Pirates 18, Palms 7

 

July 19, 2020 — Coca-Cola Palms Park

By Vin Castillo

For five innings Sunday afternoon, the Miami Palms looked poised to complete a successful opening weekend of the second half.

Four innings later, they were simply trying to get the final out.

Pittsburgh erased an early 6-5 deficit with a devastating six-run sixth inning and followed it with another six-run seventh, rolling past the Palms 18-7 in one of the club's roughest losses of the season.

The Pirates pounded out 27 hits, including two grand slams, turning what had been an entertaining back-and-forth contest into a long afternoon for a Miami pitching staff that had no answers once Pittsburgh's lineup got rolling.

"We got punched in the mouth," manager Scott Hatteberg said afterward. "That's about as simple as I can put it."

Early fireworks

The game hardly looked headed toward disaster in the opening innings.

Miami jumped in front in the first when Brett Gardner launched his ninth homer of the season, Edwin Encarnacion crushed his 21st homer of the season and gave the Palms a quick 2-0 lead.

Pittsburgh answered with three runs in the second and two more in the third, but the Palms refused to go quietly.

Frank Sohn continued his hot weekend with an RBI double in the second before Wellington Castillo drove home another run. In the third, the Palms scored twice putting Miami back ahead 6-5.

At that point, the crowd sensed another high-scoring victory might be brewing.

Instead, the game turned sharply.

Sixth inning avalanche

Adam Conley delivered two scoreless innings in relief of Blake Johnston and handed the ball to Brian Matusz with Miami still leading by a run.

Things unraveled quickly.

Pittsburgh loaded the bases before Bryan Reynolds delivered the biggest swing of the afternoon, launching a grand slam into the seats to put the Pirates ahead for good. The inning continued from there, with the Pirates sending ten men to the plate and scoring six runs.

If that wasn't enough, the seventh inning proved even worse.

After Braden Shipley entered, Pittsburgh collected seven hits and another grand slam, this one from Erik Gonzalez. By the time the inning ended, six more runs had crossed and the scoreboard read 17-7.

The Pirates scored 12 runs over a span of two innings.

Offensive bright spots lost in the chaos

The frustrating part for Miami was that the offense actually produced.

The Palms collected 14 hits and seven walks, with seven different players reaching base multiple times.

  • Frank Sohn: 4-for-5, two RBI
  • Pat Grant: 3-for-6, RBI
  • Brett Gardner: 3-for-6, homer, two RBI
  • Edwin Encarnacion: homer, RBI
  • Chris Korb: reached base three times

On most days, seven runs and fourteen hits is enough to win.

On Sunday, it wasn't even close.

First-half finish

The loss drops Miami to 51-49, leaving the club two games over .500 after the first three games of the second half.

The series victory over Pittsburgh still gives the Palms a winning restart after the All-Star break, but Sunday's game also served as a reminder of the team's biggest concern entering the trade deadline.

The offense continues to score.

The bullpen remains capable of shutting down games late.

The innings between those two points remain far less certain.

The Palms have spent much of 2020 searching for reliable pitching depth. Sunday was a vivid illustration of why that search is unlikely to stop before the deadline.

As players filed quietly out of the clubhouse, one scoreboard number lingered longer than the others:

27 hits allowed.

Some losses count as one in the standings.

Some feel heavier.

This one felt heavy.

 Pittsburgh Pirates 18, Miami Palms 7

 Sunday, July 19, 2020

 

 

 Pittsburgh Pirates (3-3)                                 Miami Palms (51-49)                                     

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

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

 Dyson cf        6  0  1  1  0  2  7  0  0  2   .360      Gardner cf      6  1  3  2  0  1  1  0  0  3   .318

 Newman dh       6  2  5  0  0  1  0  0  0  0   .474      Gonzalez 1b     5  0  0  0  1  1  5  0  0  2   .284

 Frazier 2b      5  1  2  0  1  1  1  1  0  0   .370      Grant lf        6  0  3  1  0  0  3  0  0  3   .291

 Bell 1b         6  2  3  1  0  2  9  0  0  4   .310      Encarnacion dh  4  1  1  1  1  0  0  0  0  3   .275

 Polanco rf      6  4  4  2  0  0  0  0  0  2   .481      Korb 3b         4  2  1  0  1  0  1  2  0  0   .277

 Reynolds lf     6  3  3  7  0  1  3  0  0  0   .444      Koch ss         4  0  1  0  1  1  1  0  0  3   .255

 Hayes 3b        6  4  4  3  0  2  0  1  0  0   .500      Holt 2b         4  2  0  0  1  1  1  1  0  0   .262

 Gonzalez ss     6  1  3  4  0  0  1  4  0  0   .333      Castillo c      4  1  1  1  1  1  11 0  0  0   .198

 Maile c         6  1  2  0  0  2  6  0  0  1   .333      Sohn rf         4  0  4  2  1  0  4  0  0  0   .289

 

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

 Totals          53 18 27 18 1  11 27 7  0  9             Totals          41 7  14 7  7  5  27 5  0  14 

 

 

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

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

 Pittsburgh Pirates         0  3  2  0  0  6  6  0  1         18 27 0  

 Miami Palms                2  2  2  0  0  0  1  0  0         7  14 0  

 

 

 

 LOB- Pittsburgh Pirates 9, Miami Palms 14; 2B- Bell 2(5), Hayes(2), Sohn(26); 3B- Newman(1),

 Polanco(1); HR- Reynolds 2(3), Gonzalez(1), Hayes 2(2), Encarnacion(21), Gardner(9);

 RBI- Bell(5), Polanco 2(4), Reynolds 7(15), Dyson(1), Gonzalez 4(4), Hayes 3(3),

 Encarnacion(71), Castillo(8), Gardner 2(24), Sohn 2(37), Grant(54); GIDP- Frazier(1);

 RLSP- Bell 3, Polanco, Encarnacion 2, Koch, Gonzalez 2, Gardner 2, Grant 2;  

 

 DP- Miami Palms 1; 

  

 

 

 Pittsburgh Pirates            IP   H  R  ER BB SO    ERA

 Williams                      3.0  7  6  6  4  1   18.00 

 Kela                          2.0  2  0  0  0  0    0.00  

 Burdi(W 1-0)                  2.0  2  1  1  1  2    4.50  

 Weiman                        1.0  1  0  0  1  1    0.00  

 Feliz                         1.0  2  0  0  1  1    3.60  

 

 Miami Palms                   IP   H  R  ER BB SO    ERA

 Johnston                      3.0  10 5  5  0  4    4.82  

 Conley                        2.0  2  0  0  0  1    5.18  

 Matusz(L 2-2)(BS,1)           0.2  6  6  6  1  2    6.51  

 Shipley                       1.0  7  6  6  0  0    7.75  

 Morin                         2.1  2  1  1  0  4    3.86  

 

 Inherited runners-scored- Shipley, Morin; Pitches-strikes- Williams 73-39, Kela 22-11,

 Burdi 33-18, Weiman 21-10, Feliz 18-11, Johnston 58-38, Conley 23-16, Matusz 32-20,

 Shipley 22-17, Morin 27-18; Batters faced- Williams 20, Kela 8, Burdi 9, Weiman 5,

 Feliz 6, Johnston 19, Conley 7, Matusz 9, Shipley 10, Morin 9; 


  

 

  

 Temp - 90, Sky - Mostly cloudy, Wind - ESE 14mph 

 


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