Palms offense comes to a grinding halt

Unlike in previous years, the limitations the Palms have faced in a recent swoon haven't been tied to their pitching staff. Instead, the blame for their past two weeks of 3-11 ball can be squarely affixed on their offense. In 14 games since June 5th, when they lost the series opener to Boston, Miami has scored 44 runs, for an average of 3.1 runs a game. They had a game where they scored 11 against Toronto, and removing that, they are only scoring 2.5 runs a game in their last 2 weeks. The problem, certainly, stems from their inability to hit for power in the middle of the lineup, but also, the inability to hit at all. Tony Abreu was white hot for the first two months of the season, but now sees his average about 70 points lower than it was in May. Frank Sohn seems allergic to the basepaths lately, and incapable of hitting for power. Nick Markakis is poised for career lows across the board in most statistical categoies, but the most alarming is his .215 batting average.
The pitching has generally kept Miami in games for a few innings, but the offense is simply failing to seize upon opportunities. Because of that, the team is now dipping below .500.

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