Dunedin rallies late to seal fourth straight win

CLEARWATER, FL – After being shutout through six innings, Dunedin used a game-tying home run from Cristian Feliz and go-ahead triple from Tucker Toman to take the lead and eventually defeat Clearwater 6-3 on Wednesday night at BayCare Ballpark.

Ricky Tiedemann started the game for Dunedin, making his third rehab appearance from AAA-Buffalo. After retiring the first two batters, Tiedemann allowed a solo home run to Pierce Bennett that put the Threshers ahead 1-0.

The hard-throwing lefty was steady the rest of the way, but battled long counts for the remainder of his outing. Tiedemann finished 3.2 innings on 65 pitches with six strikeouts, allowing his lone earned run on Bennett’s home run.

On the other side of the scorebook, Clearwater starter Enrique Segura no-hit the Blue Jays through four innings. Dunedin got in the hit column with two singles in the fifth but went down in the minimum after Toman was thrown out at third base and Robert Robertis rolled into a double play.

Irv Carter relieved Tiedemann in the fourth and retired four of the first five batters he faced. Devin Saltiban ended that stretch with a one-out solo homer in the sixth to grow the Threshers lead to 2-0.

Following a 1-2-3 sixth from Segura, the Jays cracked the righty in seventh. Jean Joseph opened the inning with a triple, bringing Feliz to the plate, representing the tying run. Feliz did indeed tie the game, belting his second homer in as many nights 414 feet down the right field line.

Braden Barry then worked a walk, bringing Toman to the dish with the go-ahead run on the bases. Toman sent a line drive to right, over Raylin Heradia’s head, driving Barry home from first base to put the Jays ahead 3-2.

Dunedin got a run of insurance in the eighth, as Victor Arias launched a solo home run to make it 4-2 Jays.

Clearwater trimmed the lead back down to one, as Bennett collected an eighth inning RBI single, but Yondrei Rojas ended the frame with men on the corners to keep the Jays ahead.

In the ninth, Dunedin rallied for more insurance, as Toman singled and Beltre doubled, setting up Robertis for an RBI single that pushed the advantage to 5-3. Later in the inning, Robertis stole second, allowing Beltre to steal home to burgeon the lead to 6-3.

Rojas remained in the game for the ninth and walked two batters but struck out Avery Owusu-Asiedu to slam the door on Dunedin’s fourth consecutive victory.

The series moves north to TD Ballpark for the final three games of the series, starting Thursday. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00pm, with a 4^th of July fireworks special to follow the game. Tickets are available now at DunedinBlueJays.com.