Mussels hand Jays second straight walk-off loss

Fort Myers, FL – The Blue Jays suffered a second-consecutive walk-off loss, as Fort Myers used a Byron Chourio sacrifice fly to defeat Dunedin 5-4 in 11 innings on Tuesday night at Hammond Stadium.

After two scoreless innings from Juaron Watts-Brown to open the game, Fort Myers opened the scoring in the bottom of the third. With one out, Rafael Cruz reached on an error and Omari Daniel walked. With two down, Rayne Doncon ripped a two-RBI double to make it 2-0 Mighty Mussels.

Dunedin snagged a 3-2 lead in the top of the fourth, courtesy of a Yhoangel Aponte RBI single, and a go-ahead two-RBI double from Jean Joseph.

The lead lasted until the fifth, when a Chourio RBI triple tied the game at four. Doncon followed with a bloop RBI single to right, which put Fort Myers ahead 4-3.

Watts-Brown bounced back with a scoreless sixth inning to end his night with just two earned runs on his line. The outing marked the right hander’s longest this season.

Bo Bonds worked a scoreless seventh, and Keiner Leon tossed up a zero in the eighth to keep it a one-run game.

In the ninth, the Jays took advantage. Daniel Perez opened the inning with a triple, and Joseph followed with his third RBI of the contest – a single through the middle of the infield to tie the game at four.

Victor Arias followed with his own single. After Tucker Toman struck out for the first out, Mussels’ pitcher Julio Bonilla balked, moving Joseph to third and Arias to second. Fort Myers then elected to walk Aponte to load the bases, but Dunedin couldn’t take the lead, as Arjun Nimmala struck out and Edward Duran flied out to end the inning.

In the bottom of the ninth, Leon worked around a double to send the game to extra innings.

Dunedin failed to score in the 10th, setting up a dramatic bottom half.

Leon opened the inning by inducing a lineout for the first out. With one out, Aaron Munson took over, and hit Payton Eeles, setting up runners on first and second. The next batter, Maddux Houghton, rolled into a double-play ball. The Jays cut down Eeles at second, but Houghton beat the throw to first. However, Angel Del Rosario, the automatic runner, attempted to score from second, but first baseman Cristian Feliz unleashed a perfect throw to the plate, where Duran applied the tag to extend the game.

In the 11th, Mussels’ hurler Xander Hamilton struck out the side, stranding Joseph on second base.

Fort Myers ended the marathon in the bottom of the inning. Cruz opened the inning with a hit by pitch, setting up a bunt situation for Omari Daniel. He did just that, laying down a perfect bunt on the first base chalk to load the bases with no outs. Chourio ended the game on a sacrifice fly to deep center, allowing the winning run to score without a play.

Dunedin, now 12-17, will look to snap their three-game losing streak tomorrow against Fort Myers, with first pitch set for 7:05.