Strong bullpen effort, fifth inning rally lead Blue Jays to fourth straight win

BRADENTON, FL – The Blue Jays overcame an early deficit, using six unanswered runs and seven shutout innings from the bullpen to claim a fourth straight win, 6-3 over Bradenton on Friday night at LECOM Park.

In the top of the first, the Jays loaded the bases with two outs against Marauders starter Carlos Jimenez but squandered the early opportunity.

Bradenton did what the Blue Jays couldn’t and scored in the bottom of the inning against Gilberto Batista; the 19-year old righty making his Single-A and organizational debut after being traded from Boston in the deal that sent Danny Jansen to the Red Sox.

Batista allowed the first two batters to reach before bouncing back to strikeout the next two batters. However, before walking Andrew Patrick, Batista surrendered a wild pitch, allowing Duce Gourson to score from third base for the game’s first run.

In the bottom of the second inning, Javier Rivas singled with one out, setting up Braylon Bishop with a man on first base. Bishop sent a liner to right that looked to be another single, but rolled past Yhoangel Aponte, allowing Bishop to circle the bases for a two-run little league homer, pushing Bradenton’s lead to 3-0.

Batista struck out the next two batters to finish his outing with six strikeouts and one earned run in two innings.

Lefty Luis Torres took over for Bautista in the third and opened what eventually became a string of 12 consecutive Marauders retired.

In the fifth, the Blue Jays cracked Jimenez. Brock Tibbits singled to start the inning and Eddie Micheletti walked, putting runners on first and second for Edward Duran. Duran got the Jays on the board with an RBI double which drove in Tibbitts and chased Jimenez after 4.2 innings.

Sean Keys welcomed reliever Noah Takacs to the game with an opposite-field, two-RBI double to knot the game at three. Aponte continued the damage, belting a two-run home run to left field to put Dunedin ahead 5-3.

In the sixth, the Jays notched a run of insurance. Tibbitts led off the frame with a double and reached third on an error. His Hoosier teammate Nick Mitchell brought him home with a sacrifice fly, pushing the advantage to 6-3.

Torres run of 12 straight retired ended with a leadoff single in the top of the seventh, but the 19-year-old ended his night on a high note by striking out Derek Berg – his seventh K in 4.1 innings of relief.

Julio Ortiz followed the act, notching 2.2 innings of shutout ball, striking out four to earn his second save with Dunedin.

The Blue Jays return to action in Bradenton on Saturday night with a 6:30 first pitch. Fans can listen to the Blue Jays call for free online at https://www.milb.com/dunedin/fans/radio.