Reyes’ big night pushes Lakeland over Blue Jays

DUNEDIN, FL – Behind a six-inning, 11-strikeout effort from starting pitcher Gabriel Reyes, Lakeland defeated the Blue Jays 8-3 on Tuesday night at TD Ballpark.

The Blue Jays fell behind in the top of the first, as Jose De La Cruz took Gage Stanifer deep for a two-run homer.

Dunedin received a response in the bottom of the inning off that bat of Arjun Nimmala. The 18-year-old belted the first pitch he saw from Reyes over the left field wall for a solo homer – his 15th longball of the year with the D-Jays.

From there, Reyes allowed just two more baserunners in his six inning start, striking out 11 Blue Jays in the process.

Stanifer also flashed his strikeout stuff, punching out seven batters in 3.2 innings to tie his season high.

Lakeland cracked the game open in the top of the sixth inning, tallying five runs on three hits – scoring three of the runs on three consecutive bases loaded walks – to push their advantage to 8-1.

In the seventh, Aaron Parker cracked an opposite field, two-run homer to get the Jays back in the run column, trimming the deficit to 8-3.

Eliander Alcalde quieted the Flying Tigers bats to finish the game, delivering 3.1 scoreless innings for Dunedin. However, the Jays bats couldn’t find a late spark. Dunedin loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but the comeback was halted there.

Dunedin and Lakeland will return to action tomorrow evening at TD Ballpark for a doubleheader, making up a July 20th rainout in Lakeland. First pitch is set for 4:30, with game two to follow approximately 30 minutes following the conclusion of game one. Tickets are available online at DunedinBlueJays.com.