Miami Palms Blog

  MIAMI — After nearly four hours of sun-soaked tension at Coca-Cola Palms Park, it was the soft crack of a Nick Markakis single that finally broke the deadlock. The Miami Palms outlasted the Oakland A's 1–0 in 13 innings on Sunday afternoon, completing a four-game set with back-to-back shutouts and their second series win of the season. Markakis, who finished the day a nearly perfect 5-for-6 , delivered the game’s lone RBI with a line drive to left that scored Yairo Muñoz from second, setting off a jubilant celebration near first base. "You just try to keep the at-bats simple that deep into a game," Markakis said afterward. "It’s easy to start pressing, but Muñoz put us in a good spot, and I just wanted to find a hole." Muñoz had doubled with one out in the 13th off T.J. McFarland , who took the loss in his brief relief outing. The Palms loaded the bases shortly thereafter before Markakis laced the winner. Staff Aces Steal the Show Lost in the late drama...

  By Vin Castillo, Palms Beat Writer The Miami Palms don’t just want to win games — they want to grow something. It starts, fittingly, at Coconut Coast, their spring training complex nestled in the soft breeze and sun-dappled quiet of Key Largo. For a team that plays its summer ball in the city’s bustle, Coconut Coast is a different rhythm — hammocks hang beyond the outfield fences, and the only sound more persistent than the batting cage is the call of seabirds circling the mangroves. “There’s a vibe here,” said minor league coordinator Bobby Trujillo. “When guys show up, they get it. It’s relaxed, but it’s serious. It’s Miami baseball.” That philosophy runs deep into the Palms’ minor league system, which stretches up the East Coast like a palm frond pointing toward the future. The AAA Jackson Rebels , based in Mississippi’s capital, are the final proving ground — a club that’s forged major league contributors. The Rebels draw well, and their ballpark hums with fans wearing te...

 MIAMI — Blake Johnston’s finest performance of the young season couldn’t have come at a better time. The right-hander fired a complete-game shutout, scattering six hits and striking out seven as the Miami Palms blanked the Oakland A’s 4–0 on a soggy Saturday evening at Coca-Cola Palms Park. “This was Blake at his absolute best,” manager Scott Hatteberg said. “He was efficient, he got ahead of hitters, and he never gave them a chance to breathe.” Johnston needed just 101 pitches to go the distance, never allowing more than one baserunner in an inning. The A’s, coming off a seven-run outburst the night before, had no answers. “He kept changing speeds, hitting his spots,” said catcher Matt Wieters. “It was fun to be behind the plate for that one.” The Palms’ offense gave Johnston all the support he’d need in the fourth, when Greg Garcia launched a towering two-run homer to right, his first on the season. Nick Markakis added insurance with a solo shot in the sixth, continuing his...

  By Vin Castillo | April 10, 2020 MIAMI — It was a loud Friday night at Coca-Cola Palms Park—and not in a good way for the home fans. The visiting Oakland A’s blasted four home runs, including two from Matt Olson, as they steamrolled the Miami Palms 7–1 to even the series. The long ball did nearly all the damage against Miami starter Erick Fedde, who surrendered five runs on nine hits in just three innings. Marcus Semien got things started with a two-run shot in the first, and Olson added his first bomb an inning later as part of a three-run frame. By the time Ramon Laureano and Olson each went deep again, the game was out of reach. “Fedde’s stuff wasn’t missing bats tonight, and that’s a tough lineup to be up in the zone against,” said manager Scott Hatteberg. “We needed to get through five with him, but they were on everything.” The Palms’ only offensive spark came in the fourth, when Jaspero Gonzalez launched his third homer of the year. But that was the only blemish on a ...

  By Vin Castillo, Miami Sun Sentinel April 9, 2020 — Coca-Cola Palms Park The homestand couldn’t have started with a better script. Chris Korb 's towering ninth-inning single off Oakland lefty Jake Diekman plated Pat Grant and gave the Miami Palms a dramatic 5–4 walk-off victory over the A’s on Thursday night, snapping a streak of seven straight scoreless innings for the Palms and offering a much-needed jolt of momentum. "I just wanted to get something I could lift," Korb said, grinning postgame. "Honestly, I thought I got a little too much under it, but that wind’s been wild tonight. Happy it found grass." It was a fitting cap to a game that began with a thunderous start. Jaspero Gonzalez started things off with an RBI double, and was scored when Korb hit a two run blast.  Edwin Encarnación  rounded out the scoring with a solo shot to left. But the A’s clawed back, sparked by a two-run blast from Matt Chapman in the fourth and a Franklin Barreto two...

