Twins Rain on Palms Again

 It was a gray, wet Sunday at Coca-Cola Palms Park, and the Miami bats never found a way to brighten things up. The Minnesota Twins — who won’t be back on the schedule again this season, mercifully — finished off a three-game sweep with a 9–2 thumping that left Miami staring at an 0–6 mark against their northern nemesis.

Manny Parra’s outing unraveled almost as soon as it began. The veteran lefty couldn’t locate, and the Twins pounced with three runs in the first and six more in the second before the Palms bullpen could even stir. By the time Adam Conley jogged in to stop the bleeding, Minnesota had already collected 11 hits.

“We’ve run into a buzzsaw with them,” manager Scott Hatteberg admitted, standing in a hallway damp with the mist that drifted into the ballpark. “They’re swinging free, we’re tentative. That’s not the formula. But the season doesn’t stop. We’ve got a plane to catch and Texas waiting.”

The lone bright spots were an Edwin Encarnación homer in the fourth and a Brock Holt RBI single in the ninth. Nick Markakis chipped in a pair of hits, but Miami never truly threatened.

Bench coach Forrest Davis pointed to the quiet crowd, many of whom filtered out after the Twins’ big inning. “When you fall behind like that, the park goes flat. We feed off this place when it’s buzzing, but it’s on us to keep them in it.”

The bullpen, at least, showed resilience. Conley, Braden Shipley, Brian Matusz, and Jeremy Jeffress combined to blank Minnesota the rest of the way, striking out 11. Pitching coach Tony Rico was quick to underline that silver lining. “That’s the response you want. Nobody hung their heads once they got the ball.”

Still, the story of the afternoon was Parra’s collapse and the Twins’ relentless contact. Josh Donaldson’s three-run homer in the second and Ehire Adrianza’s three-hit game bookended a series where Minnesota scored 19 runs in three days.

As the Palms packed for their flight to Arlington, hitting coach Joe Gras tried to reset the mood. “Four in Texas, fresh air, new challenge. You take the lumps, you move on. These guys know that.”

The Palms (23–19) will look to rediscover their spark against the Rangers, leaving the Twins in the rearview for good.

Minnesota Twins 9, Miami Palms 2

 Sunday, May 10, 2020

 

 

 Minnesota Twins (6-0)                                    Miami Palms (23-19)                                     

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

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

 Buxton cf       6  2  2  0  0  3  4  0  0  5   .222      Sohn rf         4  0  0  0  0  1  2  0  0  2   .291

 Donaldson 3b    6  2  3  3  0  1  0  2  0  0   .429      Munoz 2b        4  0  0  0  0  1  0  2  0  0   .305

 Cruz dh         6  1  1  0  0  1  0  0  0  2   .448      Grant 1b        4  0  0  0  0  2  4  0  0  0   .255

 Polanco ss      4  1  2  1  1  0  0  2  0  0   .364      Encarnacion dh  4  1  2  1  0  0  0  0  0  0   .278

 Adrianza 2b     4  1  3  1  1  0  0  2  0  0   .182      Wieters c       3  1  0  0  1  1  13 0  0  0   .260

 Kepler rf       4  1  1  2  1  1  4  0  0  0   .391      Markakis lf     4  0  2  0  0  0  2  0  0  0   .296

 Gonzalez 1b     5  0  1  0  0  1  9  2  0  2   .200      Holt ss         4  0  3  1  0  0  0  1  0  1   .253

 Cave lf         5  0  2  1  0  2  2  0  0  3   .375      Garcia 3b       4  0  1  0  0  0  1  0  0  1   .344

 Avila c         4  1  2  1  1  2  5  0  0  0   .273      Roeder cf       4  0  0  0  0  0  2  0  0  3   .000

 

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

 Totals          44 9  17 9  4  11 27 9  0  12            Totals          35 2  8  2  1  5  27 3  0  7  

 

 

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

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

 Minnesota Twins         3  6  0  0  0  0  0  0  0         9  17 0  

 Miami Palms             0  0  0  1  0  0  0  0  1         2  8  0  

 

 LOB- Minnesota Twins 12, Miami Palms 7; 2B- Kepler(4), Adrianza(1), Holt(2); HR- Donaldson(1),

 Encarnacion(7); RBI- Donaldson 3(5), Polanco(2), Kepler 2(6), Adrianza(3), Avila(1),

 Cave(1), Encarnacion(27), Holt(5); RLSP- Buxton 3, Cruz, Cave 2, Gonzalez 2, Holt,

 Sohn 2, Roeder 2;  

 

  

  

 

 

 Minnesota Twins            IP   H  R  ER BB SO    ERA

 Dobnak(W 1-0)              9.0  8  2  2  1  5    2.00  

 

 Miami Palms                IP   H  R  ER BB SO    ERA

 Parra(L 3-5)               1.2  11 9  9  1  0    5.84  

 Conley                     2.1  3  0  0  1  3    2.76  

 Shipley                    2.0  0  0  0  1  2    6.50  

 Matusz                     2.0  2  0  0  0  5    5.60  

 Jeffress                   1.0  1  0  0  1  1    2.08  

 

 Inherited runners-scored- Conley 2-1; Pitches-strikes- Dobnak 89-63, Parra 46-24,

 Conley 37-23, Shipley 23-14, Matusz 25-19, Jeffress 20-10; Batters faced- Dobnak 36,

 Parra 17, Conley 11, Shipley 7, Matusz 8, Jeffress 5; 


 Temp - 71, Sky - Light Rain, Wind - NE 7MPH 

 

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