Miami Palms Blog

The Palms won their final home regular season game of the year thanks mostly to three runs driven in by Coco Crisp, including a 2 run single in the 2nd, and another RBI single two innings later. Don Schoppe was effective over 6 innings, and Tim Byrdak was strong in relief. Heading into their final series, the Palms are officially a full game ahead of the Red Sox for first place in the East  Miami Palms 5, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 3  Thursday, September 26, 2013  Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (1-5)                      Miami Palms (97-62)                                      Player          AB R  H BI BB SO  P  A  E L...

Jared Weaver slammed the door on the Palms for most of the game, and when he broke down in the 7th, the Angels had enough of a cushion that the three runs Miami scored weren't enough to overcome the deficit. The Angels had a pair of well timed triples in the 1st and 5th inning, but the run that made the difference was a solo homer by Kole Calhoun off of Dennis Sarfate.  Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 4, Miami Palms 3  Wednesday, September 25, 2013  Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (1-4)                      Miami Palms (96-62)                                      Player          AB R  H BI BB SO  P  A  E LOB   Ave...

It was nice for the Palms to get a strong, deep outing from their starter this close to the postseason. Blake Johnston went 7 innings allowing only one run, and Dennis Sarfate shut down the Angels in relief. The Palms used the longball to their advantage. For the second time this week, Frank Sohn homered twice, and Carlos Ruiz and Coco Crisp also homered to ensure an easy win for the Palms.  Miami Palms 7, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 1  Tuesday, September 24, 2013  Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (0-4)                      Miami Palms (96-61)                                      Player          AB R  H BI BB SO  P  A  E LO...

Miami has two series left this season. They start tomorrow with the Angels for three games, and finish with the Royals over the weekend. They have a half game advantage over the Red Sox, who have only 5 games left, a 2 game series with the Rockies and a 3 game series in Baltimore. The Red Sox and Palms are both booked for games in October with 8 game leads over Tampa Bay, but one of the teams will play an extra game in the Wild Card round, perhaps against the Rays, but also maybe against the Indians or Rangers. Miami would prefer not to do the extra work preparing or and playing against one of those teams, followed by a 5 game set against the Red Sox, so they intend to finish things off strong this year.

The Monday evening tilt with Cleveland may have been the top game of the year for the Palms from an excitement perspective. Troy Munoz struggled again and left after 4 innings, having allowed 3 runs but throwing far too many pitches.Two innings later Calvin Hobbes loaded the bases and Asdrubal Cabrera emptied them with a grand slam. Corey Kluber was shutting the Palms down, save for a pair of solo homers to Frank Sohn until the 7th, when another run sneaked across the place. An inning later, things really fell apart for him, however, as the first three men batting that inning reached with singles, and Steve Drysdale hit a grand slam of his own to draw things level once again. An inning later, with two out and a runner on third, Drysdale hit a single that drove in Martin Prado to secure the win and a half game lead in the AL East.  Miami Palms 8, Cleveland Indians 7  Monday, September 23, 2013  Cleveland Indians (3-4)         ...

Kyle Blume had control issues, and the Indians took advantage in the 3rd inning. The Indians scored 4 times and had a team cycle, including a 2 run Michael Brantey home run, ushering Blume out the door early. Fortunately for Kyle's win loss record, the Palms came back in the 4th. Scott Kazmir also had control issues, and loaded the bases using a single and two walks. Martin Prado took advantage, hitting a grand slam and putting Miami ahead for good, and keeping them tied with the Red Sox atop the AL East.  Miami Palms 7, Cleveland Indians 5  Sunday, September 22, 2013  Cleveland Indians (3-3)                                  Miami Palms (94-61)                            ...

Cleveland scored 4 runs in the first, and it looked like they would win the game easily. They did win, but it wasn't easy. Miami scored 4 in the bottom of the inning to tie things up, and when Michael Bourn put Cleveland back ahead in the 6th, Miami scored 2 more to level it again. Former Palms pitcher Luis Montgomery shut Miami down in the final 2 innings, and in the top if the 10th Michael Brantley had an RBI single to drive in the game winning run.  Cleveland Indians 8, Miami Palms 7  Saturday, September 21, 2013  Cleveland Indians (3-2)                                  Miami Palms (93-61)                                     ...

The Palms began their final homestand in style on Friday. Neither Ubaldo Jimenez nor Lucas Harrell was particularly dominant, but when Jimenez left, the game was tied at 3. Cleveland reliever Joe Smith was in his second inning of work in the 6th when he walked Martin Prado and Nick Markakis, and then hit Carlos Ruiz with a pitch. With the bases loaded, he served up a gofer ball to Steve Drysdale, and the Palms were suddenly comfortably ahead. Cleveland had back to back home runs and inning later, but the Palms easily added 2 more to their lead to ensure Manny Parra would not be needed.  MiMami Palms 9, Cleveland Indians 5  Friday, September 20, 2013  Cleveland Indians (2-2)                                  Miami Palms (93-60)              ...

The Palms struggled on the mound and at the plate, scoring their only runs on solo homers from Martin Prado and Steve Drysdale. The Yankees batted around on two occasions, accounting for 7 of their runs, however they weren't able to push as many runs across the plate as they should have. Lyle Overbay had a three run homer in the 4th, but otherwise, the Yankees bled the Palms, rather than getting big hits.  New York Yankees 9, Miami Palms 3  Thursday, September 19, 2013  Miami Palms (92-60)                                      New York Yankees (8-12)                                  Player      ...

The Yankees held the advantage over Miami though most of the game, thanks to a 3 run 3rd for the Yankees. Alex Rodriguez had a 2 run triple and was driven in with a sacrifice fly. Miami did all of their work in the late innings, including a two run, game tying single from Frank Sohn off of Mariano Rivera. The Palms went ahead an inning later when Steve Drysdale had a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded. Manny Parra earned his 51st save in the 10th inning.  Miami Palms 5, New York Yankees 4  Wednesday, September 18, 2013  Miami Palms (92-59)                                      New York Yankees (7-12)                                 ...

After a frustrating loss the night before, the Palms left now doubt on Tuesday. Miami hit three home runs, including a three run blast by Steve Drysdale. Martin Prado also had a bases clearing double. Miami batted around in the 5th, scoring 8 runs putting the game safely out of hand. Miami has likely secured a post season spot with only 12 games remaining.  Miami Palms 14, New York Yankees 3  Tuesday, September 17, 2013  Miami Palms (91-59)                                      New York Yankees (7-11)                                  Player          AB R  H BI BB SO  P ...

The Palms and Yankees went back and forth on Monday night. The Yankees were up 2-0 until the 6th when Frank Sohn hit a three run homer. The Yankees scored three of their own in the bottom of the 7th. Miami tied the game again on a 2 run double by Billy Dupont, but in the bottom of the ninth, Alfonso Soriano hit a a sacrifice fly which allowed Alex Rodriguez to score and for the Palms to walk off winners.  New York Yankees 6, Miami Palms 5  Monday, September 16, 2013  Miami Palms (90-59)                                      New York Yankees (7-10)                                  Player       ...

The game looked over after Eric Hosmer hit a 5th inning grand slam, putting the Royals up 8-2. Hosmer had 6 of those RBIs. The Palms actually turned it around an inning later sending 12 to the plate and scoring 8 runs to take the lead for good off of Kelvin Herrera. The win was the Palms 90th of the season, a nice round number to hang their hat on. This game also gave Manny Parra his 50th save of the year.  Miami Palms 10, Kansas City Royals 9  Sunday, September 15, 2013  Kansas City Royals (1-2)                                 Miami Palms (90-58)                                      Player       ...