FSL1 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels

Miracle hold on for 5-4 win

Published on August 2, 2008 under Florida State League (FSL1)
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels News Release


FORT MYERS, F.L. (August 2, 2008) - In another Fort Myers Miracle match-up against the Clearwater Threshers, a fast game continued to be in neither team's vocabulary. Saturday night's Florida State League game went past the three-hour mark for the fifth-consecutive time as the Miracle held on late for a 5-4 win over the Threshers at Hammond Stadium. The bottom third of the lineup combined on a 7-for-12 night at the plate as the Miracle picked up their first series-win since the beginning of July.

After a couple of scoreless innings to start, the Miracle jumped on the board with a pair of runs in the third. An infield-single by Yancarlos Ortiz and base on balls by Brandon Roberts, allowed Wilson Ramos to pick up a sacrifice-fly and Edward Ovalle to snag an RBI-single to right for an early two run lead.

Danny Berg, Danny Santiestiban and Ortiz, the bottom three hitters in the lineup, each picked up a hit to load the bases with nobody in the fourth. Roberts came up with the groundball Clearwater was looking for, hitting into a 4-6-3 double play, but Berg ended up scoring on the play extending the lead to three.

Gary Cates and Quinton Berry would help get the Threshers on the board with back-to-back two-out singles in the fifth, cutting the deficit back down to one. A half-inning later, Ramos would extend his hitting streak to 13 games with a lead-off double to right. A hit-by-pitch to Ovalle set the table for the Miracle to return the favor with two-straight two-out singles, these by Berg and Santiestiban again, pushing the Miracle back out to a 5-2 advantage.

Clearwater would get to within one again in the seventh, until Blair Erickson and Anthony Slama shut the door on the Threshers offense the rest of the way. With runners at first and second with two out, Berry would strike again with his third hit of the night scoring Jesus Villegas from second. Berry would also score from second later in the inning after an infield-single to short by Taylor and error committed by Berg over at first.

Cole Devries picked up the win for the Miracle tossing six innings, allowing two runs on seven hits, while tying the season-high with nine strikeouts in a game. Erickson faced the minimum four hitters in his inning and a third, fanning three. Slama picked up his 22nd save getting around a couple of one-out walks before back-to-back strikeouts ended the game.

Winning their first series since a sweep of Tampa back on July 1-3, the Miracle will continue the homestand on Sunday afternoon welcoming in the Sarasota Reds for a brief two-game set. On a "Family Fun Sunday" fans can purchase four tickets, four hot dogs, four sodas and a game program for the low price of $20. RHP Alex Burnett (7-4, 3.89) gets the ball for the Miracle against Reds right-hander Rafael Gonzalez (4-8, 6.93). Catch the 1:05 p.m. first pitch Sunday on WMYR AM-1410 and WCNZ AM-1660.

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Florida State League Stories from August 2, 2008


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