Miami Palms Blog

The Red Sox shelled the Palms pitching staff in this one. The Sox scored 6 in the 2nd to chase Manny Parra, and chipped away at the bullpen for the rest of the game. Adrian Beltre hit a 3 reun blast in the 9th to finish the job, and ended up with 4RBI. DH Winn 2-5 R SS Gonzalez 1-5 K RF Sohn 2-4 BB K 1b Dupont 1-5 K 3b Prado 1-5 3K LF Sadan 0-4 2K 2b Henning BB K CF Crisp 2-4 R C Santos 2-4 R 2b Winn (26) Crisp (18) Santos (6) 3b Crisp (9) RBI Winn (36) Sohn (74) Santos (12) Pitcher W-L S IP H R ER BB SO HR Parra L 4-7 2 8 7 7 2 1 1 Sarfate 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 Schoppe 2 1 1 1 0 1 1 Johnston 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 Carlyle 1 3 3 3 0 1 1 Player of the game: Adrian Beltre 53-50, 13GB

Javier Vazquez and Jon Lester dazzled in this one, though Vazquez's stuff was a little bit better. He scattered 8 hits and struck out 11 over 8 innings. Buddy Carlyle struck out 2 more, earning his 24th save. The Palms were able to sneak a run across in the third on an RBI double from Randy Winn and added another on a solo homer by Ayoz Sadan, who somehow went 3-3 and scored both Palms runs. DH Winn 2-4 2K SS Gonzalez 1-4 RF Sohn 0-4 C Black 1-3 BB 3b Prado 1-4 GIDP 1b Dupont 0-4 LF Sadan 3-3 2R 2b Henning 0-2 BB K CF Crisp 0-3 2K 2b Winn (25) Gonzalez (21) HR Sadan (14) RBI Winn (35) Sadan (54) Pitcher W-L S IP H R ER BB SO HR Vazquez W 12-4 8 8 0 0 1 11 0 Carlyle S 24 1 1 0 0 1 2 0 Player of the Game: Javier Vazquez 53-49 12GB

The Palms earned the series split in a slugfest with Oakland. Neither starter, Troy Munoz nor Vin Mazzaro were particularly effective, with the Palms batting around twice in the first 5 innings, and Munoz getting chased after three innings. Jaspero Gonzalez hit a two run homer in his first at bat, and Felix Gonsales poached his 10th win. Frank Sohn drove in 3. DH Winn 3-5 R SS Gonzalez 1-5 R RF Sohn 4-5 R C Black 1-4 BB R GIDP 3b Prado 0-5 3K 1b Dupont 3-5 2R LF Sadan 1-3 BB R 2b Henning 1-4 CF Crisp 3-4 2R 2b Winn (24) Dupont (20) HR Gonzalez (12) RBI Gonzalez 2 (48) Sohn 3 (73) Black (70) Sadan (53) Henning 2 (43) Crisp (46) Pitcher W-L S IP H R ER BB SO HR Munoz 3 8 4 4 2 3 0 Gonsales W 10-2 2 3 0 0 1 0 0 Johnston 1 1 1 1 2 0 0 McLoughlin 2 2 1 1 1 2 0 Carlyle 1 0 ...

The Miami Palms are 13 games out with the trade deadline coming up tomorrow. The Palms certainly don't expect to be major sellers, as they feel they are a few pieces short of contention next year, but they are receiving calls on a few players. Teams looking for pitchers are calling on Javier Vazquez, though the Palms aren't looking to send him packing, what with pitching being the squad's primary weakness. Additionally, a few calls, primarily from AL West teams have been fielded regarding the availability of Randy Winn and Coco Crisp who seem to be much more likely to be dealt, though the Palms will wait for the right deal.

