th inning lead to fall to Jupiter 4-3 in 10 innings on Friday night at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. The Hammerheads struck first; courtesy of a Tony Bullard RBI single
Jupiter, FL – The Blue Jays squandered a strong start from Toronto’s No. 24 prospect Fernando Perez and a 2-run 10th inning lead to fall to Jupiter 4-3 in 10 innings on Friday night at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.
The Hammerheads struck first; courtesy of a Tony Bullard RBI single in the second inning.
Following the second, Perez allowed just one base runner – a JT Mabry single in the third. The 20-year-old righty turned in the first quality start by a Blue Jay this season, racking up nine strikeouts without walking a batter in six innings.
Dunedin evened the score in the fifth, as Jean Joseph drove in Maykel Minoso on an RBI single, marking his first Single-A hit.
The 1-1 deadlock held through the ninth, as Carson Pierce relieved Perez with three scoreless frames.
The Jays broke the tie with a two-run 10th. With two outs, Alexis Hernandez on third and Joseph on first, Victor Arias ripped a two-RBI double into the right-center field gap to put Dunedin in front 3-1.
Pierce returned to open the bottom of the 10th. John Cruz opened the frame with a single, moving placed runner Brock Vradenburg to third. Ryan Ignoffo followed with a sacrifice fly to left, driving in Vradenburg to trim Dunedin’s lead to 3-2.
Tony Bullard then poked a single, putting the tying run, represented by Cruz, in scoring position. Speedster Jordan McCants came on to pinch run for Bullard. Cristhian Rodriguez then sent a bouncer to second base, where Bryce Arnold fielded it and threw to second, but Arjun Nimmala couldn’t make the catch – which allowed Cruz to score from second to tie the game.
Pierce faced one final batter; Renny Hidalgo, who lined out to shortstop, bringing the Jays within an out of the 11th inning.
Keiner Leon came on to try and nail down the save. On the 1-2 pitch to Colby Shade, disaster struck for Dunedin, as the Hammerheads put a double steal into motion. As McCants dashed for third, Minoso’s throw from behind the plate clanked off Shade’s bat and deflected to the backstop, allowing McCants to score and end the game.
The loss is Dunedin’s seventh straight, dropping the team to 9-10 after an 8-2 start.
The Blue Jays have another chance to snap the skid tomorrow evening, with first pitch set for 6:00 in Jupiter.