Orozco Knocks Four Hits in Series Finale Win
July 21, 2018 - Florida State League (FSL1)
Dunedin Blue Jays News Release
Blue Jays teammates Rodrigo Orozco and Ivan Castillo have spent the first month of the second half of the season steadily climbing in Dunedin's batting order and the Florida State League leaderboards. With tonight's 4-4 night by Orozco and 1-4 performance by Castillo in a 4-3 win over the Tampa Tarpons, both now rank in the top three for highest second half average (Orozco is first at .402 and Castillo is third at .367) in the league. The two have also climbed into the overall FSL batting title chase with Castillo ranking second with a .304 mark with Orozco right on his heels at .303.
Both were instrumental in tonight's series finale win over the Tampa Tarpons, helping Dunedin improve their second half record to a league-best 21-9 and giving the Jays their sixth straight series win in the month of July.
On Saturday evening, the Blue Jays came from behind after Tampa scored a pair of runs in the first inning on a towering Brandon Wagner home run to go up 2-0. After allowing the home run in the top half of the first, RHP Patrick Murphy settled in for the Jays and didn't allow another Tarpon to score over 6.0 innings complete, allowing just four hits in the game while striking out five to earn his third straight quality start.
It took until the fifth, but the Blue Jays eventually broke through against Tampa starter Dalton Lehnen, facing him for the third time this month. Castillo led off the inning with a ground ball single into left. 1B Kacy Clemens followed with a line drive base hit to right. A wild pitch moved both runners up, and DH Nash Knight followed with a walk to load the bases. WIth the bases full, last night's hero LF Brock Lundquist was hit by a pitch to force home a run. The following batter, 2B Yeltsin Gudino, hit into a 6-4 fielder's choice, scoring the tying run on the play. After a line drive out off the bat of CF Joshua Palacios, Orozco laced a single into left to score Knight and put Dunedin up 3-2.
C Riley Adams helped Dunedin manufacture a crucial insurance run an inning later. The Blue Jays backstop worked a walk and then stole both second and third base before coming in to score on a single by Knight to put Dunedin up 4-2.
Murphy exited after six, handing the two-run lead to RHP Jonathan Cheshire. The sidearmer tossed a scoreless seventh and a scoreless eighth inning, allowing just one base runner.
Tampa refused to go down without a fight again in the ninth. LHP Jake Fishman entered having not allowed a run for exactly a month (he was last scored upon on June 21 at Clearwater) looking to protect the 4-2 lead. Dom Thompson-Williams poked a single into right field to open the inning and advanced to second on a wild pitch. A fly out moved him to third and an RBI ground out off the bat of Angel Aguilar brought him home to pull Tampa within one run with two outs. Fishman recorded a ground out to end the game and preserve the victory while earning his sixth save.
The Blue Jays will enjoy a rare Sunday off-day tomorrow before heading to Lakeland on Monday evening to begin a three-game series and a seven-game roadstand.
Florida State League Stories from July 21, 2018
- Orozco Knocks Four Hits in Series Finale Win - Dunedin Blue Jays
- Win Streak Ends At Five For Fort Myers - Fort Myers Mighty Mussels
- Medina K's 12, Leads Threshers over Fire Frogs - Clearwater Threshers
- Torres Begins Rehab as Tarpons Drop Rubber Game - Tampa Tarpons
- Walker Fires Quality Start in No-Decision on Saturday - Florida Fire Frogs
- Mets, Cardinals Cancelled on Saturday - St. Lucie Mets
- Saturday's Stone Crabs-Hammerheads Game Cancelled - Charlotte Stone Crabs
- Florida Fire Frogs Game Notes: July 21, 2018 - Florida Fire Frogs
- Gleyber Torres to Begin Rehab Assignment with Tarpons Tonight - Tampa Tarpons
- Tampa Tarpons Game Notes: at Dunedin - Tampa Tarpons
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