The A's managed to hit a pair of 2 run homers in the first and fourth inning, off the bats of Jack Cust and Matt Watson. Eddie Black drove in all three runs for the Palms with his 19th homer and a triple. Over the course of the rest of the game, the Palms continuously got men on base but failed to drive them home. Dave Balierough went 8 strong, with the two home runs being the only permanent damage, but still doing enough to give him the loss. RF Winn 1-5 R 2K SS Gonzalez 1-4 CF Sohn 2-4 R DH Black 2-4 R 3b Prado 0-3 BB 1b Dupont 1-3 BB LF Sadan 1-4 2b Janish 0-4 K C Santos 0-4 2b Gonzalez (20) 3b Black (3) Sadan (1) HR Black (19) RBI Black 3 (69) Pitcher W-L S IP H R ER BB SO HR Balierough L 6-10 8 9 4 4 0 4 2 Johnston 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 Player of the Game: Jack Cust 51-49 13GB

All it took was a huge 3rd inning and a complete game from Dallas Chastanet for the Palms to blow out the A's in Miami. They scored 6 in the 3rd, while sending 10 to the plate. Chastanet scattered 5 hits and struck out 7. DH Winn 2-4 R SS Gonzalez 1-4 RF Sohn 0-3 SAC C Black 0-4 R 3b Prado 2-4 R K 1b Dupont 2-4 LF Sadan 0-3 BB R K 2b Henning 1-3 BB 2R CF Crisp 1-3 R 2b Winn (23) Prado 2 (31) RBI Winn 2 (34) Gonzalez (46) Sohn (70) Prado (55) Dupont 2 (55) Pitcher W-L S IP H R ER BB SO HR Chastanet W 9-7 9 5 1 1 2 7 0 Player of the Game: Dallas Chastanet 51-48 12GB

The Palms struggled to get outs in their series opener versus Oakland. Every pitcher used, and Miami used 6, allowed at least one run. The A's got 20 hits and left a lot on base to go with their 10 runs. A few players for the A's had multi RBI games, with Kurt Suzuki leading the way. DH Winn 1-4 R SS Gonzalez 2-4 K RF Sohn 2-4 R C Black 0-4 3b Prado 1-4 1b Dupont 0-4 2K LF Sadan 1-4 2b Henning 1-4 CF Crisp 1-4 2b Winn (22) Prado (29) Crisp (18) RBI Sohn (69) Prado (54) Pitcher W-L S IP H R ER BB SO HR Parra L 4-6 3 5 3 3 3 1 1 Gonsales 1 2 1 1 0 0 1 McLoughlin 1 4 2 2 0 0 1 Johnston 2 5 1 1 0 0 0 Schoppe 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 Sarfate 1 4 2 2 1 0 0 Player of the Game: Kurt Suzuki 50-48 13GB

Martin Prado has been a revelation this season, hitting .331 with 13 home runs. This past week, however, has seen a lot of Josh Fields and not much of Prado. He's been fighting off a bit of an infection that has left him weak and has allowed Fields some at bats. He was in one game and got 4 hits on Saturday, but he wasn't well enough to go during the day on Sunday on short rest. He should be back in the lineup today and for the rest of the week.

So far this season, Javier Vazquez strong outings have led to his having the most wins on the team. You would be pretty hard pressed to find the pitcher in second on that list. It's none other than middle reliever Felix Gonsales. He tends to come in during tie games or just before a Palms rally. He isn't like typical win poachers, earning his wins by first blowing his leads, but his 4.86ERA suggests that he isn't exactly an elite pitcher. Those peripherals are tough to judge by, however, because he has a good control and one of the lowest opposing batting averages of all pitchers, so his 9 wins aren't exactly undeserved. That said, it would be nice if the Palms could find a compliment to Vazquez in their starting rotation, rather than waiting until the middle relief.

Things always seem to get contentious when the Palms face the Rangers. Early on, Palms pitcher Javier Vazquez plunked Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler. A few innings later, Rangers pitcher Tommy Hunter drilled the Palms 2b Paul Janish. Had Janish not been a new entry into this series, it very likely could have been the third year in a row the Palms and Rangers had their benches clear. It really is an unusual rivalry, given how little the teams play. The game itself was not without fireworks, as Chris Davis hit a grand slam for the Rangers, accounting for all their runs. The Palms fought back, however, scoring on an RBI single from Eddie Black in the 8th. The winning run? Paul Janish. 3b Winn 0-4 BB K 2b Janish 1-3 HBP BB 2R RF Sohn 4-5 2R C Black 2-4 BB R SS Gonzalez 2-4 BB 1b Dupont 2-4 BB LF Sadan 2-4 BB K CF Crisp 0-4 K GIDP 3b Fields 0-4 K 2b Black (30) 3b Sohn (6) RBI Black 2 (66) Gonzalez (45) Dupont (53) Sadan (52) Pitcher W-L S IP H R ER BB SO ...

