Miami Palms Blog

  By Rhys Thomason The Miami Palms didn’t fix everything in Houston — but they did remind us why this season isn’t spiraling, even when it feels like it is. Two wins at the tail end of a road trip don’t erase a rough week, and they certainly don’t answer the bigger questions that hover as July approaches. But if you’re looking for proof that this team hasn’t slipped into something more ominous, the final 48 hours in Houston were a useful counterargument. Saturday’s 13-inning win was the emotional jolt — Emilio Miranda’s grand slam, the dugout spilling onto the top step, the kind of moment rebuilding teams dream on and contenders quietly need. Sunday was the more important game. It was professional. It was controlled. It was, frankly, boring in all the right ways. That’s the version of the Palms that still matters. Brian Kragh didn’t dominate, but he stabilized. The bullpen didn’t overpower, but it executed. The lineup didn’t bludgeon, but it found timely swings from players wh...

  By Vin Castillo HOUSTON — For the first time in a week, the Miami Palms are heading home with a little wind at their backs. The Palms closed out their Houston trip by taking the series finale, a steady 5–2 win over the Astros on Sunday, securing back-to-back victories and nudging their record to 38–35 as they head into Monday’s off day. Unlike Saturday night’s 13-inning epic, this one followed a calmer, more controlled script — and after the way the week began, calm felt just fine. Brian Kragh set the tone early, settling in after a two-run first inning and retiring 13 of the next 16 hitters he faced. The right-hander went six innings, allowing six hits and two runs, and kept Houston quiet long enough for the Palms’ offense to methodically chip away. Miami answered immediately after falling behind. Matt Koch’s RBI single in the third got the Palms on the board, and an inning later Brock Holt launched a solo shot to right to tie the game. The decisive blow came in the fifth, ...

  By Vin Castillo HOUSTON — The losing streak didn’t so much end as it was blasted into orbit. After four straight gut-punch losses, the Miami Palms finally exhaled Saturday night, riding a 13-inning marathon and an unforgettable swing from Emilio Miranda to a 5–3 win over the Astros — a game that felt like it might never end until it suddenly, emphatically did. Miranda, the rookie call-up still finding his footing at the big-league level, delivered the moment of the season so far in the top of the 13th. With the bases loaded and two outs, he turned on a Joe Biagini offering and sent it screaming into the seats for a grand slam — his first career home run and, fittingly, his first four career RBIs all wrapped into one thunderous exclamation point. “Honestly, I just didn’t want to be the guy who made the last out again,” Miranda said afterward, grinning. “Everything after that is kind of a blur.” It had been a long time coming. The Palms scratched out an early run in the sec...

  By Vin Castillo The uniforms changed. The roof closed. The opponent reset. The result did not. Friday night in Houston, the Miami Palms let another winnable game slip away, falling 4–3 to the Astros and extending their skid to four games — all of them carrying the same frustrating shape. One Bad Inning Jarod Lantz was steady for most of the night. Unfortunately, the Astros only needed one inning where he wasn’t. Houston struck for four runs in the second , cashing in three walks and a string of singles and doubles to turn a quiet game loud in a hurry. By the time the inning ended, Lantz had already thrown nearly a third of his pitch count — and the Palms were chasing again. To his credit, Lantz regrouped. He went seven full innings , allowing no runs after that second frame. But once more, the early damage proved decisive. Power, but Not Enough Miami actually struck first, when Matt Koch launched a solo homer in the opening inning. Koch later added a ringing double and ...

  By Vin Castillo There are losses, and then there are nights where the only mercy is the final out. Thursday night at Coca-Cola Palms Park was the latter, as the Toronto Blue Jays finished off a three-game sweep of the Miami Palms with a ruthless 12–1 dismantling that felt decisive by the fourth inning and punitive by the eighth. The Palms managed seven hits. Toronto managed seventeen. The gap between those numbers barely tells the story. It Unraveled Early — and Never Stopped Blake Johnston was serviceable through three innings, but Toronto cracked him in the fourth, stringing together four runs on a mix of loud contact and relentless pressure. Johnston exited after five, charged with four runs, and by then the game already felt like it was leaning hard in one direction. From there, it turned into a bullpen night the Palms would rather forget. Shipley surrendered a run. Conley gave up two more. Morin’s eighth inning implosion — five runs on five hits — turned a bad...

By Vin Castillo  MIAMI — For seven innings Wednesday night, the Miami Palms played the kind of crisp, controlled baseball that wins close games. The eighth inning unraveled all of it. Toronto scored three times in the top of the eighth, turning a tight pitchers’ duel into a 3–1 Blue Jays victory and sending the Palms to a frustrating loss in game two of the series at Coca-Cola Palms Park. The moment that should have been remembered longest came much earlier. In the third inning, Jason Roeder turned on a Tanner Roark fastball and sent it just over the wall in right-center for the first home run of his major-league career . The solo shot gave Miami a 1–0 lead and briefly lifted the dugout in a game where runs were at a premium. “I didn’t even feel it off the bat,” Roeder said afterward. “I just ran. You hope those moments matter.” For most of the night, it looked like it would. Erick Fedde was sharp before exiting after 4⅔ innings, scattering three hits and allowing no runs w...

 MIAMI — There was little drama in this one, and even less momentum for the home club. The Toronto Blue Jays jumped ahead early and never really let go Tuesday night, handing the Miami Palms an 8–3 loss at Coca-Cola Palms Park in a game that felt decided well before the final innings. Toronto did its damage with the long ball and timely extra-base hits, tagging Dylan Bundy for four runs in four innings. Solo home runs by Randal Grichuk and Rowdy Telez  highlighted a four-run fourth inning that pushed the Blue Jays firmly in control. Miami managed just six hits on the night and never mounted sustained pressure against Toronto starter Chase Anderson , who worked eight efficient innings. The Palms’ offense briefly stirred in the fourth, when Brock Holt doubled home two runs and Greg Garcia followed with a sacrifice fly, but that was as close as it would get. From there, Toronto’s lineup continued to tack on runs against the bullpen, with homers from Bo Bichette  and V...

 MIAMI — After two days of momentum swings and long balls, the Miami Palms closed out their three-game set with Atlanta by taking the bats out of the Braves’ hands entirely. Behind eight brilliant innings from Manny Parra, the Palms shut out Atlanta 4–0 on Sunday afternoon at Coca-Cola Palms Park, winning the series and heading into an off day with a 36–31 record and a sense that this club is beginning to find its footing. Parra was in complete control from the first pitch. The veteran left-hander allowed just one hit over eight scoreless innings , striking out eight and walking two. Atlanta never advanced a runner past second base while he was in the game. “That’s the version of Manny we know is in there,” manager Scott Hatteberg said. “He worked both sides, stayed ahead, and never let them breathe.” Miami struck first in the third inning, using patience and timely contact to manufacture runs. Emilio Miranda, making just his fifth start since being called up from Jackson, se...