Palms Walk It Off to Open Homestand in Style

 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-run single an inning later, evening the score at four apiece and chasing starter Dylan Bundy after 6.2 innings.

From there, Miami’s bullpen—an area of concern all season—held the line. Jeremy Jeffress, Cody Allen, and finally Chris Martin combined for 2.1 innings of scoreless relief, with Martin earning his first win of the season.

"They’re not always pretty, but they all count," said manager Scott Hatteberg, cracking a smile after a tense final frame. "Chris [Korb] has been swinging a hot bat for a couple games now. Love seeing the aggression with the game on the line."

Indeed, Korb now leads the club with 9 RBI, one ahead of Gonzalez. His late-game heroics bailed out a lineup that had stalled after the explosive first inning—until the bottom of the ninth.

The win brings the Palms to 5–8 on the year and, perhaps more importantly, gave the home crowd at Coca-Cola Palms Park something to cheer for as the team opens a 10-game homestand.

NOTES:

  • Brett Gardner reached base four times (1-for-2, 3 BB, double).

  • Pat Grant went 2-for-5 with a triple and a run scored.

  • Bundy struck out 7 but again struggled with run prevention—his ERA sits at 9.42.

  • The Palms are now 2–0 in one-run games this season.


 Miami Palms 5, Oakland A's 4
 Thursday, April 9, 2020
 
 
 Oakland A's (0-1)                                        Miami Palms (5-8)                                       
 Player          AB R  H BI BB SO  P  A  E LOB   Ave      Player          AB R  H BI BB SO  P  A  E LOB   Ave      
 ------          -- -  - -- -- --  -  -  - ---   ---      ------          -- -  - -- -- --  -  -  - ---   ---      
 Semien ss       4  0  1  0  1  2  1  3  0  0   .250      Gardner cf      2  1  1  0  3  1  0  0  0  0   .339
 Laureano cf     4  1  0  0  0  1  0  0  0  2   .000      Grant 1b        5  1  2  0  0  0  7  0  0  1   .306
 Olson 1b        4  0  1  0  0  1  10 0  0  0   .250      Gonzalez 2b     5  1  1  1  0  2  2  2  0  2   .359
 Chapman 3b      4  1  3  2  0  0  1  3  0  0   .750      Korb 3b         5  1  2  3  0  1  2  2  0  2   .265
 Canha lf        4  0  1  0  0  0  4  0  0  0   .250      Encarnacion dh  4  1  1  1  0  2  0  0  0  0   .245
 Davis dh        4  1  1  0  0  1  0  0  0  0   .250      Sohn rf         4  0  2  0  0  0  1  0  0  0   .259
 Piscotty rf     4  0  0  0  0  1  1  0  0  4   .000      Wieters c       4  0  1  0  0  0  9  0  0  0   .368
 Murphy c        4  1  2  0  0  1  8  0  0  0   .500      Munoz ss        4  0  0  0  0  1  1  2  0  2   .333
 Barreto 2b      4  0  1  2  0  1  1  0  0  0   .250      Markakis lf     3  0  0  0  1  0  4  0  0  1   .188
 
                 -- -  - -- -- -- -- -- -- ---                            -- -  - -- -- -- -- -- -- ---            
 Totals          36 4  10 4  1  8  26 8  0  6             Totals          36 5  10 5  4  7  27 8  0  8  
 
 
                     1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9      R  H  E
                     -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -      -  -  -
 Oakland A's         0  0  0  2  2  0  0  0  0      4  10 0  
 Miami Palms         4  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1      5  10 0  
 
 
 
 LOB- Oakland A's 6, Miami Palms 8; 2B- Chapman(1), Murphy(1), Gonzalez(3), Wieters(2),
 Gardner(6); 3B- Grant(1); HR- Chapman(1), Encarnacion(1), Korb(3); RBI- Chapman 2(2),
 Barreto 2(2), Encarnacion(5), Gonzalez(8), Korb 3(9); GIDP- Semien(1); RLSP- Piscotty 2,
 Gonzalez, Korb, Munoz 2, Markakis;  
 
 DP- Miami Palms 1; 
  
 
 
 Oakland A's            IP   H  R  ER BB SO    ERA
 Montas                 4.0  7  4  4  3  3    9.00  
 Soria                  2.0  0  0  0  1  1    0.00  
 Trivino                2.0  1  0  0  0  1    0.00  
 Diekman(L 0-1)         0.2  2  1  1  0  2   13.50 
 
 Miami Palms            IP   H  R  ER BB SO    ERA
 Bundy                  6.2  7  4  4  0  7    9.42  
 Jeffress               0.1  0  0  0  1  0    5.06  
 Allen                  1.0  2  0  0  0  0    8.44  
 Martin(W 1-0)          1.0  1  0  0  0  1    0.00  
 
 Pitches-strikes- Montas 74-39, Soria 20-12, Trivino 19-15, Diekman 12-10, Bundy 95-66,
 Jeffress 12-5, Allen 12-9, Martin 8-8; Batters faced- Montas 22, Soria 7, Trivino 7,
 Diekman 4, Bundy 27, Jeffress 2, Allen 5, Martin 3; 

  
 
  
 Temp - 86, Sky - Partly Cloudy, Wind - SSE 13mph 
 

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