The tables were turned on Saturday in Miami, as the Palms were the ones who came out on top. Frank Sohn hit a two run home in the first and scored the eventual game winner on an RBI single from Martin Prado to be the game's offensive star. Felix Gonsales pitched three shaky but effective innings of relief to get his 9th win of the season. DH Winn 0-4 K SS Gonzalez 1-4 R RF Sohn 2-4 2R DH Black 0-4 K 3b Prado 3-3 HBP 1b Dupont 0-3 2K GIDP 2b Henning 0-3 CF Crisp 1-2 BB C Santos 0-2 BB HR Sohn (15) RBI Sohn 2 (68) Prado (53) Pitcher W-L S IP H R ER BB SO HR Munoz 5 8 2 2 1 3 0 Gonsales W 9-2 3 4 0 0 1 0 0 Carlyle S 22 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 Player of the Game: Frank Sohn 49-47 12GB

A late rally by the Palms came up short on Friday, as the Rangers held on for a 1 run win in Miami. Dave Balierough was chased after 4 innings, and Daniel Murphy hit the eventual game winning homer in the 5th to make it 5-0. The Palms would score 4 more from the 5-8th inning, though it wasn't enough, as the Rangers shut the Palms down in the 9th. DH Winn 0-4 SS Gonzalez 1-3 BB K RF Sohn 0-4 R C Black 1-4 1b Dupont 2-4 R LF Sadan 2-4 2b Henning 2-4 CF Crisp 1-4 GIDP 3b Fields 2-4 2R K GIDP 2b Black (29) Dupont (19) Sadan 2 (19) HR Fields (2) RBI Black 2 (64) Sadan (51) Fields (13) Pitcher W-L S IP H R ER BB SO HR Balierough L 6-9 4 9 4 4 2 0 0 Gonsales 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 McLoughlin 2 4 0 0 1 1 0 Johnston 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 Carlyle 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Player of the G...

Miami couldn't secure their first home sweep of the season, struggling to find offense against Max Scherzer. They still managed to have a 2-1 lead after a big 5th inning, but Ramon Santiago hit the go ahead 2 run homer for the Tigers from the bottom of the lineup in the 6th inning. The Tigers feasted on the Palms' bullpen, scoring 4 more off Don Schoppe and Dennis Sarfate, including a home run from former Palm Gerald Laird. DH Winn 2-5 K SS Gonzalez 2-4 BB RF Sohn 1-4 BB K C Black 1-5 1b Dupont 1-4 LF Sadan 1-4 2b Henning 1-4 R K CF Crisp 0-3 BB R 3b Fields 1-4 R K 2b Dupont (18) RBI Winn (32) Gonzalez (44) Sohn (66) Pitcher W-L S IP H R ER BB SO HR Chastanet L 8-7 6 11 3 3 0 3 1 Schoppe 2 5 2 2 0 1 0 Sarfate 1 3 2 2 0 2 1 Player of the Game: Ramon Santiago 48-46 11.5GB

The Palms continued their hot streak winning at home again against the Tigers. Miami received an excellent outing from Manny Parra, who went 7 and 2 thirds to get the winn, while allowing only three runs on 6 hits. The Palms rewarded him with 2 two run innings in the 5th and 7th inning to give him the win, and added a home run from Ayoz Sadan in the 8th for insurance. DH Winn 1-4 BB R K 3b Janish 1-3 2BB R K RF Sohn 2-4 C Black 2-4 1b Dupont 0-4 K SS Gonzalez 2-4 2K LF Sadan 2-4 R K 2b Henning 0-4 K CF Crisp 2-4 2R 2K 2b Sohn (20) Black (28) Crisp (17) HR Sadan (13) RBI Janish (15) Sohn (65) Black 2 (62) Sadan (50) Pitcher W-L S IP H R ER BB SO HR Parra W 4-5 7 2/3 6 3 3 0 5 2 Mcloughlin 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 Carlyle S 21 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 Player of the Game: Manny Parra 48-45 10.5GB

