Let the cross-town rivalry begin! The Dunedin Blue Jays open Florida State Leaugue season play against the Clearwater Threshers today at home, and they are really packin' in the fun. Here are three things you won't want to miss: The Star Spangled Banner: Dunedin Concert Band's trumpet section kicks off the ball game with the National Anthem. These guys regularly pack the Dunedin Community Center. The return of Thirsty Thursday drink specials: $2 beer, wine and soda.  The post-game concert: Tampa Bay area soul band The Black Honkeys, a proven crowd pleaser (they won Creative Loafing's "2010 …

Just when the D-Jays faithful were ready to celebrate a four-game sweep against their rivals from down the road, the Threshers' light hitting backup shortstop Gustavo Gonzalez launched a two-out, three-run walkoff homer. The final on Sunday (Sept. 4) was 5-4. The D-Jays built what looked like a comfortable 4-2 lead, but righthander Matt Daly gave up a pair of singles before Gonzalez's first homer of the season. Brad Glenn got the Jays in flight with his league-leading 26th homer, a two-run bomb in the second inning. Not only does Glenn lead the D-Jays in homers, he also the leads all of the …

The Dunedin Jays used an exclusive parade of bullpen pitchers to defeat the Clearwater Threshers 6-2 in the last regular season game at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium on Saturday (Sept. 3). Five different relievers limited the Threshers to just one earned run on five hits. Two players that have been watching their teammates from the dugout during this playoff push had big nights. Diminutive second baseman Ivan Contreras collected three hits, scoring a run and knocking in another.  Rightfielder Kevin Nolan belted out two hits, scoring a run and driving in two others. The Winthrop University …

Kevin Ahrens' two-out double plated the go-ahead runs in a crucial D-Jays doubleheader against Clearwater Friday. Ahrens' double helped the Jays win the nightcap 4-2 Friday, and advanced them into the Florida State League playoffs. Clearwater out-hit the D-Jays nine to three, but the Jays were able to score four of out of five times that the Threshers pitchers walked them. Ryan Tepera picked up his 11th win in game No. 1. He worked five and two-thirds innings and allowed a lone run on four hits. Dunedin scored all the runs they needed in the first inning on three singles and a double from …

The Florida State League could not have written a more exciting script. Wednesday's North Division play only thickened the plot. The first-place Dunedin Blue Jays rebounded from a doubleheader sweep with a 7-2 win against the Lakeland Flying Tigers. The Jays were down 2-1 entering the fifth inning with only a Brad Glenn homer registered on the scoreboard. They'd loaded the bases when Sean Ochinko stepped to the plate and slammed one over the left field fence. It was the the 23-year-old's 16th of the season. The grand slam RBIs give him 78 on the year.  Veteran pitcher Vince Bongiovanni gave …

Two Dunedin Blue Jays received Florida State League honors this week. Manager Clayton McCullough, 30, was selected as the Florida State League manager of the year and D-Jays first baseman John Talley earned FSL player of the week honors for Aug. 22 to 28. McCullough, an East Carolina University product, enters his fifth season as a manager, all with the Blue Jays. He led the Lansing Lugnuts to the playoffs in 2009 and the Dunedin Blue Jays in 2010. Before this year, Talley, 22, had not hit more than six home runs in any of his first four seasons as a pro. Talley popped 17 for Dunedin in 2011 …

The Dunedin Blue Jays scored six runs in the sixth inning defeating the Daytona Cubs 10-5 on Sunday (Aug. 28). The six-run inning included doubles from Brad Glenn and A.J. Jimenez. It marked the third time in the series that the D-Jays scored six in an inning. Third baseman Kevin Ahrens had a big day at the plate. He lined a double and two singles to leftfield. The former first-round selection for the Toronto Blue Jays (2007) pounded out three hits on Saturday and two in the first game of Thursday's doubleheader. Carlos Villanueva, 27, started for the D-Jays. He pitched to five batters in the…

The Daytona Cubs rallied from two runs down in the ninth to defeat the D-Jays 7-4 on Saturday (Aug. 27). First baseman John Talley's third homer in the past three games, a two-run blast, put the Jays up 2-1. Brad McElroy singled in a run during the fifth and then scored after doubling in the seventh. McElroy, a London, Ontario native, is batting .323 since the All-Star break with 30 stolen bases while being thrown out just three times. Matt Daly, who saved 31 games for the D-Jays in 2010, faced four batters in the ninth and allowed the go-ahead runs, which was capped by Cubs second baseman …

The Dunedin Blue Jays slammed the Daytona Cubs 16-3 on Friday (Aug. 26). The hits came from every direction. The D-Jays stacked six runs on the board in each of two impressive, offensive innings. They hit four home runs on the night, including a John Talley grand slam (16) in one of the six-run innings (the fifth). The other homers came from: Brad Glenn. He put the Jays in flight in the first inning with a three-run homer. It was his league-leading 24th of the year. Rightfielder Justin Jackson. He hit No. 4 on the season in the second inning. Sean Ochinko. He added his 15th of the season with…

The Dunedin Blue Jays split a doubleheader with the Lakeland Flying Tigers on Thursday (Aug. 25) at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium. In game No. 1, the Jays were shut down by lefthanded pitcher Jared Wesson, who limited the Jays to three hits in six complete innings of work. The Jays squandered a great opportunity to build a big lead when they scored only one run with the bases loaded and one out in the second inning. Tiger Avisail Garcia's two-run homer off Andrew Liebel in the fourth was the difference in the game. Unfortunately for the Jays and Liebel, a one-out error by sure handed …

