Palm Beach downs Dunedin in speedy pitchers’ duel
JUPITER, FL – The Blue Jays offense couldn’t spark a late comeback to salvage a strong outing from starter Juaron Watts-Brown and fell to Palm Beach 3-2 on Wednesday night at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. In a game that lasted just an hour and 52 minutes, both starting pitchers pitched
JUPITER, FL – The Blue Jays offense couldn’t spark a late comeback to salvage a strong outing from starter Juaron Watts-Brown and fell to Palm Beach 3-2 on Wednesday night at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.
In a game that lasted just an hour and 52 minutes, both starting pitchers pitched six-plus innings.
For the Cardinals, it was Darlin Saladin, who entered the outing leading the Florida State League with a 1.98 ERA.
Palm Beach backed him up with a first inning run, as Chase Adkison rolled an RBI fielders choice against his former Oklahoma State teammate Watts-Brown to open a 1-0 deficit.
Following the first inning run, Watts-Brown steadied the ship, allowing just one hit across the next four frames. The knock was a leadoff triple from Miguel Villarroel in the fourth. The righty stranded him on third with a groundout, strikeout, and pop out.
The game’s deciding action came in the sixth inning.
In the top half, Dunedin scratched across two runs to snag a 2-1 lead – one on a balk that scored Marcos De La Rosa, and the second on an RBI ground out from Kekai Rios.
Watts-Brown returned for the bottom of the sixth and ran into trouble, as Trey Paige opened the inning with a single. The next batter, former D-Jay Sammy Hernandez, appeared to ground into a double play ball, but the third baseman De La Rosa couldn’t make the play, resulting in runners on first and second.
Again, Watts-Brown thrived under pressure, retiring the next two batters. However, Chase Davis ripped a go-ahead, two-RBI double to put Palm Beach ahead 3-2. The Jays’ No. 18 prospect finished the night with a strikeout, wrapping up with five punchouts and no walks.
Dunedin put a man in scoring position in the seventh, as Nic Deschamps reached second on an error, but was left stranded there. The seventh marked Saladin’s final inning, as the righty struck out seven and eventually earned the win.
The Jays didn’t manage another base runner and couldn’t come from behind for the win.
After the fastest game of the season, Dunedin returns to action tomorrow night at 6:30. Fans can listen to the hometown radio broadcast for free online at https://www.milb.com/dunedin/fans/radio.