The Palms were welcomed home with a win to put the team two games over .500. A couple of benchmarks were reached, with Javier Vazquez becoming the first Palm to 10 wins and Buddy Carlyle stepped in in the 9th to pick up his 20th save. The team hit 4 home runs, including a stretch of back to back to back homers from the unlikely trio of Coco Crisp, Omir Santos and Randy Winn in the 4th. Winn also was a single away from hitting for the cycle in a game that Miami held from the outset. Billy Dupont had the biggest hit of the day, a three run homer in the 3rd. RF Winn 3-4 BB R SS Janish 2-5 3b Prado 2-4 DH Black 1-3 BB R K 1b Dupont 1-4 R GIDP LF Sadan 1-4 2b Henning 0-4 K CF Crisp 1-4 R C Santos 2-4 2R 2b Winn (21) Sadan (17) Santos (5) 3b Winn (2) HR Winn (8) Dupont (15) Crisp (13) Santos (3) RBI Winn (31) Prado (52) Dupont 3 (52) Crisp (45) Santos 2 (11) Pitcher W-L S IP H R ER BB SO HR Vazquez W 10-4 6 1/3 6 3 3 1 10 1...

After a long time on the road, the Palms are going to be coming back to Miami for a couple of weeks. They have a 17 game homestand upcoming. They will be hosting Detroit, Texas, Oakland, Boston and Toronto. A good home stand could put the team back in contention, but so far this season, the Palms have played stronger on the road.

The Palms took the first series after the all star break with a see-saw battle with the Blue Jays. Miami had two 2 run homers early, from Frank Sohn and Martin Prado to take an early lead. Troy Munoz pitched well, but the Jays chipped away at him, eventually tying the game with a two run homer off the bat of Vernon Wells in the 6th. In the top of the 9th with one out and Ayoz Sadan on second, Ryan Henning hit a single to drive in what would be the game winning run. Buddy Carlyle came in to get the quick save. DH Winn 2-5 R K GIDP SS Janish 0-5 RF Sohn 1-3 BB 2R K C Black 1-4 3b Prado 1-4 R K 1b Dupont 0-4 LF Sadan 2-4 R K 2b Henning 2-4 BB CF Crisp 2-4 GIDP 2b Sadan (16) HR Sohn (14) Prado (13) RBI Sohn 2 (64) Prado 2 (51) Henning (41) Pitcher W-L S IP H R ER BB SO HR Munoz W 5-9 8 6 4 4 1 2 2 Carlyle S 19 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Player of the Game: Frank Sohn 46-45 12GB

Dave Balierough dominated through 8 innings, striking out 7 and allowing only one run and scattering 7 hits. It was one of his best starts of the season, and he certainly had the help of his battery mate. Eddie Black was huge, hitting two 2 run home runs and scoring after hitting a double in the 4th. After his second home run, which came in the 8th, Martin Prado followed with a back to back shot to put the game firmly out of reach. DH Winn 0-3 2BB SS Janish 1-5 R RF Sohn 0-5 R C Black 3-4 3 R 3b Prado 1-4 R LF Sadan 0-4 2b Henning 2-4 R CF Crisp 2-4 K 1b Fields 1-4 2b Janish (13) Black (27) Crisp (16) HR Black 2 (18) Prado (12) RBI Black 4 (60) Prado (49) Henning (40) Crisp (44) Pitcher W-L S IP H R ER BB SO HR Balierough W 6-8 8 7 1 1 2 7 0 McLoughlin 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 Player of the Game: Eddie Black 45-45 12GB

