Cards take game one from Miracle

Palm Beach 4 at Fort Myers 3

W: E. Hernandez (2-0, 6.00); L: J. Manship (5-2, 3.38); SV: F. Samuel (5)
HR: FTM: D. Santiesteban (3).

Prior to the game, Johnny Woodard was placed on the disabled list with a broken hamate bone. He will be out 5 weeks to 2 months, depending upon who you talk to. The standing joke is that he and Danny Valencia where arm wrestling for a ham sandwich when it occurred. Evidently he broke it during batting practice.

The Palm Beach Cardinals defeated the Miracle 4-3 Thursday night, as the rally fell short. Despite what the box score says, Jeff Manship did not pitch nine innings, only 7. Danny Vais pitched the last two.

He did pitch very, very well however through five before getting into some trouble during the sixth.

Andrew Brown doubled off him in the second inning. He's move to 3rd on a Tony Cruz ground out. Daryl Jones then pretended he was hit by a pitch. At least, it was argued as catcher Allan de San Miguel, who was much closer to the incident than I was, claimed the ball never touched the guy. However, the umpires ruling stood. Luke Gorsett then ground out which scored Brown.

In the bottom of the 4th, Juan Portes walked his way onto base. Whit Robbins hit a good solid double out to left and field manager Jeff Smith waved Portes past 3rd. Unfortunately, the ball got to the plate first, and Portes was taken out at home.

So the Miracle would not get on the board until the bottom of the 5th when Danny Santiesteban went yard over the center field fence.

This is where it gets weird. In the top of the 6th James Rapoport and Donovan Solano hit back-to-back singles. It then looked like Brian Carlie hit into a double play, but the umpire would rule him safe. Meanwhile Rapoport scored. Andrew Brown's single brought in Solano. Following Tony Cruz's pop out, Jones got hit by a pitch (again?) Luke Gorsett would line out and Daniel Descatso singled to score Carlie. Brown would try to go home, but this time the Miracle made the play at the plate, taking the runner out.

Brian Dinkelman drew a walk in the bottom of the 6th. Following a fly out to Yangervis Solarte, Portes hit a line drive to move Dinkelman to 2nd. A pitching change was in order for the Cards, and Whit Robbins greeted Justin Fiske with a fly ball single that scored Dinkelman. Edward Ovalle would reach on a fielding error by Carlie, and Portes would score, to make make it 4-3 Palm Beach.

Manship would get three quick outs in the 7th before giving way to Vais, however aside from a single to Ovalle in the bottom of the 9th, the Miracle could get no offense going to change the final score.

Robbins and Ovalle were both 2-for-4 in the contest. Wilson Ramos was 0-for-4 in the designated hitter role with 3 strike outs.

Deolis Guerra (4-1, 4.67) tosses out the first pitch tomorrow at 7:05 in game two of the four game series. Brandon Dickson (2-4, 3.64) will get the nod on the mound for Palm Beach.

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Note: Roger, please e-mail me. I'd send you the injury updates, but I have no way of reaching you short of posting on Twinkie Town.

There are no immediate plans to replace Woodard on the Miracle roster, it will stand at 24.

Terry Ryan arrived into town, just in time for my annual Me-Mauer-ial Day game with him on Monday. The GCL Twins will take on the GCL Pirates at 10:00 AM on Monday, May 26th.



Beloit 5 at Clinton 1

W: S. Arias (2-1, 2.83); L: K. Gomez (7-1, 2.52)
HR: None.

Santos Arias limited the Beloit Snappers to 1 run on 3 hits and 2 walks while fanning 7 over 7 innings. Loek Van Mil worked the final two innings, allowing only 2 hits while striking out 4.

Danny Lehmann tripled in the top of the 3rd then came home on a Chris Cates ground out. In the top of the 4th, Chris Parmelee tripled to score Garrett Olson, who'd reached on a fielding error. Ramon Santana would be hit by a pitch. Steve Singleton's line dive plated Parmelee, while Santana scored on a sac-bunt and a ground out.

Santana would single in the top of the 6th, move to 3rd on a Singleton sac-bunt, and come home when Mark Dolenc ground into a double play.

Ben Revere would go 2-for-5 at the plate, but did not factor into the scoring.

The teams split the series 2-games each; Beloit starts a 4 game homestand against Burlington on Friday with the first pitch coming at 6:30 PM central time.

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Wednesday:
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Rochester 3 at Pawtucket 11

W: M. Tejera (3-3, 4.15); L: P. Humber (1-5, 5.89)
HR: PAW: J. Bailey 2 (12), C. Carter (5).

Phil Humber lasted just 3.2 innings as he allowed 7 runs, six earned, on 5 hits and 4 walks while striking out 2. A change of pitching did little to stem the bleeding through, as the Rochester Red Wings were thoroughly whipped by the Pawtucket Pawsox.

