Palms Explode for Seven-Run Fifth, Move to Three Games Over .500
Miami 9, Pittsburgh 4
July 18, 2020 — Coca-Cola Palms Park
By Vin Castillo
For four innings Saturday night, it looked like the Miami Palms might waste another strong offensive start.
Then the fifth inning happened.
The Palms sent 11 men to the plate, pounded out six hits, drew two walks, and turned a 4-2 deficit into a 9-4 lead in a stunning seven-run eruption that carried them to a 9-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
With the win, Miami improved to 51-48 and secured its first series victory of the second half.
"We kept putting pressure on them," manager Scott Hatteberg said. "Eventually something was going to break."
Miranda Keeps Making Noise
The story before the game was Emilio Miranda's recall from AAA Jackson after Yairo Munoz landed on the injured list.
The story after the game was Emilio Miranda.
The young outfielder reached base four times, went 3-for-4, scored twice, doubled, homered, and drove in two runs. In just a handful of major league games, Miranda continues to look remarkably comfortable.
His first-inning solo homer gave Miami an early 1-0 lead and briefly energized a crowd still settling back into baseball after the All-Star break.
If Miranda was trying to make a case for staying in Miami, he's doing an excellent job.
Pirates Punch Back
The game nearly got away from the Palms in the middle innings.
Erick Fedde struggled again, allowing 10 hits in just 3⅓ innings. Pittsburgh scored once in the third and then struck for three more in the fourth behind a parade of hard contact.
By the time Kevin Newman's RBI double gave the Pirates a 4-2 lead, the visitors had collected 10 hits and appeared to have all the momentum.
Fedde exited with his ERA climbing above 8.00, continuing what has been a difficult season for the right-hander.
The Inning That Changed Everything
The fifth began innocently enough.
It ended with the Pirates desperately searching for outs.
Edwin Encarnacion doubled, followed by a Chris Korb single and a Brock Holt walk. The Palms kept the line moving and the bases loaded, as Matt Koch, Brett Gardner, Miranda and Pat Grant earned RBI, before Encarnacion stepped up and doubled again, this time clearing the bases. By the time the dust settled, Miami had scored seven times and completely flipped the game.
Encarnacion finished with three hits, two doubles, and three RBI, pushing his season total to 70.
Grant collected two more hits and another RBI.
Wieters picked up his first RBI since returning from the injured list.
And suddenly a game that looked troublesome became comfortable.
Bullpen Saves the Night
Lost amid the offensive fireworks was perhaps the most encouraging development of the evening.
The bullpen was outstanding.
Braden Shipley entered with two runners aboard and limited the damage. Adam Conley followed with three scoreless innings, one of his sharpest appearances of the year. Brian Matusz handled the ninth.
Combined, the relief corps threw 5⅔ scoreless innings while allowing only five baserunners.
For a club that has spent much of the season searching for dependable pitching behind Chris Martin, that might be the most important takeaway from the night.
Heading into the Finale
Miami has now won the first two games of the series and sits three games above .500 for the first time since late June.
The offense continues to produce, the bullpen has stabilized, and new faces like Miranda are injecting life into the roster.
The standings still present a challenge—the Palms remain well behind both New York in the division and the Wild Card leaders—but for the first time in weeks, there is a growing sense that Miami may have some momentum.
And after spending much of the first half trying to climb out of holes, Saturday's seven-run fifth felt like the kind of inning that can change the mood of an entire clubhouse.
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