Lakeland Flying Tigers 8, Dunedin Blue Jays 7

LAKELAND - Shortstop Cale Iorg and first baseman Ryan Strieby teamed up for a spectacular defensive play as Lakeland held on to edge Dunedin, 8-7, in Florida State League baseball action on Thursday night.

The Blue Jays loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh inning when Chris Emanuele hit a hard shot to short. Iorg went deep into the hole, gloved the ball and fired a one-hop throw to Strieby who scooped it up and ended the threat.

Jay Sborz, who worked out of the bases-loaded jam in the seventh held the Jays scoreless the rest of the way to preserve the win for Derek Witt (2-1).

The back-and-forth slugfest featured five home runs, a triple and three doubles.

Michael Bertram singled, tripled, and drove in a pair, while Strieby hit a two-run homer onto the berm in the first inning to give Lakeland a 3-0 lead.

The victory was the 11th in the past 14 games for Lakeland (22-18).

Lakeland will play host to the Blue Jays (21-19) again at 7 tonight.

FSL Standings

Eastern Division

W L Pct. GB

Palm Beach (Cardinals) 25 15 .625 -

Brevard County (Brewers) 20 20 .500 5

Jupiter (Marlins) 20 20 .500 5

Daytona (Cubs) 19 21 .475 6

Vero Beach (Rays) 19 21 .475 6

St. Lucie (Mets) 8 32 .200 17

Western Division

W L Pct. GB

Fort Myers (Twins) 26 14 .650 -

Tampa (Yankees) 23 17 .575 3

Lakeland (Tigers) 22 18 .550 4

Dunedin (Blue Jays) 21 19 .525 5

Sarasota (Reds) 21 19 .525 5

Clearwater (Phillies) 16 24 .400 10

Thursday's Games

Daytona 5, St. Lucie 2

Lakeland 8, Dunedin 7

Jupiter 5, Brevard County 2

Clearwater 2, Sarasota 1

Fort Myers 6, Tampa 5, 10 innings

Palm Beach 5, Vero Beach 4

Today's Games

Daytona at St. Lucie

Dunedin at Lakeland

Jupiter at Brevard County

Sarasota at Clearwater

Tampa at Fort Myers

Vero Beach at Palm Beach

Saturday's Games

Daytona at St. Lucie

Dunedin at Lakeland

Jupiter at Brevard County

Sarasota at Clearwater

Tampa at Fort Myers

Vero Beach at Palm Beach