Dantzler's double drives in walkoff winner

Dunedin, FL - After nine and a half scoreless innings on Thursday night at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium, 1B L. B. Dantzler finally broke through with a walk-off double, giving the D-Jays a 1-0 win in the bottom of the 10th inning.

Brennan Smith (L, 2-6) retired the first seven men he faced out of the bullpen, but issued a one-out walk to SS Emilio Guerrero (who turned 22 on Thursday) in the 10th, and fell behind 2-0 against Dantzler before getting to a full count. With Guerrero running from first, Dantzler hit a hard chopper to first base that skipped high over James Robbins' head down the right field line. Guerrero scored without a throw, and Dantzler wound up on second before his teammates arrived to celebrate the victory.

The win completed a season-long eight-game home stand for the D-Jays, who finished 4-4.

RHP Roberto Osuna put together his best start in Dunedin, holding the Flying Tigers to just three hits with one hit batter and five strikeouts over four strong innings.

LHP Efrain Nieves surrendered just one single through his four innings out of the pen, striking out four Lakeland hitters along the way. He's now thrown 16 scoreless innings to start the month of August, allowing just seven hits with three walks and 12 strikeouts in five outings.  

RHP Arik Sikula came on for the ninth and allowed a pair of two-out singles, but struck out Jeff McVaney to end the threat. LHP Chad Girodo (W, 7-3) got through a perfect top of the tenth in the blink of an eye to set up Guerrero and Dantzler's heroics.

Not to be overshadowed, Yorfrank Lopez produced one of his best starts of the season, allowing just three htis and three walks with four strikeouts in seven innings. He entered the game with a 5.89 ERA in three prior starts against the Blue Jays.