Saucedo Shines In 6-2 Blue Jays Win

For the second straight outing, Dunedin Blue Jays LHP Tayler Saucedo was brilliant on Wednesday afternoon at Dunedin Stadium, leading Dunedin to a 6-2 victory over the Bradenton Marauders. In front of a rowdy Education Day crowd of over 1,900 local elementary school students, Saucedo tossed 8.0 innings, giving up just 4 hits, no earned runs, and striking out three.
"I was able to pound the zone and trust my defense out there," Saucedo said after the game. "Made them hit the ball, and it worked."
It was the second consecutive impressive outing for the 24-year-old lefty. He tossed 7.0 shutout against Clearwater last Friday, giving him a streak across his last three games of 16.0 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run.
"I've been working with Riggy [pitching coach Mark Riggins]. I felt I was getting too high with my arm and I wanted to go back to my original arm slot, a little more down. That's created more movement on the ball, and it's been pretty good so far."
The game didn't look like it was going to be a memorable one for the Blue Jays at the start as the team committed a pair of fielding errors in the top of the first and misplayed two additional balls to hand Bradenton a 1-0 lead.
The bats quickly answered for the gloves in the home half of the inning. RF Joshua Palacios singled to open the frame. He advanced to second on a balk, moved to third on a groundout by LF Eduard Pinto, and scored on a sacrifice fly by 3B Nash Knight to tie the score at 1-1.
Dunedin took the lead in the second inning and never looked back. 1B Bradley Jones tripled to center to lead off the inning. C Alberto Mineo drove him home with a double off the left field fence with one out and then scored himself on a single off the bat of CF D.J. Davis.
With a 3-1 lead, Saucedo cruised, holding Bradenton hitless until Albert Baur knocked a scratch single with two outs in the fourth. 
The Blue Jays offense provided insurance in the middle innings, scoring twice in the fifth and once more in the sixth. In the fifth, Pinto led off with a single up the middle and came in to score on a double to right field by DH Kacy Clemens. The hit was Clemens' first in the Florida State League. A single by Jones moved Clemens to third and a sacrifice fly by 2B John La Prise brought him home.
Davis walked to lead off the sixth inning, stole second, and came in to score on a single by Palacios. The hit was the third of the game for Palacios, giving him his fourth three-hit game of the season.
Bradenton notched just their fourth hit of the game against Saucedo in the eighth inning, a double by Jared Oliva. A fielding error moved him to third and a ground out brought him home, pushing across the second unearned run of the afternoon for the Marauders. Saucedo finished his day by striking out the final batter of the eighth inning on just his 92nd pitch.
RHP Connor Eller tossed a scoreless ninth in relief, finishing off a 6-2 win for the Blue Jays. The win improves the Blue Jays to 12-20 on the season. Dunedin will continue their homestand tomorrow evening at 6:30 PM against the Fort Myers Miracle during their popular Wing Night promotion.