Miami Palms Blog

Francisco Rodriguez has now blown two saves in a row after the Palms were upended late by the Red Sox on back to back nights. That doesn't mean that Miami will be replacing K-Rod any time soon. The team respects Rodriguez's history, and believe his veteran mental attitude will allow him to refocus. The other issue is that Cody Allen hasn't been much better in a set up role, and Lucas Harrell is more desirable in long relief, as the Palms hope to keep him stretched out for an easy conversion back to a starting spot. The closer, much like the other 24 spots on the roster right now, all need to get better, and Miami will bide their time.

For the second game in a row, the Palms blew a game in the 9th inning. This might be more frustrating than most, as they had clawed back from 2 runs down against Craig Kimbrel to take a 1 run lead going into the bottom of the 9th. Francisco Rodriguez allowed a pair of baserunners, however, and Travis Shaw launched a three run blast to walk the Red Sox off. Earlier in the game, Boston gained it's first 4 runs when Andrew Benintendi hit a grand slam on his first career hit.  Boston Red Sox 8, Miami Palms 6  Wednesday, August 3, 2016  Miami Palms (54-52)                                      Boston Red Sox (6-3)                              ...

The Palms now have only 5 hits in their series with the Red Sox, but one of those hits was an RBI double in the 8th for John Jaso to put the Palms in front. Francisco Rodriguez retired the first two in the bottom of the 9th, but then walked Sandy Leon and beaned Bryce Brentz with 2 strikes. Mookie Betts came up and smacked a double of his own to put Boston on the board to tie it up, spoiling Jarod Lantz's great start. The Red Sox saw Leon drive in the game winner for them as well in the 12th, again with two out.  Boston Red Sox 2, Miami Palms 1  Tuesday, August 2, 2016  Miami Palms (54-51)                                      Boston Red Sox (5-3)                        ...

The Palms have now faced the Red Sox' Eduardo Rodriguez twice this season, and they are still yet to score a run against him. To start the month of August, Rodriguez held the Palms to only 1 hit through 8 innings, while watching his team take the early lead, with Hanley Ramirez providing the big bop, a 2 run homer.  Boston Red Sox 6, Miami Palms 0  Monday, August 1, 2016  Miami Palms (54-50)                                      Boston Red Sox (4-3)                                     Player          AB R  H BI BB SO  P  A  E LOB   Ave...

The Palms have been about one pitcher short all season, but a dramatic post-all star break collapse has highlighted weaknesses across the team. Stuck in a near .500 limbo, Miami will remain the same group of guys through the remainder of the season.

The Palms were struggling to score runs again, but their starter, in this case TJ McFarland, held on to keep the Palms in the game. The Astros had three triples in this game, but it was an 8th inning home run from Kelly Johnson that gave the Palms the lead and was ultimately the biggest hit. Colby Rasmus had a double a triple and a pair of RBI, while for the Palms, Nick Markakis reached base 4 times.  Miami Palms 4, Houston Astros 3  Sunday, July 31, 2016  Miami Palms (54-49)                                      Houston Astros (2-4)                                     Player      ...

The Palms continued their slide as they witnessed the Astros launch three home runs off of Palms pitchers, each a two run blast. The two biggest were a Jason Castro blast that put the 'stros in front in the 4th and a George Springer shot that put Houston in front for good in the 6th. Miami was able to collect a pair of homers as well, but both, from Chris Korb and Kelly Johnson, were solo shots. They seek to salvage the series tomorrow afternoon.  Houston Astros 7, Miami Palms 3  Saturday, July 30, 2016  Miami Palms (53-49)                                      Houston Astros (2-3)                                    ...

Since the All-Star break, Manny Parra is perhaps the player who has seen his stars become misaligned the most. After his rough outing against the Astros last night, he as seen his ERA rise by a full run in a series of short outings. Much of the problem has stemmed a high contact rate and a recently very high BABIP. Parra has never been a guy who strikes a lot of people out, so it seems as though this is simply a correction in his season, but it is very distressing that it has happened so abruptly. The hope, as always, is that his fortune returns, and soon.

The Palms took their troubles on the road, as Manny Parra scuffled through 4 innings, allowing 5 runs in the process. Keith Harding was an adventure as well. He allowed only one run, but managed to give up 6 hits in the process. The Palms had a pair of big hits, from Chris Korb and Kelly Johnson to account for their scoring.  Houston Astros 6, Miami Palms 4  Friday, July 29, 2016  Miami Palms (53-48)                                      Houston Astros (1-3)                                     Player          AB R  H BI BB SO  P  A  E LOB  ...