Backed by a solid six-inning pitching performance from Asher Wojciechowski the D-Jays defeated the Lakeland Flying Tigers on Tuesday (Aug. 23) 6-1. The 22-year-old Citadel alum gave up just a solo homer to Jordan Lennerton, last week's Florida State League player of the week , while striking out five. This was Wocjiechowski's second consecutive start where he allowed a single run in six-plus innings. The D-Jays pounded out 12 hits including a home run from catcher A.J. Jimenez, his fourth of the season. The Jays top of the order — except for Brad Glenn — produced 10 of the 12 hits. Brad …

The Dunedin Blue Jays made it three in a row in Daytona on Sunday (Aug. 21) to defeat the Cubs 7-5. Lefthanded reliever Aaron Loup picked up his third save in the past week. He worked two shutout innings. The 23-year-old has not yielded a run in his last six appearances. The Tulane University alum struggled in early 2011. Prior to the All-Star break his ERA was 7.39, but his post-All-Star ERA is 2.32. The Jays rallied for three runs in the seventh after letting an early 3-0 lead slip away. A two-out bloop single by Kevin Nolan scored two runs including the winner off Cubs closer Frank Batista…

The Dunedin Blue Jays took advantage of some sloppy defensive play by the Daytona Cubs to win 8-5 on Saturday (Aug. 20). The Cubs made three errors that led to four unearned runs. One included a bunt attempt that A.J. Jimenez circled the bases on, scoring two runners ahead of him. Centerfielder Brad McElroy raised his batting average to 2.80 with a double and single, knocking in three runs. The Jays have now won eight of 10 games and remain a game and a half ahead of Tampa in what has become a two-team race in the North Division of the Florida State League. On Deck: The Jays and Cubs wrap up …

Behind pitcher Drew Hutchison, the Dunedin Blue Jays won their seventh game of the past nine on Friday (Aug. 19). Hutchison has been the ace of the D-Jay staff since arriving in late June. The Lakeland native has compiled an ERA of 2.74 in 11 appearances. In the 3-2 victory Friday, he gave up only a home run through five complete innings (to Logan Watkins). The Blue Jays most consistent hitter, Brian Van Kirk, slammed a two-run homer in the fifth inning, which proved to be the difference in the game. On Deck: The D-Jays and Cubs will play game No. 2 of their three-game series today (Aug. 20…

The Clearwater Threshers jumped on Blue Jays starter Andrew Liebel for six runs in four-plus innings Thursday (Aug. 18). D-Jays lost 6-1 — unable to pull off the three-game sweep. Threshers Jonathan Pettibone picked up his ninth victory of the season. He limited the Jays to one earned run over five and two-thirds innings. The common saying in baseball is momentum is only as good as your next day's starter. That stood true as the Jays rode a four-game winning streak compared to the Threshers five-game losing streak.  The D-Jays now hold a one-and-a-half game lead over the second-place Tampa …

The Dunedin Blue Jays handed the Clearwater Threshers a 10-1 loss, their fifth in a row, Wednesday at Bright House Field in Clearwater. The 41st overall pick in the 2010 First-Year Player Draft, Asher Wojciechowski, was brilliant on the night. In his finest moment as a professional, the 22-year-old allowed just two hits over seven complete innings. He faced just 22 batters. The LSU Tiger boys were at it again on Wednesday. Ryan Schimpf homered in the second (as he did the night before) and Sean Ochinko bombed one into the Tiki Bar in left with two runners on board. Ochinko knocked in the …

The Dunedin Jays rallied from three runs down to defeat the Tampa Yankees 7-5 on Sunday (Aug. 14). Kevin Ahrens displayed the talents that prompted the Toronto Blue Jays to draft him in the first round, 16th overall, in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft.  With the Jays down 4-1 in the fourth, the 22-year-old launched one into the trees in left, his 13th of the year. In the fifth, the third baseman slammed one off the 400-foot mark in center with the bases loaded. He scored all three runners. Ahrens split 2010 between Lansing and Dunedin. He batted .242 with nine homers. The Toronto Blue Jays …

In front of one of the biggest crowds of the year Saturday (Aug. 13), the Tampa Yankees defeated the D-Jays 7-2. D-Jays pitcher Drew Hutchison, 20, was unfazed by the mighty Alex Rodriguez. He struck the New York Yankees All-Star out twice with a nasty slider before walking him on a 3-2 pitch in the sixth. Rodriguez, batting as the designated hitter, would ground out in the seventh before leaving the game. Hutchison questionably has been the best starter among an excellent crop of D-Jays starters this season. The Lakeland native worked six complete innings, allowed three earned runs on five …

The Dunedin Blue Jays stayed focused through all the A-Rod media distractions and defeated the Tampa Yankees 6-4 on Friday (Aug. 12). New York Yankees All-Star third baseman Alex Rodriguez, however, lived up to all the hype when he hammered a 3-1 pitch over the left field fence in his first at bat.  Rodriguez, recovering from knee surgery, slammed a double in the third inning that took the glove off Jays first baseman John Talley's hand. In the fifth inning, A-Rod, as he is affectionately known, struck out looking on a Matt Wright fastball. Jays catcher A.J. Jimenez delivered a key, two-run …

The Brevard County Manatees defeated the D-Jays 9-2 on Wednesday (Aug. 10) at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium. It marked only the fifth win for Brevard County over Dunedin in the 16 games the teams have played this season. In the previous three-game series last week, the Manatees were unable to score a run off the D-Jays starting pitchers, including Ryan Tepera. Tepera, who shut the Manatees down for seven innings on Aug. 4, lasted only five innings on Wednesday to give up six runs on eight hits. Brad McElroy improved his batting average to .283 for the season, contributing four of the Jays' …