DUNEDIN, Fla. (July 31, 2026) – The Dunedin Blue won their third straight game in their series vs. the St. Lucie Mets with a 5-0 shutout victory on Friday night at TD Ballpark.
The Blue Jays scored all five runs in the eighth inning.
The game was a pitcher’s duel through the first seven innings. Mets starter Ethan Lanthier fired 4.0 one-hit shutout innings. Christian Rodriguez followed with 3.0 hitless innings.
But the eighth inning unraveled on Rodriguez. It started with a leadoff walk to No. 9 hitter Brayden Martin, who was walked in all three of hit plate appearances. Rodriguez plunked the next batter Jake Cook. Blaine Bullard and Ryan Cooney then hit back-to-back RBI singles to make it 2-0.
Later in the inning with two outs Jake Bennett hit a two-run double over the first base bag to push the lead to 4-0. Enmanuel Bonilla capped the scoring by racing home from third base on a wild pitch to make it 5-0.
Blue Jays starter Carson Messina pitched a season-high 4.2 innings and struck out seven. He did not walk a batter. Reese Bassinger pitched 1.1 perfect innings. Landen Waters followed with a 1-2-3 seventh.
Josbel Garcia pitched the final two innings to complete the shutout and get the win.
Rodriguez took the loss. He was charged with five runs on three hits over 4.0 innings.
The Mets registered five hits from five different players. Simon Juan went 1 for 4 with a triple.
Aiden Robbins reached base three out of four times. He was 1 for 2 with a single, walk and hit-by-pitch.
The Mets (12-21, 45-54) and Blue Jays (17-16, 47-51) play the fifth game of their series at TD Ballpark on Saturday. First pitch is 6:30 p.m.