Tarpons Outlast Blue Jays in 12 Inning Marathon

April 16, 2023 – Florida State League (FSL) – Dunedin Blue Jays News Release

Dunedin, FL – In the wrap-up game of the first series at home, Dunedin had the chance to win their first series of the season but couldn’t muster up enough offense to get the job done in extras.

Blue Jays starter Eliander Alcalde pitched well, not allowing a hit through the first three innings, ending his day with a line of four innings pitched, one hit, one run and four strikeouts. Alcalde’s lone mistake was a hung slider that Tampa catcher Agustin Ramirez hit for a solo home run in the fourth. Lazaro Estrada took over the pitching duties in the fifth, giving up a run in his first inning of work, but from the sixth inning on, the Dunedin bullpen didn’t allow a run until extras.

The Blue Jays got one back in the sixth on a Tucker Toman sac fly, scoring Marcos De La Rosa who had tripled the previous at-bat, and tied the game in the eighth on a bloop single by Roque Salinas. After a scoreless ninth, and for the second time this series, off to extras we went.

Nathanael Perez kept the game tied up in the tenth, largely thanks to a couple fantastic defensive plays by Toman at 3B and Rikelbin De Castro at SS, so Dunedin went to bat with the winning run on 2nd base, but a three-up-three-down inning saw that chance slip away. Both teams exchanged runs in the eleventh, heading to the twelfth tied, 3-3.

Tampa scored the automatic runner on a base hit with the first batter of the inning, but Keiner Leon was able to strand two runners in scoring position and give the Blue Jays a chance to tie.

In the bottom of the inning, Jayden Rudd moved over to 3rd on a wild pitch by Tarpons pitcher Alex Bustamante, but a well-executed play by the Tampa infield saw Jean Arnaez ground out to the catcher, and Rudd cut down at the plate on a 2-3-1 double play. Bustamante struck out Angel Del Rosario to end it and give both teams a series split.

Dunedin will look to shake off the tough loss as they prepare to travel to Palm Beach for series with the Cardinals starting on Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. All games of the road trip will be live on the Dunedin Blue Jays Radio Network, with coverage beginning 15 minutes prior to each game’s first pitch.

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