Palm Beach rallies early to route Jays
DUNEDIN, FL – Palm Beach tallied eight runs in the first three innings of the game to put the Blue Jays in a hole they couldn’t overcome in a 9-1 Dunedin loss on Friday night at TD Ballpark. The loss is the Blue Jays’ fourth straight at the hands of
DUNEDIN, FL – Palm Beach tallied eight runs in the first three innings of the game to put the Blue Jays in a hole they couldn’t overcome in a 9-1 Dunedin loss on Friday night at TD Ballpark. The loss is the Blue Jays’ fourth straight at the hands of Palm Beach.
Blue Jays starter Fernando Perez struck out the first batter of the game, Lizandro Espinoza, but the third strike escaped catcher Edward Duran, allowing Espinoza to reach first. Palm Beach eventually scored twice, sending eight men to the plate in a 32-pitch inning for Perez.
Perez returned to face two batters in the second, allowing a walk and single, before he was removed after recording just three outs. The Cardinals tallied four runs using two hits, three walks and a hit by pitch to grow their lead to 6-0.
The deficit swelled to 8-0 with two more runs in the third inning, including an RBI knock from JJ Wetherholt.
On the other side of the scorebook, Palm Beach starter Chen-Wei Lin struck out eight Blue Jays in five innings.
Nick Mitchell broke up the shutout in the bottom of the fifth, blasting an opposite field solo homer – his second in his first three games as a professional.
Eliander Alcalde delivered 2.2 scoreless innings out of the bullpen for the Jays, striking out four. Yondrei Rojas followed with 1.2 scoreless before allowing an RBI single to Anyelo Encarnacion with one out in the ninth.
The series continues Saturday night at TD Ballpark, with first pitch set for 6:30 pm. Tickets are available online at DunedinBlueJays.com.