Dunedin Blue Jays Batter Tarpons 8-3: Big Bats, Bigger Breathing Room

Blue Jays handle the neighborhood business

The Dunedin Blue Jays beat the Tampa Tarpons 8-3 at home, and the nicest thing you can say about Tampa’s night is that the trip back wasn’t cross-country.

Dunedin delivered the useful kind of entertainment: timely hits, productive outs and pitching that kept the visitors mostly occupied with walking back to the dugout. The Blue Jays finished with 9 hits. Tampa managed 2. That’s not much material for a visiting highlight reel.

For Pinellas fans watching around St Pete, Clearwater or the beaches, this was a good reason to keep baseball on the screen. For the Dunedin crowd turning a home game into an evening out, with some pregame tailgate chatter thrown in, the payoff came on the field. No need to manufacture drama when the home team keeps cashing in runners.

Build the lead, then kick the door open

Dunedin started collecting in the bottom of the 2nd, when Ryan Franden singled home Dameury Pena. Nothing elaborate. Put a runner aboard, bring him around, make the other dugout deal with it.

The next runs came without a ball leaving the yard. Lenyn Sosa’s groundout scored Blaine Bullard in the 3rd, and Giaconino Lasaracina’s groundout brought Pena home in the 4th. A 3-0 lead built partly on productive outs won’t win a style contest. Fortunately, the scoreboard doesn’t judge choreography.

Tampa got a run back in the 5th. At 3-1, this was still a game that deserved your attention, not an excuse to wander away and debate dinner.

Then came the bottom of the 6th.

Pena singled to score Aldo Gaxiola. Lasaracina followed with a sharp line drive to center, bringing home Pena and Ryan Cooney. Dunedin’s three-run inning turned a 3-1 edge into a 6-1 cushion. That was the separation: the Blue Jays had runners to bring home and somebody willing to do the work.

The Tarpons picked up two unearned runs in the 8th after Dunedin fielding miscues. That part belongs in the recap, too. A comfortable win doesn’t make sloppy defense disappear.

Cooney supplied a solo homer, and Bullard added another run as Dunedin finished the job at 8-3. The full box score has the details, minus the bar-stool commentary.

Lasaracina drives it; Barriera locks it down

Lasaracina gets the offensive spotlight: 1-for-3 and 3 RBI, including the two-run single that gave the Blue Jays room to breathe. His earlier run-scoring groundout mattered, too. Not every useful plate appearance needs a souvenir attached.

Brandon Barriera supplied the pitching headline with 4.0 innings, 0 hits, 0 earned runs and 6 strikeouts. That’s a miserable assignment for opposing hitters and a lovely one for whoever keeps the home scorebook.

Dunedin’s staff finished with 14 strikeouts while allowing just 2 hits. Pair that with 8 runs on 9 hits, and there’s your explanation. No grand declaration about the season required. The Blue Jays hit, the pitchers missed bats, and Tampa couldn’t keep pace.

Find more Blue Jays coverage, or check the official schedule before planning your next Dunedin baseball outing.

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