 The Miami Palms have a long season ahead. That’s the refrain you’ll hear from the clubhouse, the coaching staff, and the fans who’ve endured a 4–8 start to the campaign. But now, with a 10-game homestand looming, the question becomes: Can they right the ship at Coca-Cola Palms Park? They’ll need to—urgently. There’s no sugarcoating what just happened in Pittsburgh. After getting some momentum with a 2–0 gem behind Jarod Lantz , the Palms were demolished 11–0 in the getaway game. To make matters worse, Lantz was placed on the 60-day injured list less than 24 hours after his best outing of the season. Losing your top starter just as the team shows signs of life? That’s the kind of gut punch that tests a club’s identity. Scott Hatteberg’s squad is still figuring out who they are. The offense has shown flashes— Jaspero Gonzalez and Matt Wieters have been clutch, while Yairo Muñoz is quietly batting .371—but too often, scoring opportunities have fizzled. Miami ranks last in the ...

It was an ugly send-off for the Miami Palms on Wednesday afternoon, as the Pittsburgh Pirates steamrolled their way to an 11–0 win, taking the series and knocking the Palms back to 4–8 on the young season. Veteran lefty Manny  Parra struggled mightily, allowing eight runs over just 4 2/3 innings. His outing unraveled in the fourth and fifth innings, as the Pirates poured on eight runs in that span—highlighted by a two-run triple from Bryan Reynolds and a two-run single off the bat of Colin Moran, who would later homer. “I just couldn’t locate my fastball, and when I did, they were sitting on it,” Parra said after the game. “No excuses—just a bad outing.” The bullpen didn’t fare much better. Mike Morin , Braden Shipley , and Brian Matusz combined to give up three more runs over the final 3 1/3 innings, allowing a combined eight hits. It was Matusz’s first outing since returning from a brief absence, and he was greeted rudely with back-to-back RBI knocks in the eighth. Offensiv...

 The Miami Palms picked up a much-needed 2–0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night behind a dazzling eight-inning gem from Jarod Lantz—but the celebration was short-lived. Lantz, who had struggled with command in his first two outings of the season, flipped the script in Pittsburgh. He scattered eight hits over eight scoreless innings, didn’t walk a batter, and struck out ten in what was easily the best start of the young Palms season. He even worked out of a couple of jams with poise, including a second-and-third situation in the sixth where he struck out both Josh Bell and Bryan Reynolds with mid-90s heat and a biting slider. “I felt like I finally had everything working,” Lantz said postgame, visibly limping and favoring his left side. “We needed this one.” It was the final quote from Lantz for some time. Shortly after completing his eighth inning, he was helped into the clubhouse by the training staff and has since been diagnosed with an oblique strain. The te...

 There’s a sound in baseball that doesn’t show up in the box score. It’s the unmistakable crack of a barrel meeting a ball square—pure, sharp, authoritative. It rings through the air like a promise. At Coca-Cola Palms Park, it’s usually followed by a collective rise from the crowd, a swell of hope. But in the case of Miami third baseman Chris Korb, that beautiful noise has too often ended with a glove in the way. Through ten games, Korb is batting a pedestrian .250. But for those watching closely, it feels like he's been better than that. Balls off his bat have routinely been hit hard—line drives to the gap that become running catches, rockets down the line that corner infielders somehow snare. There’s a baseball term for this: “loud outs.” And Korb might be leading the league in them. “Look, it’s frustrating,” Korb admitted after a recent loss. “You do everything right—get your pitch, square it up—and still walk back to the dugout. But you can’t control where it lands.” Looking...

  PITTSBURGH, PA — After salvaging a win in Boston, the Miami Palms were promptly derailed by a ferocious Pittsburgh lineup in the Steel City. The Pirates pounded out 18 hits—including homers from Bryan Reynolds, Guillermo Heredia, and JT Riddle—to thump the Palms 14–5 at PNC Park on Monday afternoon. Reynolds opened eyes with a triple and a three-hit, three-RBI day, while Riddle’s eighth-inning grand slam off Cody Allen broke the game wide open.  “It felt like every time we tried to get our feet under us, they were hitting balls off the wall,” Palms manager Scott Hatteberg said. “We’re going to need cleaner innings out of the pen, no doubt.” Miami starter Blake Johnston (1–1) suffered his first loss of the year, allowing three runs on eight hits in just three innings. Miami’s relievers gave up 11 more runs over five frames, highlighted by a five-run eighth that put the game out of reach. On the offensive side, the Palms did manage 14 hits—matching a season high—including...