The Dunedin Blue Jays scored an unearned run in the ninth, then held off a rally by the St. Lucie Mets en route to a 4-3 win on Thursday at Tradition Field.
Dunedin salvaged the series with the victory. The Mets won the first two games, each by a run.
An unfortunate sequence in the top of the ninth for the Mets led to the go-ahead Jays run. With two outs and Pierce Rankin on first, the Mets opted to play their outfielders deep in a no doubles defense. Kevin Patterson then hit a routine ball into left field, but Jared King couldn’t race up to it fast enough and it dropped for a hit to put runners on the corners.
Emilio Guerrero came up and hit a grounder to second base, but Phil Evans couldn’t handle it cleanly and Rankin scored on the error to give Dunedin the 4-3 lead.
King led off the bottom of the ninth with a double off of Arik Sikula. However, Sikula buckled down to get Cole Frenzel to line out, Gavin Cecchini to ground out and he struck out Eudy Pina to end the game.
It was Sikula’s 24th save in 26 chances. He blew a two-run lead in the ninth to the Mets on Monday.
The Mets jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Jays starter Efrain Nieves walked back-to-back hitters with two outs. King singled home Evans and got caught up in a rundown between first and second long enough for Cam Maron to score.
The Jays answered in the third. Kevin McGowan gave up a leadoff double to Ian Parmley, then Nick Baligod singled. Rankin delivered the big blow in the game, launching a three run homer to put the Blue Jays up 3-2.
The Mets would go quietly until the eighth. Wilfredo Tovar drew a leadoff walk from Justin Jackson and stole second base. Gilbert Gomez advanced Tovar to third with a ground ball. After Evans struck out, Tony Davis entered the game and threw a wild pitch that allowed Tovar to score and tie the game 3-3.
The tie was brief though, as the Jays responded in the ninth with the winning run.
Parmley, Baligod and Rankin - the top three hitter in the Dunedin order - combined to go 8 for 14 and scored all four runs.
All three runners that scored for the Mets reached base on walks. The Mets only had five hits in the game. Two came from King.
McGowan struck out three and walked three in six solid innings. His one mistake was the three-run homer to Rankin.
Nieves held the Mets to two runs and three hits in five innings. He walked four. - team press release
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