Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays advance to the Championship Series

The Toronto Blue Jays Single-A affiliate, the Dunedin Blue Jays, defeated the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels 3-1 earlier today, securing the West Division title and will now be moving on to the Championship Series later this week.

The three-game series between the Blue Jays and the Minnesota Twins affiliate went the entire way, with the Jays taking the first game 6-4 before the Mighty Mussels bounced back with a 5-7 win on Thursday, setting the stage for game three which was supposed to be on Friday but was moved to earlier today due to rain.

In game one, Rafael Sanchez went five innings and allowed only two earned runs off seven hits with three strikeouts, with the Jays bullpen coming in allowing just two earned runs over the next four innings while striking out two batters. Right-hander Ben Baggett allowed a home run but picked up the save in the ninth.

The Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays are heading to the Championship series after defeating Fort Myers in a best-of-three series earlier today.

In the batter’s box, the Blue Jays bats tagged starter Pierson Ohl for four earned runs, with four Jays players having multi-hit games and all but one batter securing a hit in the game.

Fort Myers put a run on the board in the first inning but third baseman Cade Doughty responded with a single in the bottom of the first, cashing two runs. First baseman Peyton Williams led the team with three hits on the day while outfielder Devonte Brown had two RBI, helping the Jays take a crucial game #1.

In the second game, the Jays dropped a close 7-5 decision to the Mighty Mussels, with Geison Urbaez stealing the show on the mound, following starter Ed Gonzalez and going five innings without allowing an earned run off four hits with zero walks and two strikeouts.

A product of the 2022 MLB Draft class, Williams once again led the charge in the batter’s box, scoring two runs off a first-inning triple with a Brown single bringing him in from third, giving the Blue Jays a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. The Jays would score two more runs before the seventh inning but the Mighty Mussels exploded for a five-run eighth inning, which combined with two runs in the first gave them the win. Ian Churchill earned the loss after taking over for Ryan Jennings, as the left-hander allowed three runs in the eighth inning by the way of a grand slam late in the game to Keoni Cavaco.

The third and final game would be pushed to earlier today, and the Blue Jays were able to get the job done both on the mound and in the batter’s box.

Catcher Victor Mesia got the Jays on the board with a single in the second inning, scoring Ryan McCarty. Shortstop Josh Kasevich would walk with the bases loaded to drive in another run but they would stop there, with an Alan Roden forceout ending the inning.

The Jays used four different pitchers and only surrendered a combined four hits to the tune of one earned run, coming via a single in the sixth inning off of reliever Rafael Ohasi.

Starter Lazaro Estrada pitched a strong four innings while Conor Larkin also pitched a clean 2.0 innings following Ohasi and his 2.0 inning performance once Lazaro was removed from the game. Baggett would once again be brought in to close out the game and allowed one hit but pitched a clean inning, earning the save.

A Cade Doughty single would score another insurance run in the form of Manuel Beltre in the fifth inning, who had a two-hit day himself, and the Blue Jays won the game and now advance to the next round.

The Dunedin Blue Jays will now face the Lynchburg Hillcats, the Single-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians sometime later this week in another three-game series.