Miami Palms Blog

The Palms finished off their home and home with the Pirates in Pittsburgh by holding the Pirates to only 4 hits and 2 runs that revolved around a Neil Walker triple. Billy Dupont drove in two with a single and Kelly Johnson hit his 13th home run of the season in the 2nd inning.  Miami Palms 3, Pittsburgh Pirates 2  Thursday, May 30, 2013  Miami Palms (32-22)                                      Pittsburgh Pirates (1-3)                                 Player          AB R  H BI BB SO  P  A  E LOB   Ave      Player   ...

Despite a solid outing from Lucas Harrell and dominating the Pirates in Miami, the Palms couldn't overcome the Bucs on Wednesday. Former divisional rival AJ Burnett allowed only 2 hits and struck out 6  Pittsburgh Pirates 3, Miami Palms 0  Wednesday, May 29, 2013  Miami Palms (31-22)                                      Pittsburgh Pirates (1-2)                                 Player          AB R  H BI BB SO  P  A  E LOB   Ave      Player          AB R  H BI BB SO  P  A...

The Palms swept the home half of their 4 game home and home with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The best news was Blake Johnston's pitching line. He went 6 innings and struck out 5 while scattering 9 hits and allowing only 2 runs. On offense, the Palms had 16 hits, including a solo home run from Nick Markakis.  Miami Palms 9, Pittsburgh Pirates 3  Tuesday, May 28, 2013  Pittsburgh Pirates (0-2)                                 Miami Palms (31-21)                                      Player          AB R  H BI BB SO  P  A  E LOB   Ave      Pl...

Among the pleasant surprises this season has been Don Schoppe. He has an ERA of 3.29 through 10 starts and a 5-3 record to this point. He was originally thought to be a last resort in the Palms rotation, with few other options to work with. His control has to this point been exemplary which is the the primary reason for his success. He has allowed less than 1 walk per 9 innings. There are still a ot of balls that end up in play, to the team would like to see some more strikeouts from him, but for the time being, Miami is quite pleased with the production they have received.

Dennis Sarfate has been with the Palms since 2009 as a valuable member of the bullpen. It's hard to find stability in the roster at the back of the pitching staff, but Sarfate has managed to survive. His first two years with the Palms were excellent, however in the past two seasons, after hot starts he has faltered heavily, despite strong FIP metrics. This season has been true to form, with a strong start thanks to a low home run total and good control. The bullpen has been a surprising bright spot so far, and the Palms undoubtedly look forward to Sarfate to continue his part in that trend.

The Palms exploded for 19 hits and 11 runs, batting around twice in the 5th and 7th to embarrass the Pirates. Frank Sohn had 4 hits, while Kelly Johnson had the blast that put Miami ahead for good, hitting a three run blast in the 5th inning. The game ended up looking more respectable than it was. Troy Munoz was going for the complete game, but a two out single, followed by a home run from Clint Barmes made an otherwise good outing look a little sloppy.  Miami Palms 11, Pittsburgh Pirates 6  Monday, May 27, 2013  Pittsburgh Pirates (0-1)                                 Miami Palms (30-21)                                      Player...

The Palms were swept out of Toronto in heart breaking fashion for the third game in a row, at the same time losing their third series in a row. This time, it involved the Palms leading through 6 innings thanks to productive first and third innings, as well as a run in the 5th, but the Jays bullpen allowed only 2 hits in the final 4 innings, while an exhausted Kyle Blume and a shaky Ivan Fernandez gave up 4 runs in the final 2 ups for the Jays, losing in come from behind manner for the second time this series.  Toronto Blue Jays 7, Miami Palms 5  Sunday, May 26, 2013  Miami Palms (29-21)                                      Toronto Blue Jays (5-1)                        ...

RA Dickey, Brett Cecil and Casey Janssen were masterful on Saturday afternoon. They combined to allow only one hit to the Palms, a 4th inning Steve Drysdale single.Don Schoppe was the hard luck loser, though his outing was a little bit more interesting. He allowed 9 hits over 7 innings, but pitched his way out of a few big jams, enough to make one think that the Palms had a lucky charm and could pull this game off. It was not to be, however, as the Blue Jays proved to be too dominant on the mound.  Toronto Blue Jays 1, Miami Palms 0  Saturday, May 25, 2013  Miami Palms (29-20)                                      Toronto Blue Jays (4-1)                          ...

