Dunedin Blue Jays Fall 11-7 to Tarpons Despite Bennett’s Grand Slam

Bennett brought the thunder. Tampa brought more.

Jake Bennett did just about everything except personally escort the Tampa Tarpons back to the dugout. Unfortunately, that was the job the Dunedin Blue Jays needed done most.

Bennett hit two home runs, drove in six and delivered a grand slam that wiped out an early deficit. The reward? An 11-7 loss for the Dunedin Blue Jays, because a spectacular night at the plate doesn’t come with insurance against the other team’s bats.

For Pinellas fans following along from St. Pete, Clearwater or the beaches, this was the kind of score that required an explanation. Yes, Bennett was that good. Yes, the Jays still lost. Around the pregame tailgate in Dunedin, you’d happily sign up for a night like his. You’d want to read the fine print on the pitching, though.

A grand slam, then a disappearing tie

Tampa got moving in the second inning. Wilberson De Pena singled home Bayram Hot and Brando Mayea for a 2-0 lead. Diego Castellanos added a two-run homer in the third, and suddenly Dunedin was down 4-0 with a considerable amount of evening left to salvage.

Enter Bennett.

Dameury Pena, Owen Carapellotti and Aldo Gaxiola reached base in the bottom of the third. Bennett then launched a grand slam to left-center, turning a gloomy scoreboard into a 4-4 tie with one swing. That’s not chipping away. That’s taking a sledgehammer to the whole problem.

It was also the clearest reminder of why you stick with a game that starts badly. Leave too early, and somebody else gets to tell you about the swing everyone came to see.

But tying a game isn’t the same as taking charge of it. Dax Kilby made that distinction unpleasantly clear in the fourth, hitting a solo homer to put Tampa back ahead, 5-4. Dunedin had erased the early damage. It hadn’t stopped the source.

The sixth was the bill coming due

The decisive trouble arrived in the top of the sixth, when Tampa turned a narrow lead into a much bigger ask.

Mayea hit a two-run homer. Luis Escudero followed with a solo shot. Anthony Potestio added an RBI double. Four runs later, the Tarpons led 9-4, and Bennett’s grand slam felt less like a turning point than a rescue operation that needed another rescue operation.

Tampa added two more in the seventh to make it 11-4. Dunedin’s late push brought the final margin to 11-7, but the comeback never caught up with the damage.

That sixth inning is the argument-settler here. Whether you’re talking it over in Dunedin or watching with friends back in Clearwater, there’s no need to dress this one up as a mystery. The Jays were within a run. Then Tampa’s bats blew the gap open.

A big night with nowhere to celebrate

Bennett was the obvious bright spot, and there’s no reason to diminish his performance because the final score went sideways. Six RBI on two homers is serious work. He gave Dunedin a way back into the game when it threatened to get away early.

The problem was keeping it within reach afterward. Thirteen strikeouts look useful on the pitching ledger, but they don’t erase four Tampa home runs. The Tarpons kept finding ways to do damage, and Dunedin couldn’t make its biggest swing hold up.

Check the game details for the full accounting and the Dunedin schedule for what’s next. The assignment is straightforward: keep the Bennett fireworks, lose the Tampa encore.

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