Verdugo, Red Sox Pummel Palms in Series Opener

By Vin Castillo, Coca-Cola Palms Park 

MIAMI — The Palms got a dose of reality Monday night, and it came in the form of a relentless Boston lineup and an untimely outburst from their veteran catcher.

Alex Verdugo went 4-for-4 with three RBIs, and the Red Sox racked up 16 hits en route to a 7-1 win over the Miami Palms at Coca-Cola Palms Park. The loss snapped Miami’s four-game win streak and featured a forgettable debut for newly called-up reliever Allan Persons, who gave up three runs on five hits in a single inning of work.

Boston wasted no time, tagging Palms starter Blake Johnston for three runs in the opening frame, thanks to a pair of RBI hits from Xander Bogaerts and Mitch Moreland. Johnston lasted just three innings, surrendering four earned runs, and took his second loss of the season.

Miami’s lone highlight came in the bottom of the first when Jaspero Gonzalez drilled a solo home run—his seventh of the year—to cut the early deficit to 3-1. That would be all the offense the Palms mustered against Martín Pérez, who cruised through eight innings while scattering six hits.

Tensions boiled over in the bottom of the sixth when Matt Wieters struck out on a high fastball and immediately turned to argue the call. After a brief but heated exchange with home plate umpire Barry Jeffries, Wieters was tossed—his first ejection of the year. Wellington Castillo took over behind the plate for the remainder.

“Wiet’s a pro, always has been,” manager Scott Hatteberg said after the game. “He’s not one to blow up over nothing, but tonight he thought he got squeezed a bit, and that frustration came out. We’ll move on.”

The Palms bullpen provided little relief. After decent work from Mike Morin and Braden Shipley, right-hander Allan Persons—just called up when Manny Parra hit the IL—was shelled in the eighth inning. Lefty Brian Matusz finished off the ninth quietly, but the damage had already been done.

Injury Notes:
Outfielder Brett Gardner was officially moved to the 60-day IL earlier in the day with a hip flexor injury. The Palms recalled Jason Roeder from AAA Jackson. The rookie left-handed bat did not appear in Monday’s game.

 Boston Red Sox 7, Miami Palms 1

 Monday, April 27, 2020

 

 

 Boston Red Sox (3-1)                                     Miami Palms (16-14)                                     

 Player          AB R  H BI BB SO  P  A  E LOB   Ave      Player          AB R  H BI BB SO  P  A  E LOB   Ave      

 ------          -- -  - -- -- --  -  -  - ---   ---      ------          -- -  - -- -- --  -  -  - ---   ---      

 Peraza 2b       6  1  2  0  0  1  1  3  0  3   .214      Sohn cf         4  0  1  0  0  0  3  0  0  0   .289

 Martinez dh     6  2  3  0  0  0  0  0  0  0   .529      Grant rf        4  0  1  0  0  0  4  0  0  0   .267

 Devers 3b       5  2  3  0  0  0  1  1  0  1   .353      Gonzalez 1b     4  1  2  1  0  0  4  0  0  3   .297

 Bogaerts ss     4  2  2  2  1  1  2  0  0  1   .412      Korb 3b         4  0  1  0  0  1  2  2  0  0   .298

 Verdugo rf      4  0  4  3  1  0  4  0  0  0  1.000      Encarnacion dh  4  0  0  0  0  3  0  0  0  0   .267

 Benintendi lf   5  0  1  1  0  1  0  0  0  0   .357      Wieters c       3  0  0  0  0  1  6  0  0  1   .318

 Bradley Jr. cf  4  0  1  0  1  1  2  0  0  0   .250       Castillo c     1  0  0  0  0  1  1  0  0  0   .211

 Vazquez c       4  0  0  0  1  0  9  0  0  4   .000      Holt 2b         3  0  1  0  1  1  2  1  0  0   .294

 Moreland 1b     4  0  0  1  1  1  5  2  0  4   .250      Munoz ss        4  0  0  0  0  2  3  2  0  3   .258

                                                          Markakis lf     3  0  1  0  0  0  1  0  0  0   .287

 

                 -- -  - -- -- -- -- -- -- ---                            -- -  - -- -- -- -- -- -- ---            

 Totals          42 7  16 7  5  5  27 7  0  13            Totals          34 1  7  1  1  9  27 6  0  7  

 

 

                        1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10     R  H  E

                        -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -      -  -  -

 Boston Red Sox         3  0  1  0  0  0  0  3  0         7  16 0  

 Miami Palms            1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0         1  7  0  

 

 

 

 LOB- Boston Red Sox 13, Miami Palms 7; 2B- Bogaerts(2), Bradley Jr.(1), Verdugo(1);

 HR- Gonzalez(7); RBI- Bogaerts 2(7), Benintendi(5), Moreland(1), Verdugo 3(3),

 Gonzalez(15); GIDP- Devers(1); RLSP- Peraza 2, Vazquez 3, Moreland 3, Gonzalez 2,

 Munoz;  

 

 DP- Miami Palms 1; 

  

 

 

 Boston Red Sox            IP   H  R  ER BB SO    ERA

 Perez(W 1-0)              8.0  6  1  1  0  6    1.13  

 Wood                      1.0  1  0  0  1  3    0.00  

 

 Miami Palms               IP   H  R  ER BB SO    ERA

 Johnston(L 3-2)           3.0  7  4  4  3  3    3.52  

 Morin                     2.0  3  0  0  0  2    5.14  

 Shipley                   2.0  1  0  0  2  0    8.36  

 Persons                   1.0  5  3  3  0  0   27.00 

 Matusz                    1.0  0  0  0  0  0    7.82  

 

 Pitches-strikes- Perez 96-65, Wood 19-10, Johnston 60-34, Morin 26-15, Shipley 34-20,

 Persons 13-11, Matusz 9-3; Batters faced- Perez 30, Wood 5, Johnston 19, Morin 8,

 Shipley 9, Persons 8, Matusz 3; 


  

 

  

 Temp - 80, Sky - Mostly Clear, Wind - NE 13MPH 

 

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