Tampa, FL – Three early homers including back-to-back blasts from RJ Schreck and Jake Bennett in the 1st inning lifted the Dunedin Blue Jays to a 6-2 victory over the Tampa Tarpons on Saturday night at George M. Steinbrenner Field in the penultimate game of the season.
Dunedin pitching allowed just two runs on three hits, while the Blue Jays bullpen trio of Denis Samudio, Isaac Williams, and Landon Waters combined to keep Tampa off the scoreboard over the ballgame’s final 8.2 innings.
KEY PERFORMERS
- RHP Denis Samudio (5.1 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 K) fired 5.1 shutout frames with seven strikeouts to earn the win in his final outing of 2026.
- Samudio struck out 6+ batters for the seventh time in 13 appearances with Dunedin
- DH Jake Bennett (2-for-4, HR, RBI, R) went back-to-back with RJ Schreck in the 1st inning, socking a solo homer 109.7 MPH, 421 ft. for his seventh homer in 23 professional games.
- Bennett has homered three times in his last five games.
- He extended his hit streak to seven games and on-base streak to 11 games.
- Over his last 18 games, Bennett is batting .339 with seven home runs and a 1.208 OPS.
- Bennett tallied his fourth professional multi-hit game.
- 1B Aldo Gaxiola (1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2) cleared the Steinbrenner Field batters’ eye with a 450 ft. solo home run in the 4th inning at 107.3 MPH off the bat.
- His 18 home runs this season are T-3rd in the FSL and 5th among Blue Jays minor leaguers.
- 18 home runs are the most by a Blue Jay since Addison Barger (18) and Orelvis Martinez (19) in 2021.
- His 450 ft. shot is the second farthest hit home run by a Blue Jay this season, trailing only Giaconino Lasaracina’s 457 ft. blast on August 19th.
- Over his last 30 games since July 21, Gaxiola is batting .336 with nine home runs, 32 RBI, and a 1.066 OPS.
- Gaxiola added an RBI fielder’s choice in the 8th.
- His 74 RBI this season are 2nd most in the Blue Jays farm system and the most by a Dunedin player since Addison Barger’s 80 RBI in 2021.
- LF RJ Schreck (1-for-3, HR, RBI, 2 R, BB) homered for the second straight night, opening the scoring with a two-run blast in the 1st inning at 102.9 MPH, 335 ft. down the right-field line.
- The Blue Jays No. 13 prospect has hit safely in each of his last four minor league rehab games.