Palms Walk It Off, Finally Get One on Toronto

 By Vin Castillo

For eight innings Tuesday night, it looked like the Toronto Blue Jays were going to find yet another way to torment the Miami Palms. Instead, Pat Grant made sure the story finally flipped.

Grant launched a walk-off, two-run home run into the warm Miami night in the bottom of the ninth, lifting the Palms to a cathartic 7–5 win at Coca-Cola Palms Park and snapping their long, frustrating run of near-misses against Toronto.

And it came after the kind of ninth inning that felt cursed—right up until it wasn’t.

After Toronto tied the game in the top of the eighth on a Travis Shaw RBI single off Wandy Peralta, Miami looked briefly rattled. But Jason Roeder opened the bottom of the ninth with a single, and Yairo Muñoz followed with another knock to put the winning run on base with nobody out. The momentum screeched to a halt when Matt Koch bounced into a brutal 1-5-3 double play, erasing both runners and quieting the crowd in an instant.

Four pitches later, Grant ended the suspense.

Toronto reliever Anthony Bass tried to sneak a fastball past him, and Grant didn’t miss. The ball carried over the wall for his 11th home run of the season, sending the Palms’ dugout spilling onto the field and finally delivering a win that had felt overdue.

“It didn’t matter how we got there,” Grant said afterward. “We just needed one like that.”

Miami built an early lead behind a busy night from the middle of the order. Grant finished 2-for-4 with a triple, a homer, and three runs scored. Edwin Encarnación went 2-for-4 with an RBI double, and Matt Wieters chipped in a run-scoring hit. Frank Sohn did most of his damage in one swing, crushing a two-run homer in the fifth to give Miami a 5–3 cushion.

That lead didn’t hold.

Venezuelan right-hander Javy Blanco, making his first start filling in for the injured Erick Fedde, battled but was hit hard, allowing four runs on eight hits over five innings. The bullpen steadied things until the eighth, when Shaw's single tied the game and brought back all the bad memories from earlier in the series.

Instead, Chris Martin slammed the door in the ninth, setting the stage for Grant’s heroics.

The Palms improved to 39–35 and, perhaps more importantly, finally showed they could stand toe-to-toe with Toronto and land the last punch.

“It’s one game,” manager Scott Hatteberg said. “But it’s a good one to have.”

For a team that’s spent the last two weeks trying to rediscover its footing, Tuesday night felt like more than just a win. It felt like a release.

 Miami Palms 7, Toronto Blue Jays 5

 Tuesday, June 16, 2020

 

 

 Toronto Blue Jays (5-1)                                  Miami Palms (39-35)                                     

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

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

 Bichette ss     5  0  1  0  0  0  1  0  0  2   .357      Munoz ss        5  1  1  0  0  1  0  2  0  0   .292

 Gurriel, Jr. lf 5  2  4  0  0  0  1  0  0  0   .429      Koch 2b         5  0  1  0  0  1  1  2  0  2   .271

 Guerrero, Jr. 3b5  0  1  0  0  0  2  3  0  0   .241      Grant 1b        4  3  2  2  1  0  8  0  0  1   .298

 Grichuk cf      4  0  2  2  1  0  2  0  0  4   .520      Encarnacion dh  4  2  2  1  0  2  0  0  0  0   .256

 Tellez dh       5  1  1  0  0  1  0  0  0  3   .176      Wieters c       4  0  1  1  0  1  4  0  0  0   .245

 Biggio 2b       4  2  2  2  0  0  1  3  0  0   .320      Sohn rf         4  1  2  3  0  0  4  0  0  0   .270

 Fisher rf       4  0  1  0  0  1  2  0  0  0   .360      Holt lf         3  0  1  0  1  0  7  0  0  0   .250

 Shaw 1b         4  0  1  1  0  1  10 1  0  0   .375      Garcia 3b       3  0  0  0  1  0  0  1  0  3   .216

 Jansen c        4  0  0  0  0  1  6  0  0  0   .200      Roeder cf       4  0  1  0  0  1  3  0  0  0   .231

 

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

 Totals          40 5  13 5  1  4  26 9  0  9             Totals          36 7  11 7  3  6  27 7  0  6  

 

 

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

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

 Toronto Blue Jays         1  0  0  2  1  0  0  1  0      5  13 0  

 Miami Palms               2  0  0  0  3  0  0  0  2      7  11 0  

 

 

 

 LOB- Toronto Blue Jays 9, Miami Palms 6; 2B- Gurriel, Jr.(3), Tellez(2), Encarnacion(13);

 3B- Gurriel, Jr.(1), Grant(4); HR- Biggio(2), Sohn(5), Grant(11); RBI- Grichuk 2(7),

 Shaw(9), Biggio 2(4), Encarnacion(49), Wieters(26), Sohn 3(23), Grant 2(37); GIDP- Koch(2);

 RLSP- Bichette 2, Grichuk 2, Koch, Garcia 2;  

 

 DP- Toronto Blue Jays 1;  

  

 

 

 Toronto Blue Jays            IP   H  R  ER BB SO    ERA

 Roark                        5.0  8  5  5  3  5    4.15  

 Giles                        2.0  0  0  0  0  1    0.00  

 Bass(L 0-1)                  1.2  3  2  2  0  0   10.80 

 

 Miami Palms                  IP   H  R  ER BB SO    ERA

 Blanco                       5.0  8  4  4  0  1    7.20  

 Jeffress(H,7)                2.0  2  0  0  0  2    2.74  

 Peralta(BS 2)                1.0  3  1  1  0  1    4.18  

 Martin(W 2-0)                1.0  0  0  0  1  0    1.82  

 

 Pitches-strikes- Roark 94-51, Giles 22-13, Bass 23-16, Blanco 51-37, Jeffress 24-15,

 Peralta 16-10, Martin 13-7; Batters faced- Roark 26, Giles 6, Bass 7, Blanco 23,

 Jeffress 8, Peralta 6, Martin 4; 


  

 

  

 Temp - 84, Sky - Mostly Clear, Wind - NE 12MPH 

 

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