🌴 Lantz Leads the Way as Palms Blank Rays on the Fourth, 3–0

 By Vin Castillo, Coca-Cola Palms Park

On a humid Fourth of July afternoon, the Miami Palms didn’t need fireworks.

They brought their own.

Wearing their black City Connect “305 Nights” uniforms for the holiday matchup, the Palms leaned on a dominant outing from Jarod Lantz and just enough timely hitting to shut out the Tampa Bay Rays 3–0, securing the series win and continuing a much-needed bounce-back stretch.

🎆 Lantz in Command

This was as sharp as Jarod Lantz has looked in some time.

  • 8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 8 K
  • Efficient, composed, and in control throughout
  • Worked out of the few jams he faced without damage

The Rays never found a rhythm, managing just four hits and rarely threatening.

“That’s the version of him we trust,” pitching coach Tony Rico said. “He stayed ahead, and everything played off that.”

⚾ Garcia Breaks It Open

After three quiet innings, Miami broke through in the fourth:

  • Greg Garcia delivered the key swing with a two-run triple, driving in both runs of the inning
  • The Palms didn’t overwhelm Charlie Morton—but they made their chances count

They added an insurance run in the eighth on an RBI from Yairo Muñoz, giving the bullpen breathing room.

🔒 Bullpen Stays Automatic

With Lantz handing over a clean game, Chris Martin handled the ninth:

  • 1 IP, 0 R, Save (25)

At this point, when the Palms have a lead late, it’s starting to feel routine.

⚡ Quietly Productive Day at the Plate

Miami piled up 12 hits, even if the scoring didn’t fully reflect it:

  • Ian Pfaff: 2 hits, continues his hot stretch
  • Frank Sohn: 2 hits, steady as ever
  • Greg Garcia: 2 RBI, game’s biggest swing
  • Brett Gardner / Jaspero Gonzalez: table-setting at the top

🌴 A Different Kind of Win

After the chaos of the Boston series, this one felt… controlled.

  • Clean defense
  • Dominant starting pitching
  • Timely hitting instead of explosive offense

And maybe fittingly, it came in the City Connect uniforms—flash on the outside, but substance underneath.

📊 Final

Miami Palms 3, Tampa Bay Rays 0
WP: Jarod Lantz (2–5)
SV: Chris Martin (25)
LP: Charlie Morton (0–1)

🧭 What It Means

The Palms improve to 45–46 and have now:

  • Won 2 straight
  • Secured the series against Tampa
  • Looked like a much more balanced team doing it

🔜 Up Next

A chance for a sweep on Sunday—and something even bigger:

👉 A chance to climb back to .500

For a team that’s been hovering around that line all season, the opportunity is right there.

And for the first time in a while, it feels like they might actually take it.

 Miami Palms 3, Tampa Bay Rays 0

 Saturday, July 4, 2020

 

 

 Tampa Bay Rays (1-4)                                     Miami Palms (45-46)                                     

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

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

 Margot cf       4  0  0  0  0  2  2  0  0  0   .211      Gardner cf      4  0  2  0  0  0  1  0  0  2   .314

 Diaz 3b         4  0  1  0  0  2  1  2  0  1   .182      Gonzalez 2b     4  0  2  0  0  1  1  1  0  0   .290

 Meadows lf      4  0  0  0  0  1  1  0  0  0   .250      Korb 3b         4  0  0  0  0  1  1  1  0  3   .270

 Lowe 2b         4  0  1  0  0  0  0  1  0  1   .263      Encarnacion dh  4  1  1  0  0  1  0  0  0  0   .264

 Renfroe rf      4  0  1  0  0  1  3  0  0  0   .267      Pfaff 1b        4  1  2  0  0  0  6  2  0  0   .406

 Adames ss       3  0  0  0  1  2  1  2  0  1   .211      Sohn rf         4  1  2  0  0  0  0  0  0  0   .276

 Martinez 1b     3  0  0  0  0  1  7  0  0  1   .400      Munoz ss        4  0  1  1  0  3  2  2  0  1   .280

 Zunino c        2  0  1  0  1  0  9  0  0  1   .300      Garcia lf       4  0  2  2  0  1  3  0  0  1   .220

 Tsutsugo dh     3  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1   .000      Castillo c      3  0  0  0  0  0  9  0  0  2   .183

 

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

 Totals          31 0  4  0  2  9  24 5  0  6             Totals          35 3  12 3  0  7  27 8  0  9  

 

 

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

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

 Tampa Bay Rays         0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0      0  4  0  

 Miami Palms            0  0  0  2  0  0  0  1         3  12 0  

 

 

 

 LOB- Tampa Bay Rays 6, Miami Palms 9; 2B- Diaz(1), Zunino(1), Encarnacion(18), Sohn(22);

 3B- Garcia(2); RBI- Garcia 2(20), Munoz(25); RLSP- Martinez, Lowe, Tsutsugo, Garcia,

 Castillo, Gardner, Korb, Munoz;  

 

 DP- Tampa Bay Rays 1;  

  

 

 

 Tampa Bay Rays            IP   H  R  ER BB SO    ERA

 Morton(L 0-1)             6.0  8  2  2  0  6    3.00  

 Banda                     2.0  4  1  1  0  1    9.00  

 

 Miami Palms               IP   H  R  ER BB SO    ERA

 Lantz(W 2-5)              8.0  3  0  0  2  8    3.54  

 Martin(S,25)              1.0  1  0  0  0  1    1.63  

 

 Pitches-strikes- Morton 85-56, Banda 30-26, Lantz 98-65, Martin 11-8; Batters faced- Morton 26,

 Banda 10, Lantz 29, Martin 4; 


 HBP- Castillo(by Morton);  

 

  

 Temp - 92, Sky - Mostly Cloudy, Wind - SSE 10MPH 

 

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