The Palms came out and didn't perform like they would have liked out of the gate for the second half of the season. Their bats were mostly silent, with the only runs coming on a 2 run homer from Martin Prado. The Blue Jays, the league leaders in home runs hit two of their own, including a 2 run blast from Edwin Encarnacion, the final nail in the coffin for Toronto. DH Winn 0-4 BB 2K SS Gonzalez 1-4 R RF Sohn 1-4 C Black 1-4 K 3b Prado 3-4 R GIDP 1b Dupont 2-4 LF Sadan 1-4 2b Henning 0-4 2K C Crisp 0-3 BB HR Prado (11) RBI Prado 2 (48) Pitcher W-L S IP H R ER BB SO HR Chastanet L 8-6 5 8 4 4 1 2 1 Gonsales 1 2 2 2 0 0 1 Schoppe 2 2 0 0 1 2 0 Player of the Game: Ricky Romero 44-45 13HB

The Palms ended the first half of the season with another impressive offensive outburst, scoring 8 runs which were well scattered across all 9 innings. The biggest issue for New York was the control of the pitching staff. The Palms netted 8 walks, including two with the bases loaded, with one of them even coming to the unwalkable Billy Dupont. To show he is still a swinger first, he also hit his 14th home run of the season. DH Winn 2-3 3BB R SS Janish 2-6 2K RF Sohn 0-4 BB R 1b Dupont 2-4 BB 2R LF Sadan 1-5 2K 2b Henning 1-4 BB 3K CF Crisp 2-4 BB R 3b Fields 0-4 BB R 3K C Santos 2-5 2R 2b Winn (20) Janish (12) HR Dupont (14) RBI Winn (30) Janish 2 (14) Dupont 2 (49) Sadan (49) Henning (39) Pitcher W-L S IP H R ER BB SO HR Parra W 3-5 5 6 1 1 3 5 1 McLoughlin 2 2 1 1 1 2 0 Johnston 2 1 1 1 0 0 1 Player of the Game: Billy Dupont 44-44...

The Palms rediscovered their explosive offense in the third of their set in New York. They drove in 14 runs on 21 hits including three home runs, two of them from Coco Crisp and one from Martin Prado. Crisp has 12 homers this season and 6 of them have come in multi homer games. Tomorrow, the manager has said he will hold Jaspero Gonzalez and Eddie Black out of the lineup ahead of their trip to Anaheim for the All Star game. DH Winn 2-5 HBP 3R SS Gonzalez 4-6 2R K RF Sohn 3-6 2R C Black 1-6 3b Prado 2-4 2BB R 1b Dupont 4-6 2R LF Sadan 1-5 BB R 2b Janish 1-5 R K CF Crisp 3-5 2 R 2b Sohn (19) Sadan (15) 3b Sohn (4) HR Prado (10) Crisp 2 (12) RBI Sohn 4 (62) Prado 4 (46) Janish (12) Crisp 5 (42) Pitcher W-L S IP H R ER BB SO HR Vazquez W (9-4) 8 1/3 7 3 3 1 8 1 Johnston 2/3 0 0 0 0 1 0 Player of the Game: Coco Crisp 43-44 12GB

The Palms have made a habit lately of climbing back to .500 only to plummet below that mark again. After their impressive 21 run outpouring in Detroit earlier this week, they were a game above .500, however now after dropping their last three, they have fallen two games below .500 again. This time, the problem is compounded by the fact that they are playing the Yankees and falling further out of contention. At this point, they are further out than they have been at any point this season, 13 games. The hope is that over the second half of the season, they can put things together to return to where they were in 2008.

With a ramshackle lineup, that saw Orlando Tiropes playing in the infield and off days for a couple of the bigger bats, the Palms struggled to score runs. The bullpen allowed no runs after Troy Munoz scuffled through 5 innings. Nick Swisher went 3-4 for the Yankees, including a solo home run in the 5th. 3b Prado 0-3 BB K 2b Janish 3-4 R RF Sohn 2-4 K GIDP LF Sadan 0-4 GIDP DH Drysdale 0-3 BB 1b Fields 1-4 CF Crisp 1-4 K SS Tiropez 0-3 C Santos 0-3 K 2b Fields (6) RBI Fields (12) Pitcher W-L S IP H R ER BB SO HR Munoz L 4-9 5 9 4 4 0 4 1 Sarfate 2 2 0 0 0 2 0 Schoppe 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 Player of the Game: Nick Swisher 42-44 13GB