The Palms turned their fortunes around on Wednesday afternoon, getting a complete game shutout from Jarod Lantz, his best outing since the All Star Break, and perhaps of the season. He worked a complete game shutout, striking out 6 and scattering 8 hits. The offense supported him with some timely hitting, notably from Willie Bloomquist who scored and drove in a run, and Frank Sohn who drove in two of his own.  Miami Palms 4, Oakland A's 0  Wednesday, July 27, 2016  Oakland A's (2-3)                                        Miami Palms (53-47)                                      Player  ...

One way to see how well a team has been playing over the course of a season is to investigate how many players have hitting streaks. Of the team's regulars, only Frank Sohn has a streak currently longer than 2 games. This is a very good indicator of just how slow the Palms have come out of the break, with only 4 wins, one per series that they have played since the mid-summer classic.

The Palms continued a streak of being unable to execute. They had 5 hits and were walked 4 times by Sonny Gray, so there were ample opportunities to score, but they just couldn't put a run across. Neither bullpen allowed so much as a base runner, which was more impressive from the Palms, who worked 4 2/3 innings in relief.  Oakland A's 4, Miami Palms 0  Tuesday, July 26, 2016  Oakland A's (2-2)                                        Miami Palms (52-47)                                      Player          AB R  H BI BB SO  P  A  E LOB...

The Palms have been struggling to put together any semblance of an offense since the all star break. They have needed to lean on their pitching to get over the hump, and have been let down by the bullpen. On Sunday afternoon, TJ McFarland held the Padres completely in check, ensuring that the offense didn't need to score more than once, and that the bullpen exposure was limited. He pitched 8 innings of two hit ball, and was perfect through 6 innings. It was likely the best outing of any Palm this season. It's a shame, then, that the Palms now have a day off to disrupt that momentum!

The Palms and Padres finished their series off with a pitchers' duel. TJ McFarland worked 8 innings of 2 hit ball, while the only run that the Palms got off of Christian Friedrich was on a second inning Edwin Encarnacion home run. McFarland struck out 6 in his dominant outing.  Miami Palms 1, San Diego Padres 0  Sunday, July 24, 2016  San Diego Padres (3-1)                                   Miami Palms (52-46)                                      Player          AB R  H BI BB SO  P  A  E LOB   Ave      Player  ...

The Palms continued their struggles with the Padres. They jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but San Diego scored three times in the 4th, thanks to a 2 run homer from Wil Myers and another RBI from Ryan Schimpf, who also homered in the 9th to widen the lead. The Palms couldn't really get it going after their early pair of runs, leaving Blake Johnston open for a loss.  San Diego Padres 5, Miami Palms 3  Saturday, July 23, 2016  San Diego Padres (3-0)                                   Miami Palms (51-46)                                      Player          AB R  H BI BB SO  P...

Manny Parra gave up 7 straight hits to start the 6th inning, which turned into 7 total runs. Aside from that inning, the Palms were the clearly better team, outscoring San Diego 3-1 with a good bullpen outing and a little bit of offense. Unfortunately, he Padres' big 6th outweighed the other innings, and San Diego has earned at least a split with Miami.  San Diego Padres 8, Miami Palms 3  Friday, July 22, 2016  San Diego Padres (2-0)                                   Miami Palms (51-45)                                      Player          AB R  H BI BB SO  P  A...

In 7 games, the Palms have now only collected a pair of wins since the All Star break. It isn't just that they are losing, but rather how they are losing that has been particularly troubling. They haven't been putting runs across the plate, which is a shame, because generally speaking, the pitching staff has put Miami in a good spot to win games. Further exasperating issues is the fact that the bullpen has been very bad. The team hasn't necessarily been blowing leads, because they haven't had them to begin with, but more often than not, they have come in and made bad situations worse. The Palms have started with a homestand, which makes their slide more frustrating. They hope they can get things together against the Padres, who they play for four games, before returning to play other AL opponents.

Miami had a tough time figuring out Andrew Cashner, failing to get a hit until the 4th inning and not scoring off of him at all. His battery mate, Derek Norris was the straw that stirred the Friars' offensive drink, scoring the first run when Alex Dickerson drove him home, and the final run on a huge home run in the 6th. The Palms scored their runs on a 2 out, bottom of the 9th Carlos Ruiz homer, but it definitely was not enough.  San Diego Padres 3, Miami Palms 2  Thursday, July 21, 2016  San Diego Padres (1-0)                                   Miami Palms (51-44)                                      Player  ...

It's been rare this season that the Palms get a good start from Odrisamer Despaigne, so when they do and it's wasted, it's incredibly frustrating. The Palms got 5 scoreless innings out of Despaigne, but could only manage 2 runs themselves. Meanwhile, the Orioles savaged the Miami bullpen, scoring three times off of Oliver Perez, and once each off of Cody Allen and Keith Harding.  Baltimore Orioles 5, Miami Palms 2  Wednesday, July 20, 2016  Baltimore Orioles (6-4)                                  Miami Palms (51-43)                                      Player          AB R  H BI...