Rodriguez’s slam sends Mussels past Jays in series opener 

Fort Myers, FL – The Blue Jays couldn’t hang onto a four-run ninth-inning lead, as Fort Myers’ cleanup man Jose Rodriguez belted a walk-off grand slam to defeat Dunedin 8-7 on Tuesday night at Hammond Stadium.

The contest opened as a pitchers’ duel, as Jays starter Connor O’Halloran and Mighty Mussels hurler Spencer Bengard traded scoreless frames through three innings.

Fort Myers struck first in the fourth inning, thanks to a solo home run from Poncho Ruiz.

Dunedin managed to clip Bengard for a run in the sixth to tie it, as Yhoangel Aponte ripped an RBI single to score Victor Arias.

In the bottom half of the sixth, O’Halloran retired the first two batters and appeared to be on his way to a 1-2-3 inning, as Rodriguez sent a pop up to the right side of the infield. However, the ball glanced off first baseman Cristian Feliz’s mitt, extending the inning. The Mussels capitalized, as Ruiz ripped his second homer of the day – just over the reach of Arias in dead center field – to make it 3-1 Fort Myers.

The homer marked the end of O’Halloran’s night after 5.2 innings. The nine-strikeout outing marked the left-hander's third start this season in which he pitched five or more innings and allowed one earned run or fewer.

The Blue Jays cooked up a response in the seventh, as Ben Ethridge replaced Bengard on the mound. Manuel Beltre and Cristian Feliz opened the inning with walks, setting up men on first and second for Maykel Minoso. The Dunedin backstop grounded into a double play ball, but Mussels second baseman Rayne Doncon threw the ball away, allowing Beltre to score and Feliz to move to third.

One batter later, Bryce Arnold lined a two-RBI, go-ahead single to left field, putting the Jays back in the lead, 4-3. Tucker Toman grew the lead to 5-3 with an RBI single but ended the inning trying to advance to second base.

In the eighth, the lead burgeoned to 7-3, as Feliz belted a two-run homer – his third in his last three games.

After a clean seventh inning from Eliander Alcalde and scoreless eighth from Yondrei Rojas, disaster struck for Dunedin in the bottom of the ninth.

Rojas induced a ground out to open the inning, but then hit pinch hitter Maddux Houghton. After advancing to second on a wild pitch, Houghton scored on Rafael Cruz’s RBI single, which trimmed the lead to three.

The next batter, Byron Chourio, hit a sharp ground ball to the shortstop Arjun Nimmala. However, the double play was not attempted, and Nimmala threw out Chourio at first for the second out. Doncon followed with a single, and Brandon Winokur followed with a walk to load the bases.

Kai Peterson replaced Rojas to face Rodriguez. Peterson fell behind 3-0 after two very close misses on the inside of the plate, but fired a strike to make it 3-1. On the 3-1 pitch, Rodriguez sent an opposite-field grand slam over the right field wall to end the game.

With the defeat, Dunedin falls to 12-16 on the season. The series continues tomorrow at 7:05, with Juaron Watts-Brown set to take the baseball for the Jays.