Palacios Robs Charlotte For Thrilling 6-5 Win

The Blue Jays clubhouse still can't fully comprehend the play centerfielder Joshua Palacios made to end tonight's game.
"Just incredible," one teammate said in the clubhouse postgame. "That catch should not be made at any level."
"I threw my pencil at the wall I was so excited," another said who had been charting the game.
While his teammates still haven't fully grasped how Palacios pulled off tonight's game-saving grab, the Jays centerfielder was confident he would make the catch. With the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth inning of a one-run ballgame, there simply wasn't another option.
"Before it even happened, I was running it through my mind. If this guy crushes a baseball, no matter where it was in the ballpark, I was going to catch it," Palacios recalled after the game. "As soon I saw him take a hack, I was breaking. It was either I was going to kill myself running into the wall or I was going to catch that baseball. I just went all out, dove, and came up with it. I'm just hyped we got the victory."
The catch ended an already thrilling back-and-forth battle between the two winningest teams in the Florida State League on Saturday evening at Dunedin Stadium, giving the Blue Jays a 6-5 win over the Charlotte Stone Crabs.
Early in the contest, it didn't appear Dunedin would need a thrilling finish to go home with a victory, as they jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the fourth inning. 1B Kacy Clemens put the Jays on the scoreboard first in the third, slipping an RBI single off the glove of Charlotte 1B Robby Tenerowicz to bring C Riley Adams home from second. After a Tristan Gray homer tied the game in the top of the fourth, Dunedin put up four runs in the home half of the inning.
It was Palacios that got the scoring started in the bottom of the fourth. After RF Rodrigo Orozco walked with one out, Palacios lined a triple into the right field corner, scoring Orozco. After a walk to SS Logan Warmoth, LF Brock Lundquist lofted a sacrifice fly to plate Palacios from third and make it 3-0 in Dunedin's favor. Adams followed with a double, his third of four hits, and scored himself on a single by 2B Ivan Castillo.
On the mound for Dunedin, RHP Yennsy Diaz was sharp. He allowed just two hits in the early-going, striking out a pair in the first and second innings before striking out the side in the third. After Gray's solo home run in the fourth, the Stone Crabs pushed across a second run in the fifth, using a double by C Rene Pinto, a single, and a sacrifice fly to cut Dunedin's lead to 5-2 after five.
Gray led off the sixth inning with a double off Diaz, forcing Dunedin to turn the ball over the bullpen. RHP William Ouellette entered and retired the next two batters on a fly out and a ground out, but a two-out double by Pinto brought home Gray and made it 5-3.
LHP Jake Fishman tossed a scoreless seventh for the Blue Jays, and a solo shot by Lundquist increased Dunedin's lead to 6-3.
The Stone Crabs weren't about to go down quietly. After striking out the leadoff batter in the eighth, Fishman walked DH Jake Fraley. The Blue Jays went to RHP Claudio Custodio on the mound. He struck out the first batter he faced, but a two-out double by RF Eleardo Cabrera brought the score to 6-4. A subsequent single by SS Jermaine Palacios scored Cabrera and pulled the Stone Crabs within one.
Custodio took the mound for the ninth inning and walked the first batter. After a fly out to center put an out on the scoreboard, Tenerowicz ripped a ground ball down the third baseline. 3B Nash Knight made a fantastic lunging backhand stop to prevent extra bases, but his throw to first short-hopped Clemens at first, who was unable to dig it out.
With the tying run at third and the go-ahead run at first, manager Casey Candaele turned to hard-throwing righty Jackson McClelland to try to escape the jam and close out the win. McClelland popped the first batter he faced up to second for the second out of the inning, but walked the next hitter to load the bases.
With the bases loaded and two outs and the score 6-5, DH Jake Fraley turned on a McClelland fastball, drilling it high and deep into the rightfield gap. Palacios, at full sprint, made a sensational diving catch, skidding across the warning track and into the rightfield fence, holding on to rob Fraley of a bases-clearing extra base hit and steal a victory away from Charlotte for Dunedin.
In addition to his heroics in the field, Palacios was 2-5 with a triple, an RBI, and a run scored in the game. Adams was 4-4 with a double, two runs, and an RBI. Brock Lundquist drove home a pair in a 2-4 day.
Diaz was credited with his fourth win of the season on the mound. Ouellette, Fishman, and Custodio each earned a hold while McClelland was credited with his team-leading eighth save.
The win is Dunedin's 59th of the season, most in the Florida State League. Their overall record improves to 59-51 while their second half record moves to 28-14. They sit 2.0 games ahead of the Clearwater Threshers (25-15) for first place in the North Division. The Blue Jays and Stone Crabs will finish their three-game set at Dunedin Stadium tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 PM.