Derby Deals Dunedin Lopsided Loss in Series Opener

Bubba Derby

After a weekend that saw them take two of there from the Tampa Yankees, the Brevard County Manatees returned home Monday to take on the Dunedin Blue Jays at Space Coast Stadium. The home team teed off on Blue Jays’ pitching, pounding out a season high 15 hits en route to an 8-2 victory.

Brevard County (7-18) scored all the runs they would need in the bottom of the second inning, against Dunedin starter Ryan Borucki. George Iskenderian got things going with a single and stole second. Dustin DeMuth’s ground out got him to third and he scored on a Fidel Pena sac fly. Dustin Houle and Taylor Brennan hit consecutive singles and Brandon Diaz followed with a walk, loading the bases.

Johnny Davis ripped a ball to Michael Bourn in right-center, that appeared to hit just off his wrist. Bourn, who has seen time in the Major Leagues with the Astros, Braves and Indians, among others, ran a long way for that ball but came up short. Davis scampered to second on the throw home and plated three runs ahead of him. Up 4-0, the Manatees tacked on one more run with a sac fly by Clint Coulter.

When all was said and done, the ‘Tees sent 10 men to the plate, had five hits and scored five times. “That was obviously big for us,” said Manatees manager Joe Ayrault of the inning. “When we loaded the bases and Davis had that ball fall in for him, it was huge.

Borucki would last three innings on the mound. He was tagged with five earned runs on seven hits. He walked two batters and struck out none. He came in with an ERA of 12.00 and left with it going up by half a point.

Those five runs were more than enough for Brevard County hurler Bubba Derby, who had two strikeouts in the first inning and struck out the side in the second, working around a single and a stolen base. He ran into a bit of trouble in the third when Bourn hit a two out triple that got past Davis in center and rolled to the wall. Davis hit the cutoff man, who threw wide to third. Brennan dove across the bag and saved a run, as the ball was headed for the D-Jays dugout. That would prove to be a big play, with Derby striking out the next batter, to end the inning.

In the top of the fourth, an error and a stolen base helped Dunedin threaten again, but Derby got Danny Jansen swinging to end the inning. Derby had eight strikeouts through four innings. His only hiccup came in the fifth when he gave up a single to Dickie Joe Thon, who stole second. After a fly out got Thon to third, Derby walked Bourn. He was watching Bourn closely and threw to first to try to catch him napping. It would prove costly, as the throw was wild and allowed Thon to score. He would come back to strike out Anthony Alford, to end the inning.

With that, Derby (2-0) polished off five complete innings, allowing three hits and an unearned run. He walked one and struck out nine, lowering his ERA to 2.49. The only downside to all the strikeouts was his pitch count of 86 (58 strikes). Regardless, he was stellar out there on Monday. “He did a good job with his command,” said Ayrault. “He mixed his pitches and was efficient, he worked well.”

Kaleb Earls, who came off the disabled list Sunday, came in to relieve Derby in the sixth and allowed a single and a stolen base. Two strikeouts helped him get out of the inning without giving up a run.

Johnny Davis

The Manatees added three runs in the bottom of the inning. Davis collected his fourth RBI with a single, scoring Diaz. Coulter’s sac fly made it 7-1 and Pena reached on an error, allowing Iskenderian to score the final run of the night for the ‘Tees. Earls came back out for the seventh and just couldn’t find his control. He walked D.J. Davis to start the inning and then hit Thon and Jason Leblebijian, back-to-back. That ended Earls’ night, as he was pulled in favor of Clint Terry.

“He needs some confidence,” said Ayrault when asked about Earls after the game. “He’s gotta trust his stuff, he’s got really good stuff… some of the best stuff we got, so we have to get him rolling, get him confident and pitching good.”

Terry did his part, getting Bourn and Alford on strikes before giving up a tough single to Richard Urena. The ball hit off Angel Ortega at short and popped right to Iskenderian. A run scored during that sequence, but Iskenderian made a heads-up throw home and Houle laid the tag on Thon.

Terry Came back out for the eighth and with a runner on and one out, Jansen hit a fly ball to Diaz in left. Diaz looked to make a great catch, as he was falling down. He popped up, threw to second and should have doubled the runner off. The only problem, the field umpire didn’t see the catch and Jansen was given a single. Ayrault did make his case, but to no avail. “It was the umpires’ discretion,” he said. “I didn’t agree with it, but thankfully it didn’t hurt us and 

Terry did a great job.” Terry was able to get a ground out and a fly out, to end the inning and limit the damage to one run.

For more info: Dunedin @ Brevard County boxscore

Iskenderian and DeMuth led the Brevard County hit parade, as they both went 3-for-5. Davis was 2-for-5, driving in four runs and Coulter went 1-for-4 with two RBIs. Every Manatees’ starter had at least one hit. Ortega was the last one to get on the board, with a single, leading off the eighth. Bourn, Urena and Ryan McBroom all had two hits for Dunedin.

The series continues Tuesday, with an Education Day start time of 10:35 a.m. Brandon Woodruff (1-1, 1.80 ERA) gets the start for the Manatees, against Kyle Westwood (0-2, 7.47 ERA)

This article originally appeared on the now defunct Examiner.com on 5/2/16