Wieters powers comeback in Cincinnati

 CINCINNATI — Maybe it’s the humidity rolling off the Ohio River or the way Great American Ball Park keeps baseballs feeling just a little lighter, but the Miami Palms sure seem comfortable playing from behind. On Tuesday night, they did it again—spotting the Reds an early lead, absorbing every punch, and then answering with a flurry of their own in a 7–6 comeback win to open their series in Cincinnati.

“We’re getting pretty good at not panicking,” Matt Wieters said afterward with a laugh. “Not that we want this to be our style, but if that’s how it has to be? Fine. We’ll take it.”

The Reds threw haymakers early, pushing across six runs in the first four innings against Manny Parra. Miami trailed 6–2 by the time the dust settled, and with Tyler Mahle pounding the zone, the Palms’ chances looked steeper than the Taft Road incline outside the ballpark.

But Wieters, in what’s becoming a quietly steady May surge, had other plans.

The veteran catcher led off the fifth with a towering solo shot to right, his first of two homers on the night. Later in the inning, Matt Koch roped an RBI double and Yairo Munoz lined a run-scoring single, knifing the deficit to just one. By the sixth, the Palms completed the flip: another Wieters blast to right to knot the game, and then Brock Holt lacing a go-ahead RBI double off Michael Lorenzen.

“It felt like we finally exhaled,” Holt said. “Once we tied it, we knew our bullpen would slam the door.”

And that’s exactly what happened. Wandy Peralta bridged the middle innings with two scoreless frames, Cody Allen navigated traffic in the eighth, and Chris Martin—cool as an evening breeze—retired the side in order for his 19th save.

Meanwhile, first baseman Ian Pfaff’s stealth four-hit night gave the Palms steady traffic on the bases, Nick Markakis chipped in three hits, and Edwin Encarnación’s third-inning two-run homer kept Miami within striking distance long enough for the late surge to matter.

Despite the constant pressure of Cincinnati’s lineup—Joey Votto and Tucker Barnhart homered, Jesse Winker and Derek Dietrich each tripled—the Palms stayed composed. Manager Scott Hatteberg praised the resilience afterward.

“That’s a team win,” Hatteberg said. “We’ve been leaning on different guys every night. Tonight it was Wieters, Holt, the bullpen… but it all counts the same. It’s fun baseball right now.”

With the victory, the Palms improve to 32–25, winners of six of their last eight and continuing to inch toward the top of the AL East scrum. They’ll look for more of that quiet toughness tomorrow night in Game 2, where Erick Fedde is scheduled to take the ball.

“It’s a long road trip,” Wieters said, “but if we keep swinging like this, we’ll enjoy it.”

 Miami Palms 7, Cincinnati Reds 6

 Tuesday, May 26, 2020

 

 

 Miami Palms (32-25)                                      Cincinnati Reds (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        5  0  1  1  0  2  1  2  0  2   .316      Winker lf       5  1  2  1  0  0  2  0  0  0   .400

 Markakis lf     4  1  3  0  1  0  2  0  0  0   .341      Suarez 3b       3  1  1  1  2  1  2  0  0  1   .333

 Grant rf        5  0  0  0  0  2  5  0  0  2   .274      Votto 1b        5  1  2  2  0  0  6  0  0  0   .400

 Encarnacion dh  5  1  1  2  0  3  0  0  0  2   .270      Dietrich rf     4  1  2  0  0  1  1  0  0  0   .500

 Wieters c       5  2  2  2  0  1  6  0  0  0   .254      Barnhart c      4  1  2  2  0  0  11 0  0  1   .500

 Pfaff 1b        5  1  4  0  0  0  8  0  0  0   .342      Akiyama cf      4  0  1  0  0  1  4  0  0  0   .250

 Holt cf         4  0  1  1  1  2  2  0  0  0   .254      Galvis ss       4  0  0  0  0  2  0  0  0  2   .000

 Garcia 3b       4  1  1  0  1  1  1  1  0  0   .327      Colon 2b        4  1  1  0  0  0  1  5  0  0   .250

 Koch 2b         5  1  2  1  0  0  1  4  0  5   .296      Moustakas dh    4  0  0  0  0  1  0  0  0  2   .000

 

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

 Totals          42 7  15 7  3  11 27 8  0  11            Totals          37 6  11 6  2  6  27 6  0  6  

 

 

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

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

 Miami Palms             0  0  2  0  0  3  2  0  0         7  15 0  

 Cincinnati Reds         1  0  4  1  0  0  0  0  0         6  11 0  

 

 

 

 LOB- Miami Palms 11, Cincinnati Reds 6; 2B- Koch(7), Holt(4), Pfaff(2), Winker(1),

 Colon(1); 3B- Winker(1), Dietrich(1); HR- Encarnacion(12), Wieters 2(12), Votto(1),

 Barnhart(1); RBI- Encarnacion 2(43), Koch(16), Wieters 2(23), Holt(13), Munoz(19),

 Winker(1), Suarez(1), Votto 2(2), Barnhart 2(2); GIDP- Votto(1); RLSP- Encarnacion,

 Koch 3, Munoz, Grant, Suarez, Galvis, Moustakas 2;  

 

 DP- Miami Palms 1;  

  

 

 

 Miami Palms                IP   H  R  ER BB SO    ERA

 Parra                      5.0  9  6  6  1  5    6.24  

 Peralta(W 2-0)             2.0  0  0  0  1  0    2.79  

 Allen(H,7)                 1.0  2  0  0  0  0    4.60  

 Martin(S, 19)              1.0  0  0  0  0  1    1.71  

 

 Cincinnati Reds            IP   H  R  ER BB SO    ERA

 Mahle                      6.0  10 5  5  2  10   7.50  

 Lorenzen(L 0-1)(BS,1)      1.0  3  2  2  0  0   18.00 

 Stephenson                 2.0  2  0  0  1  1    0.00  

 

 Pitches-strikes- Parra 78-51, Peralta 20-7, Allen 16-11, Martin 12-8, Mahle 107-66,

 Lorenzen 18-13, Stephenson 25-14; Batters faced- Parra 25, Peralta 6, Allen 5,

 Martin 3, Mahle 30, Lorenzen 6, Stephenson 9; 


  

 

  

 Temp - 84, Sky - Partly cloudy, Wind - SSE 6MPH 

 

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