PALMS 4, BRAVES 3

 By Vin Castillo, Palms Beat

ATLANTA — The Miami Palms opened their nine-game road trip the way a road trip ought to begin: with a little grit, a little late-inning opportunism, and a whole lot of Chris Korb.

Korb — who has been the club’s steadiest bat throughout a turbulent, injury-patched May — homered, doubled, and drove in two of Miami’s four runs in a tight 4–3 win over the Braves at Truist Park on Friday night. His two run shot in the fourth got the Palms on the board, and his ninth inning double led to scoring the go ahead run.

The Braves had knotted things up in the fifth, taking advantage of a weary Dylan Bundy and an ineffective Adam Conley, but Miami’s bullpen once again held the line. Cody Allen, Jeremy Jeffress, and closer Chris Martin combined for four shutout innings, allowing just one hit and, crucially, no walks.

Jeffress earned the win; Martin earned his 17th save, good for one of the highest totals in the league.

Fourth Inning Spark

Down 1–0, Korb ambushed a first-pitch fastball from Kyle Wright and put it halfway up the left-field seats, plating Nick Markakis, who had walked to lead off the inning. Markakis came through again in the 6th with a triple, and Pat Grant’s RBI single leveled the game at that point.

“Korb’s locked in,” Grant said. “You can feel it. When he hits one, it feels like the offense exhales.”

Trading Runs in the Middle Innings

Bundy exited in the fourth after hitting Freddie Freeman and allowing a pair of baserunners. Atlanta scratched one across off Conley before Marcell Ozuna tied the game an inning later with a solo shot off Mike Morin.

But Miami answered: in the sixth, Grant's RBI single plated Markakis and nudged the Palms ahead 3–2.

After Ozuna’s solo home run in the fifth, both bullpens steadied the game, giving each offense little room.

Ninth-Inning Execution

Facing Shane Greene in the ninth, Miami strung together exactly the sort of small-ball sequence that’s been missing at times. Korb led off with a sharp double, and after two batters were retired and the comeback foundering, Brock Holt lined a single to the gap to plate Korb.

Martin handled the bottom half with his usual calm: three hitters, two groundouts, one routine fly ball.

“He’s been nails,” manager Scott Hatteberg said. “We’re playing cleaner baseball because guys like Martin shut the door when we need it.”

Notes

  • Markakis went 1-for-3 with a walk and his league-leading 4th triple.

  • Miami struck out eight times but put balls in play in every key moment of the late innings.

  • Holt quietly pushed his average up to .262 with another multi-hit game.

  • Wieters’ double in the fifth was his 7th of the year.

  • The Palms have now won three straight after their rough four-game skid.

The road trip continues Saturday afternoon in Atlanta, where the Palms will try to keep momentum rolling and inch closer to the top of the AL East.

 Miami Palms 4, Atlanta Braves 3

 Friday, May 22, 2020

 

 

 Miami Palms (29-24)                                      Atlanta Braves (0-1)                                    

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

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

 Munoz ss        4  0  0  0  0  1  1  1  0  3   .320      Albies 2b       5  1  2  1  0  1  0  1  0  0   .400

 Markakis lf     3  2  1  0  1  1  2  0  0  0   .324      Camargo 3b      4  0  3  1  0  0  0  2  0  0   .750

 Grant 1b        4  0  1  1  0  1  8  1  0  0   .270      Freeman 1b      3  0  0  0  0  0  9  0  0  2   .000

 Encarnacion dh  4  0  0  0  0  1  0  0  0  0   .272      Acuna, Jr. rf   4  0  2  0  0  1  3  0  0  1   .500

 Korb 3b         4  2  2  2  0  2  2  1  0  0   .286      Ozuna lf        4  1  1  1  0  1  4  0  0  0   .250

 Sohn cf         4  0  0  0  0  1  3  0  0  1   .268      Pache cf        4  0  0  0  0  1  1  0  0  3   .000

 Wieters c       4  0  2  0  0  1  7  0  0  0   .246      Hechavarria ss  4  0  0  0  0  1  1  1  0  1   .000

 Holt rf         4  0  2  1  0  0  3  0  0  0   .262      d'Arnaud c      4  0  0  0  0  1  8  0  0  0   .000

 Koch 2b         4  0  0  0  0  0  1  1  0  1   .275      Inciarte dh     3  1  0  0  1  0  0  0  0  0   .000

 

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

 Totals          35 4  8  4  1  8  27 7  0  5             Totals          35 3  8  3  1  6  27 4  0  7  

 

 

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

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

 Miami Palms            0  0  0  2  0  1  0  0  1         4  8  0  

 Atlanta Braves         0  1  0  1  1  0  0  0  0         3  8  0  

 

 

 

 LOB- Miami Palms 5, Atlanta Braves 7; 2B- Wieters(7), Korb(7), Camargo(1); 3B- Markakis(4);

 HR- Korb(8), Albies(1), Ozuna(1); RBI- Holt(12), Korb 2(29), Grant(23), Albies(1),

 Camargo(1), Ozuna(1); RLSP- Sohn, Munoz 3, Freeman 2, Pache 2, Hechavarria;  

 

  

  

 

 

 Miami Palms               IP   H  R  ER BB SO    ERA

 Bundy                     3.2  5  1  1  1  3    4.88  

 Conley                    0.1  1  1  1  0  0    4.08  

 Morin                     1.0  1  1  1  0  1    4.56  

 Allen                     2.0  1  0  0  0  1    4.75  

 Jeffress(W 2-1)           1.0  0  0  0  0  1    3.66  

 Martin(S, 17)             1.0  0  0  0  0  0    1.89  

 

 Atlanta Braves            IP   H  R  ER BB SO    ERA

 Wright                    8.0  6  3  3  1  8    3.38  

 Greene(L 0-1)             1.0  2  1  1  0  0    9.00  

 

 Pitches-strikes- Bundy 56-34, Conley 10-4, Morin 9-8, Allen 19-12, Jeffress 9-7,

 Martin 12-7, Wright 97-63, Greene 9-6; Batters faced- Bundy 18, Conley 2, Morin 4,

 Allen 7, Jeffress 3, Martin 3, Wright 31, Greene 5; 


 HBP- Freeman(by Bundy);  

 

  

 Temp - 82, Sky - Mostly cloudy, Wind - SW 6MPH 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Palms Can’t Just “Patch and Pray” Anymore

  South Florida Sun-Beat Column by Rhys Thomason It’s been said often enough this spring that the Miami Palms have been snakebitten by injuries, and sure, that’s true. Brett Gardner’s hamstring, Jaspero Gonzalez’s wrist, Jarod Lantz’s shoulder — all of them are the kind of setbacks that could sink a team with less depth. But let’s be honest: relying on duct tape and good vibes to paper over holes isn’t a strategy. It’s negligence. Look at the infield. Matt Koch has been pressed into everyday duty at second base, and while he’s played hard, nobody in Coconut Coast camp ever dreamed he’d be logging this many starts in April. He’s a utility man being asked to survive as a keystone anchor. That’s not development, that’s desperation. Then there’s the lineup. Edwin Encarnación keeps finding ways to knock in runs, but where’s the support? Pat Grant’s homer in the Bronx was a bright spot, but there’s a lack of consistent firepower around the middle of the order. The front office’s answe...
Read more

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...
Read more