Corcino takes control for Blue Wahoos

Daniel Corcino has been working all season to improve his control and now that he has a handle on how to decrease walks, the right-hander might be delivering his best month of the season.

 "I'm so happy, tonight I gave up one walk and I said 'OK, just get another guy [and] throw strikes,'" Corcino said. "[I threw] first-pitch strikes to get people out -- that was the key."

Cincinnati's No. 11 prospect scattered four hits over eight scoreless frames en route to Double-A Pensacola's 3-2 win against Jackson.

"He was very aggressive tonight and mixed his pitches very well ... kept hitters off balance, messed with their timing. His biggest thing this season was walks and he only had one tonight," Blue Wahoos pitching coach Jeff Fassero said. "Daniel pitched well enough to deserve the win."

The 23-year-old allowed three of the Generals' hits within the first three innings before getting into a groove for his final five.

"Once he settled in, he was locked in ... throwing everything for strikes," Fassero said. "He was throwing his fastball on both sides of the plate and that was keeping hitters off balance."

Corcino worked efficiently, needing 15 pitches or fewer in all but two frames and tossing 99 overall. The Dominican Republic native wanted to pitch the ninth, but since Shane Dyer hadn't pitched in five days, Fassero thought it was a good opportunity to turn the ball over to the closer.

The Pensacola starter had been improving over his last few starts. In his last outing, he allowed a run on four hits and one walk over six frames -- marking just the second time since early June that Corcino had yielded a run or less.

"He has his moments. He gets up and down at times, but he's starting to see what the changes have done the last three or four starts. I think he can build off this," Fassero said. "He's starting to realize how to throw, now he has to pitch too."

The 5-foot-11 hurler is in his second stint in three years with the Blue Wahoos. He spent last season with Triple-A Louisville, where he went 7-4 with a 5.86 ERA.

"You have to be able to command and control [your] pitches," his coach said. "The higher level you get, it gets more selective. If you don't throw strikes, you will get in trouble. I think that was his problem last season.

"We've been working all season on his delivery and it showed the last two starts. If he can continue to do that, he should have success the rest of the season."

Dyer allowed two runs in the ninth, but closed the door to pick up his 15th save.

Pensacola got on the board with sacrifice flies by Ryan Wright and Chris Berset.