Carlos Ruiz was the major acquisition of the Palms' post season, and though he is a bit off the pace, he has proven effective so far. Ruiz is hitting .318 and is on base at a rate of .436, which is downright amazing. It's even better that he is doing this in front of three efficient RBI guys. Additionally, the pitching staff is .15 runs better than it was last year now that they are throwing to Ruiz and his back up Brett Hayes. The team is at a pace better than it was last year so it's hard to argue with results!

It was a good thing that Miami had Thursday off, because they played extra ball on Saturday. The Palms had the early lead after a 2 run Kelly Johnson home run. Things got testy in the 6th when Nick Markakis was hit by a pitch by rookie Sean Nolin. Nolin was tossed, as was Blue Jays closer Casey Janssen and Palms outfielder Joe Mather, who exchanged words in the outfield. Each team scored a run in the 9th, the Blue Jays getting a lead off homer from Brett Lawrie. They won the game when Edwin Encarnacion led off the 12th with the game winner.  Toronto Blue Jays 4, Miami Palms 3  Friday, May 24, 2013  Miami Palms (29-19)                                      Toronto Blue Jays (3-1)                  ...

The top team in the AL Central took out the top team in the AL East in their three game set in Miami. The pitchers for the game were Blake Johnston and Justin Verlander, so the fact that neither recorded a decision is somewhat surprising. In fact, Verlander left while his team trailed, and when Johnston departed, Miami was in the lead. Brayan Pena hit a go ahead homer in the 8th, and the Tigers hit two solo homers in the 9th to put the necessary difference between the two teams. Miami crosses the border into Toronto on Friday.  Detroit Tigers 8, Miami Palms 7  Wednesday, May 22, 2013  Detroit Tigers (2-1)                                     Miami Palms (29-18)                      ...

The Palms scored 3 early runs and knocked Max Scherzer out of the game after 3 innings. Troy Munoz also gave up three runs, but did so over the course of 7 innings, with Tim Byrdak coming in to close things out. The Palms strung together several hits for multiple crooked numbers, but the only multi run hit was a two run single that really broke the game open in the 7th, when Martin Prado blooped a two out single that cleared the basis.  Miami Palms 8, Detroit Tigers 3  Tuesday, May 21, 2013  Detroit Tigers (1-1)                                     Miami Palms (29-17)                                      Player...

The Palms received a great outing from Kyle Blume, but struggled themselves against the Tigers' pitching staff. They scored one run off Doug Fister, and Chris Korb hit his third home run of the season off of Darin Downs. The Palms were up 2-0 in the 8th when Torii Hunter drove in 2 with a single. The Tigers eventually earned the win when Victor Martinez led off the 11th with a big home run, and the Palms couldn't come back against Jose Valverde.  Detroit Tigers 3, Miami Palms 2  Monday, May 20, 2013  Detroit Tigers (1-0)                                     Miami Palms (28-17)                                      ...

Miami prevented the sweep in dominating fashion Sunday afternoon. It was a short night from Justin Masterson, who gave up 5 runs in 3 innings, including a long Steve Drysdale home run. Don Schoppe scattered 6 hits and worked his way out of a bases loaded jam in the first inning. He struck out 3 as he gave the bullpen a break.  Miami Palms 8, Cleveland Indians 0  Sunday, May 19, 2013  Miami Palms (28-16)                                      Cleveland Indians (2-1)                                  Player          AB R  H BI BB SO  P  A  E LOB   Ave ...

After Friday's game, Miami wanted to get as much work out of Lucas Harrell as they could, and they were met with fairly disastrous results. Harrell gave up 8 runs over 6 innings, including 2 on a Nick Swisher homer in the 3rd that put the Indians ahead for good. Miami's 4 runs weren't as impressive as they may have seemed, getting only 8 hits and scoring with no outs in the 1st and 2 outs in the 9th.  Cleveland Indians 8, Miami Palms 4  Saturday, May 18, 2013  Miami Palms (27-16)                                      Cleveland Indians (2-0)                                  Player        ...