Going into the season, I think most would have expected Eddie Black to make this year's All Star Game, and he did, excelling at the plate, with a .337 average and 16 home runs. The break out stars for the team, however, have been Frank Sohn, who has almost as many home runs and RBI through half a season as he did all last season with 13 and 58, respectively. The last new all star is filling in admirably for the recently departed Troy Tulowitzki. Jaspero Gonzalez has taken over at short and is hitting .321 with 11 home runs, and has earned himself a spot on the American League All Star team The game will be next Tuesday, and the rest of the roster will have a three day break before getting back to the grind. Ryan Henning, Ayoz Sadan and Troy Munoz are the other Palms that have made an All Star Game.

The Yankees fell behind early in this one, thanks to some excellent early 2 out hitting, including a two run single from Jorge Posada in the first. He would end up with four runs batted in. Eddie Black managed to hit two home runs, giving him three in the past two days, getting the only runs for the team in this rout. Both Ryan Henning and Jaspero Gonzalez are contending with minor injuries, Henning in his ankle and Gonzalez in his thigh, which has led to some interesting lineup combinations for the team tonight and tomorrow. Henning tried to go today, shifting middle infield positions to take pressure off his bad ankle, but will be out tomorrow. DH Winn 1-4 2b Janish 0-4 K RF Sohn 0-4 K C Black 2-4 2R 1b Dupont 0-3 BB LF Sadan 0-4 2b Henning 0-3 3b Fields 0-3 2K CF Crisp 2-3 2b Winn (19) HR Black 2 (16) RBI Black 2 (56) Pitcher W-L S IP H R ER BB SO HR Balierough L 5-8 4 7 4 4 2 2 1 Schoppe 2 ...

The party finally ended for Miami on Wednesday in Detroit. The Palms were held to 16 fewer runs than they scored on Tuesday. Danny Worth for the Tigers had a good day, going 4-4, but it was Miguel Cabrera that had the big shot, a three run homer in a 5 run 2nd. Eddie Black reclaimed the team lead in homers, and Jaspero Gonzalez had his third blast of the series after not hitting a single home run through June. DH Winn 0-5 K SS Gonzalez 3-5 2R RF Sohn 1-5 C Black 1-3 2BB 2R 3b Prado 3-5 1b Dupont 1-4 LF Sadan 1-4 GIDP 2b Henning 2-4 R CF Crisp 1-4 2b Gonzalez (19) Prado (27) HR Gonzalez (11) Black (14) RBI Gonzalez 2 (43) Sohn (58) Black (54) Prado (42) Pitcher W-L S IP H R ER BB SO HR Chastanet L 8-5 2 10 7 7 1 1 1 Schoppe 2 3 1 1 0 0 0 Gonsales 1 3 1 1 0 0 0 Sarfate 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 Player of th...

No, that number is not a typo. The Palms managed to put together 21 runs against Detroit on 29 hits, which propelled the team batting average to .313. The most amazing performance came from Orlando Tiropes who came into the game with no RBI and a batting average in the .200s. He went 5-6 with NINE runs batted in, a team record for one game. Jaspero Gonzalez was another star in the game, driving in a paltry 5 runs. So far, the series score is 35-7, with the Palms earning 48 hits in two games. DH Winn 4-6 2R SAC K SS Gonzalez 4-7 3R RF Sohn 2-6 R C Black 1-7 K 3b Prado 1-5 BB 2R 1b Dupont 4-6 4R RF Drysdale 3-5 BB 3R K 2b Janish 5-6 4R LF Tiropez 5-6 2R 2b Gonzalez (18) Black (26) Janish 2 (11) Tiropez (4) HR Gonzalez (10) Sohn (13) Tiropez (1) RBI Winn 2 (29) Gonzalez 5 (41) Sohn (57) Black (53) Dupont (47) Janish 2 (24) Tiropez 9 (9) Pitcher W-L S IP H R ER BB SO HR Parra 3 2/3 9 4 4 3 2 1 Gonsales W 8...