O’Halloran punches out nine, Jays snap losing streak

Dunedin, FL – Connor O’Halloran played the role of stopper for the Blue Jays on Tuesday night, firing 6.2 scoreless innings to lead Dunedin to a 2-0 victory over Tampa, snapping a nine-game losing streak.

O’Halloran out-dueled Tarpons starter Gabriel Barbosa to earn the win, as both starters pitched into the seventh inning and struck out nine.

Dunedin got on the board in the bottom of the second inning. Manuel Beltre started the action with a walk, and then appeared to score from first on a gapper from Edward Duran – however, the ball bounced over the wall in left center for a ground rule double, forcing Beltre to stop at third.

Beltre eventually crossed home on a wild pitch that allowed Alexis Hernandez to reach on a strikeout. Barbosa averted further damage, though, stranding runners on the corners to end the inning.

O’Halloran’s biggest strikeout came in the top of the sixth, as Brenny Escanio roped a one-out double and then moved to third on an error on a pickoff attempt. With two outs, O’Halloran struck out Coby Morales to end the frame, stranding the tying run 90-feet away.

The Jays earned some breathing room in the bottom of the sixth. Yhoangel Aponte drilled a triple to dead center field with one out, setting up a sac fly from Beltre that pushed the lead to 2-0.

O’Halloran came back out for the seventh – the first Blue Jay to do so this season – and retired the first two batters before allowing a single to Jackson Castillo that marked the end of his night.

After O’Halloran exited to a hearty ovation, Keiner Leon took over and struck out Willy Montero to end the frame.

Leon worked around a walk to complete a scoreless eighth inning, and Yondrei Rojas ended the contest, and Dunedin’s losing streak, with a 1-2-3 ninth.

The Blue Jays return to action Wednesday night at TD Ballpark for game two with Tampa at 6:30pm. Juaron Watts-Brown will take the baseball for Dunedin. Fans can buy tickets now at DunedinBlueJays.com.