SUNDAY SUNRISE: ONE INNING, NINE BRUTAL LESSONS

 ATLANTA — Baseball has a way of putting its thumb on the bruise.

The Miami Palms arrived at Truist Park on Saturday carrying a three-game winning streak, a little swagger, and the sense that maybe—finally—the turbulence of early May was beginning to fade behind them. For all of one inning, that narrative held up. Then came the second.

Seventeen Atlanta batters. Eleven runs. One long, slow-motion unraveling.

By the time the inning was over—and by the time the smoke cleared on what became an 11–6 loss—the Palms weren’t licking a single wound. They were trying to account for all of them.

“Baseball doesn’t care how good you felt when you woke up,” manager Scott Hatteberg said afterward, tugging at the bill of his cap. “Some nights it just punches back.”

A Night That Turned in a Flash

The box score will show Erick Fedde charged with 11 earned runs in 1 2/3 innings, and it will show you nothing of how quickly things went sideways.

A harmless walk. A soft single. A flare. A borderline ball four that sent Hatteberg barking from the dugout. There was only one loud swing, a Freddie Freeman bases clearing double, but there were also seven walks, including 3 runs walked in. Johan Camargo and Cristian Pache each had two RBI singles in the 2nd inning. 

“Sometimes you make pitches and they find grass,” Fedde said quietly. “Tonight, even the bad ones found barrels.”

To their credit, the Palms didn’t pack it in. They chipped away—Nick Markakis stayed hot, hitting two home runs. Pat Grant had a solo home run, and Wellington Castillo muscled a solo shot that left the bat angrier than the man who hit it.

They scrapped. They fought. They outscored Atlanta 3–0 from the third inning on.

It still wasn’t close to enough.

The Best Thing to Come Out of the Bullpen Was Resolve

After Fedde’s exit, the bullpen took over and, in a small but important way, won the night. Mike Morin, Brian Matusz, and Braden Shipley combined for 6 1/3 innings, allowing no runs and giving Miami every chance to claw back.

“That’s what we needed,” Hatteberg said. “Those guys saved us from burning the whole thing down.”

Still, when you spot a lineup like Atlanta’s a double-digit inning, the margin for error becomes microscopic. Miami would plate single runs in the third, fifth, and sixth, but the early avalanche defined everything.

Korb Comes Back to Earth — and That’s Okay

After Friday night’s heroics, Chris Korb finally looked mortal, going 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts. Even so, Hatteberg wasn’t concerned.

“He’s been carrying us for weeks,” the manager said. “He’s allowed one quiet night.”

Korb was harder on himself: “I left too many hittable balls out there,” he said. “I’ll be better tomorrow.”

Lingering Absences Before a Big Week

The loss drops the Palms to 29–25, and with Jarod Lantz, Brett Gardner and Jaspero Gonzalez still sidelined, the lineup remains a puzzle with pieces missing. Miami needs sharper defense, steadier starts, and at least one more bat to stay afloat as they dive into a tricky stretch: one more with Atlanta, a trip to Cincinnati before a showdown with the Blue Jays.

There’s no time to wallow. Not in this league. And certainly not with the calendar about to flip to June.

A Glimpse of the Big Picture

Here’s the thing about a game like Saturday’s: it either derails a team or galvanizes it.

The Palms didn’t quit. They didn’t sulk. They fought until Chris Martin was warming but never needed, and until the final out left a lingering, unfinished taste.

“That one inning stings,” Markakis said, shaking his head. “But we’ve been through worse. We know who we are.”

Sunday’s rubber match will say a lot about whether the Palms truly do.

 Atlanta Braves 11, Miami Palms 6

 Saturday, May 23, 2020

 

 

 Miami Palms (29-25)                                      Atlanta Braves (1-1)                                    

 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        5  1  2  1  0  0  3  0  0  2   .322      Albies 2b       4  1  1  1  1  2  0  2  0  1   .333

 Markakis lf     5  2  2  3  0  2  2  0  0  0   .325      Camargo 3b      5  1  2  2  0  0  0  7  0  0   .556

 Grant rf        5  1  1  1  0  0  2  0  0  2   .268      Freeman 1b      3  1  3  4  2  0  12 0  0  0   .500

 Korb 3b         4  0  0  0  0  2  1  3  0  0   .280      Acuna, Jr. rf   5  1  1  1  0  0  1  0  0  3   .333

 Wieters dh      4  0  2  0  0  1  0  0  0  0   .251      Ozuna lf        5  1  1  0  0  0  4  0  0  3   .222

 Sohn cf         4  0  1  0  0  1  1  0  0  2   .268      Inciarte cf     4  1  1  0  1  1  2  0  0  1   .143

 Castillo c      4  1  1  1  0  1  5  0  0  0   .233      Hechavarria ss  3  2  1  0  2  1  0  1  0  0   .143

 Garcia 1b       3  1  1  0  1  0  9  0  0  0   .349      Flowers c       3  2  1  1  2  0  8  0  0  1   .333

 Koch 2b         4  0  1  0  0  1  0  1  0  0   .274      Pache dh        5  1  2  2  0  0  0  0  0  1   .222

 

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

 Totals          38 6  11 6  1  8  24 8  0  6             Totals          37 11 13 11 8  4  27 10 0  10 

 

 

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

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

 Miami Palms            2  1  1  0  1  1  0  0  0      6  11 0  

 Atlanta Braves         0  11 0  0  0  0  0  0         11 13 0  

 

 

 

 LOB- Miami Palms 6, Atlanta Braves 10; 2B- Freeman(1), Hechavarria(1); HR- Castillo(3),

 Markakis 2(10), Grant(7); RBI- Castillo(6), Munoz(18), Markakis 3(25), Grant(24),

 Albies(2), Camargo 2(3), Freeman 4(4), Acuna, Jr.(1), Pache 2(2), Flowers(1); RLSP- Munoz,

 Grant, Acuna, Jr. 2, Ozuna, Pache, Flowers;  

 

  

  

 

 

 Miami Palms               IP   H  R  ER BB SO    ERA

 Fedde(L 2-4)              1.2  7  11 11 7  1   10.23 

 Morin                     2.1  2  0  0  1  0    4.18  

 Matusz                    2.0  2  0  0  0  3    4.91  

 Shipley                   2.0  2  0  0  0  0    6.95  

 

 Atlanta Braves            IP   H  R  ER BB SO    ERA

 Foltynewicz(W 1-0)        5.0  8  5  5  1  5    9.00  

 Wilson                    1.0  3  1  1  0  1    9.00  

 Jackson                   3.0  0  0  0  0  2    0.00  

 

 Inherited runners-scored- Morin 3-2; Pitches-strikes- Fedde 72-36, Morin 22-12,

 Matusz 27-19, Shipley 22-16, Foltynewicz 74-47, Wilson 17-10, Jackson 20-15; Batters faced- Fedde 19,

 Morin 10, Matusz 8, Shipley 8, Foltynewicz 24, Wilson 6, Jackson 9; 


  

 Temp - 81, Sky - Mostly Cloudy, Wind - W 8mph 

 

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