Miami Palms Blog

The Palms brought their bats on Sunday afternoon to Palms Park. In the first inning, Tony Abreu hit a 2 run homer to take the lead. They Rays took the lead in the third with a 3 run blast from Steven Souza, but the Palms came back when Edwin Encarnacion hit a 3 run shot of his own. Frank Sohn followed with a back to back home run. The Palms never looked back, scoring three more times, including once after Brett Hayes hit a triple.  Miami Palms 9, Tampa Bay Rays 4  Sunday, August 21, 2016  Tampa Bay Rays (1-5)                                     Miami Palms (62-60)                                      Player ...

As soon as it was pointed out that Frank Sohn was scuffling at the plate, he completely turned it around. Sohn went 3-4 including a double and a three run home run. Batting behind him, Chris Korb also collected 3 RBI, but he did it while going 4-4 and driving in Sohn twice. In the mean time, Manny Parra worked a complete game with 4 strikeouts while allowing only a pair of runs.  Miami Palms 7, Tampa Bay Rays 2  Saturday, August 20, 2016  Tampa Bay Rays (1-4)                                     Miami Palms (61-60)                                      Player          AB...

In the last 20 games, Frank Sohn has managed only 1 extra base hit, a double, while his average has dropped more than 10 points. He was a key component in the middle of the order as the team climbed to 10 games above .500, but his swoon after the All Star Break has coincided with the team's struggles as well. The pitching has been very good of late, or at the very least no worse than it was before the slide. The issue during this slump has been with the offense, and Frank Sohn's numbers typify the issues at the plate.

The Rays had a huge 6th inning, scoring 6 runs and batting around. The big hit was a Kevin Kiermaier double that cleared the bases and accounted for half the runs in that big 6th. The Palms weren't done. An inning later, Chris Korb closed the gap with a grand slam, and an inning after that, Johnny Giavotella hit a game tying 2 run homer. Unfortunately, a Matt Duffy triple in the top of the 10th set up the game winning hit from Logan Morisson.  Tampa Bay Rays 8, Miami Palms 7  Friday, August 19, 2016  Tampa Bay Rays (1-3)                                     Miami Palms (60-60)                                      ...

The Palms struggled to get anything going against Yordano Ventura, but Odrisamer Despaigne pitched well enough to keep the Royals in sight. The Royals had a pair of big innings, in which they scored twice, including on a two run homer by Kendrys Morales in the 6th inning. Miami now sits only 1 game above .500 after an 11-20 start since the all-star breal.  Kansas City Royals 4, Miami Palms 1  Wednesday, August 17, 2016  Kansas City Royals (2-1)                                 Miami Palms (60-59)                                      Player          AB R  H BI BB SO  P  A...

After starting the game with a 2 run Frank Sohn single, the Palms struggled to put together much offense, while the Royals started swinging the bat. The Royals had a pair of two run singles in the 5th and 6th inning from Lorenzo Cain and Raul Mondesi were all that the defending World Series champs would need.  Kansas City Royals 6, Miami Palms 2  Tuesday, August 16, 2016  Kansas City Royals (1-1)                                 Miami Palms (60-58)                                      Player          AB R  H BI BB SO  P  A  E LOB   Ave    ...

The Palms and Royals collected 18 runs in a Monday slugfest. The Royals hit 3 homers off of Palms pitchers, while the Palms hit two. The big difference was that both off the Palms' bats were three run blasts, first from Chris Korb and then by Edwin Encarnacion. A big advantage was a Palms bullpen that held firm, allowing only 1 more run after Blake Johnston allowed 6 in 5 innings of work. John Jaso collected 4 hits including two doubles at the top of the lineup.  Miami Palms 11, Kansas City Royals 7  Monday, August 15, 2016  Kansas City Royals (0-1)                                 Miami Palms (60-57)                                     ...

A couple of big hits sealed the victory on Sunday afternoon for the Orioles, and prevented a Palms sweep in Baltimore. JJ Hardy clobbered a 3 run homer in the 2nd inning to push the O's to an early lead. The Palms started a comeback, but a 2 run Matt Wieters home run sealed the deal for Baltimore.  Baltimore Orioles 7, Miami Palms 3  Sunday, August 14, 2016  Miami Palms (59-57)                                      Baltimore Orioles (7-6)                                  Player          AB R  H BI BB SO  P  A  E LOB   Ave      Pla...

It was 4-3 with 2 out in the top of the 9th, in the favor of the Orioles, when Tony Abreu singled off of Zach Britton. Edwin Encarnacion hit his first home run in what seems like months on a 3-0 count one batter later to put Miami in front late. The Orioles then tied it up when Mark Trumbo had an RBI single, which was his 4th RBI of the game. Two innings later, it was Abreu again who came to the plate, driving in Johnny Giavotella, before Keith Harding came in to close things out.  Miami Palms 6, Baltimore Orioles 5  Saturday, August 13, 2016  Miami Palms (59-56)                                      Baltimore Orioles (6-6)                            ...

It looked like another game in which the real story was the Palms' inability to hit, especially in the clutch. The Orioles were cruising, on their way to a 3-0 victory until the Palms loaded the bases in front of Coco Crisp. Crisp barely hit it over the fence in left, but it counted all the same, and scored all 4 runs for Miami. The Palms' bullpen allowed only one run over 4 1/3 innings of work.  Miami Palms 4, Baltimore Orioles 3  Friday, August 12, 2016  Miami Palms (58-56)                                      Baltimore Orioles (6-5)                                  Player         ...

The Palms playoff hopes took a huge blow after the Blue Jays completed a sweep in Miami, dropping the Palms back to only one game above .500. As so often has been the case lately, the most severe issues were an incapable offense, this time only collecting 6 hits, though one of which was a Tony Abreu home run. Miami pitchers struck out 13 Blue Jays, but a Troy Tulowitzki homer in the 2nd set the tone for Toronto's win.  Toronto Blue Jays 5, Miami Palms 3  Wednesday, August 10, 2016  Toronto Blue Jays (8-4)                                  Miami Palms (57-56)                                      Player    ...

Miami valiantly came back in the 8th and 9th after falling behind 3-0. It's no secret that the Palms would like to stretch Lucas Harrell back out to be a starter, and he was in his 4th inning of work when things finally turned sour. He walked Justin Smoak, and Melvin Upton followed with the game winning home run. The Palms tied it on a John Jaso sacrifice fly, but couldn't score after that 9th inning levelling.  Toronto Blue Jays 5, Miami Palms 3  Tuesday, August 9, 2016  Toronto Blue Jays (7-4)                                  Miami Palms (57-55)                                      Player      ...

Miami signed Edwin Encarnacion this offseason as they sought a true, dominating power threat for the middle of their lineup as the likes of Ayoz Sadan and Steve Drysdale have departed, and Frank Sohn has begun to decline a bit. Encarnacion, however, has struggled to maintain his pace after starting the first week of the year with 5 home runs. He has hit only 20 since then, which is less than Tony Abreu. Encarnacion definitely has the power to post numbers like are expected of him, but he is not there yet.

By looking at the final score, it would be hard to believe that this was a taut pitchers' duel through the first 8 innings. The Blue Jays scored 4 in the top of the 9th, including a three run homer from Josh Thole. Not to be outdone, the Palms came within one run of tying it back up with a three run bottom of the inning, including a two run Coco Crisp single.  Toronto Blue Jays 5, Miami Palms 4  Monday, August 8, 2016  Toronto Blue Jays (6-4)                                  Miami Palms (57-54)                                      Player          AB R  H BI BB SO  P  A...