PALMS CAN’T CASH IN EARLY, FALL TO BREWERS IN HOMESTAND OPENER
Coconut Coast was buzzing after the Palms salvaged a split in Texas, but the bats cooled off just enough Friday night as Miami dropped the opener of their six-game homestand, 5–2, to the Milwaukee Brewers.
The biggest story? Missed chances early, and one big swing late.
A ROUGH FIRST INNING FOR PARRA
Manny Parra never quite settled in. Milwaukee loaded the bases with two walks and a single, and Justin Smoak made him pay—a three-run homer the opposite way to right-center. Just like that, the Brewers led 3–0 before many fans had found their seats.
To Parra’s credit, he steadied himself and threw six straight scoreless innings after that first-frame disaster. But the early hole loomed.
“I actually felt good,” Parra said postgame. “One pitch got out. I just wish we could’ve gotten that one back.”
PALMS SCRATCH BACK, BUT CAN’T BREAK THROUGH
In the 4th, Nick Markakis legged out a triple to right-center and scored on a Grant sacrifice fly.
In the 5th, Yairo Muñoz singled, Frank Sohn doubled him to third, and Grant again delivered—a sharp RBI single to make it 3–2.
Momentum was building. The dugout had energy. This felt like a game they were about to steal.
Instead, Brewers starter Brent Suter slammed the door.
Suter went 8 innings, allowing just 7 hits and only one walk. The Palms never got another runner past first base after the 5th.
“We just couldn’t square up much after that,” said Scott Hatteberg. “He kept changing speeds and living on the edges.”
INSURANCE AND ICING
Cody Allen came on in the 8th and wiggled out of a jam, but the 9th was unkind.
Ben Gamel—who already had two hits—crushed a two-run shot to right to make it 5–2. And with Josh Hader looming, the crowd knew it was trouble.
Hader entered. Three Palms up. Three Palms down. Ballgame.
BY THE NUMBERS
✅ Grant drove in both Miami runs (22 RBI on the year).
✅ Grant collected two hits.
❌ Miami was 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
❌ The Palms grounded into another key double play (Holt in the 6th).
✅ Parra’s final line: 7 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 4 K.
BIGGER PICTURE
The loss drops Miami to 25–22, still firmly in the Wild Card mix but searching for consistency.
This felt like a winnable game. The bullpen was rested. The crowd was loud. The offense…just didn’t finish.
“We’ve shown we can explode for 10,” said Hatteberg, referencing Wednesday. “Now we’ve got to find a way to win the 3–2 games—and tonight we didn’t.”
Milwaukee Brewers 5, Miami Palms 2
Friday, May 15, 2020
Milwaukee Brewers (1-0) Miami Palms (25-22)
Player AB R H BI BB SO P A E LOB Ave Player AB R H BI BB SO P A E LOB Ave
------ -- - - -- -- -- - - - --- --- ------ -- - - -- -- -- - - - --- ---
Cain cf 3 1 0 0 2 0 4 0 0 2 .000 Sohn cf 4 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 .277
Sogaard 3b 4 0 2 0 1 1 0 2 0 1 .500 Markakis lf 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .309
Hiura 2b 5 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 0 1 .000 Grant 1b 3 0 2 2 0 1 10 1 0 0 .268
Yelich lf 4 1 2 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 .500 Korb 3b 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 3 0 2 .287
Smoak 1b 4 1 1 3 0 1 10 1 0 2 .250 Encarnacion dh 4 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .276
Urias ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 .000 Wieters c 4 0 0 0 0 1 6 0 0 0 .253
Braun dh 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 Holt rf 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 .240
Freitas c 3 1 0 0 1 1 3 1 0 0 .000 Koch 2b 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 0 3 .221
Gamel rf 4 1 2 2 0 1 2 0 0 0 .500 Munoz ss 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 .303
-- - - -- -- -- -- -- -- --- -- - - -- -- -- -- -- -- ---
Totals 34 5 8 5 4 6 27 11 0 7 Totals 32 2 7 2 1 3 27 12 0 5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Milwaukee Brewers 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 8 0
Miami Palms 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 7 0
LOB- Milwaukee Brewers 7, Miami Palms 5; 2B- Sogaard(1), Yelich(1), Sohn(15), Grant(9);
3B- Markakis(2); HR- Smoak(1), Gamel(1); RBI- Smoak 3(3), Gamel 2(2), Grant 2(22);
SF- Grant(1); GIDP- Hiura(1), Holt(2); RLSP- Cain 2, Smoak 2, Urias, Koch 2, Korb 2;
DP- Milwaukee Brewers 1, Miami Palms 1;
Milwaukee Brewers IP H R ER BB SO ERA
Suter(W 1-0) 8.0 7 2 2 1 3 2.25
Hader(S, 1) 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
Miami Palms IP H R ER BB SO ERA
Parra(L 3-6) 7.0 5 3 3 3 4 5.59
Allen 2.0 3 2 2 1 2 4.81
Pitches-strikes- Suter 88-58, Hader 8-5, Parra 92-57, Allen 31-22; Batters faced- Suter 31,
Hader 3, Parra 29, Allen 10;
HBP- Urias(by Parra);
Temp - 83, Sky - Mostly Cloudy, Wind - E 6MPH
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