The Wings would go scoreless until the top of the 7th, when Randy Ruiz singled, then moved to 3rd on a fielding error by Chris Carter that also allowed Garrett Jones to reach. He'd be plated by a Jose Morales ground out, to save the visitors from being blanked.

In the top of the 8th, Tommy Watkins walked, and Darrell McDonald reached on a Brandon Moss fielding error. Brian Buscher then doubled the pair in.

Ruiz was 2-for-4 in the contest, the only wing with a multi-hit game.

Matt Macri was called up to the Twins to replace Adam Everett who was placed on the disabled list. Darnell McDonald was activated from the disabled list to replace him on the Rochester roster (D&C). Infielder Felix Molina was also promoted from AA to Rochester.

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Former Cats help do-in New Britain

Harrisburg 5 at New Britain 2

W: M. Estrada (5-2, 2.45); L: J. Sawatski (1-3, 8.03); SV: S. Schmoll (3)
HR: HAR: L. Montz (9).

I'm not sure if it was by coincidence or design, but the entire Eastern League played day games today. After the marathon 7-hour double header yesterday, including a rain delay, I can't imagine that either team was excited about hitting the field again for a 10:35 AM start.

The New Britain Rock Cats tried to look lively early on, pouncing on an early first inning lead. Steve Tolleson lead off with a walk, and Matt Moses doubled to move him to 3rd. Luke Hughes would hit into a ground out that scored Tolleson and moved Moses to 3rd. Erik Lis then sacrificed in Moses.

That would be it for the Cats though, who only managed four hits in the whole game.

Former Miracle and Sarasota native Jason Miller would be on the mound for the Cats. Evidently, I'd missed the move that put Yohan Pino on the 7-day DL with shoulder stiffness, so J-Mill would take his start.

Garrett Guzman - another Twins farm alumni - would double for the Senators to lead off in the 3rd inning. Two outs later, Luke Montz would go yard over the left field wall to tie up the game.

Jay Sawatski would replace J-Mill for the top of the 5th, and after getting Guzman to strike out, allowed a ground rule double to William Bergolla. He'd get Roger Bernadina out on strikes, but issued a walk to Montz. Luis Jimenez, a former Rock Cat, then singled out to center to score Bergolla for the game winning run.

Sawatski would hold the Sens off for the next two innings and gave way to Kyle Aselton in the top of the 8th. The lefty, who has posted some good numbers this year in the Rock Cats pen, walked Jimenez to start out the top of the 8th. Ofilio Castro singled, and the pair would advance a base each on a throwing error by Steve Tolleson. Andrew Lefave then drew a walk to load the bases. Aselton would take two Senators out on strikes before a Guzman single plated Jimenez and Castro for the insurance runs.

Jeff Christy would single off yet another former Twins farmhand, Levale Speigner, and then move to second on a wild pitch. Matt Moses would also draw a walk, but the pair went nowhere as Steve Tolleson ground out and Hughes hit into a double play to end the game.

Hughes and Erik Lis would have the other two hits in the contest.

The loss drops the Cats to .500 on the season; they are 3-7 over their last 10. Next up the Cats head over to Portland to face the Sea Dogs for a four-game series which kicks off at 6:00 PM on Friday. The games on Saturday, Sunday and Monday are all 1:00 PM EST contests.

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· Former Miracle lefty Glen Perkins notched his first career major league victory in Tuesday's 11-4 win over the Texas Rangers. The St. Paul, MN native limited the Rangers to two earned runs and six hits in a career-high 6.1 innings. The outing was his third start since being promoted from Triple-A Rochester and his 26th overall appearance with the Twins. In 18.1 innings with the Twins this season, Perkins has compiled a 1-1 record with a 3.44 ERA and 12 strikeouts.

· Last season Zach Ward threw well for the Miracle, but couldn't get a break, compiling a 5-17 record with a 4.08 era in the Florida State League.

Moved to the bullpen in New Britain, the 6'3", 225-lb. right hander has made life miserable for Eastern League batters. In 28 innings of work, he has posted a 2-0 record with a gaudy 0.32 ERA. He has limited the opposition to just 18 hits and a .178 batting average while racking up 24 strikeouts in 17 relief appearances.

Ward was obtained in the trade from the Reds which sent Kyle Lohse to Cincinnati. Prior to the current season, he'd always been a starter.

"I was a mental mess last year," Ward said in an interview with Heather Cavaliere for the Rock Cats website. "I had a lot of things going on in my head and I let that kind of effect me on the field. We didn't score a lot of runs as a team and I had kind of tough luck and had a lot of close games that I lost. There were also a lot of games where we scored plenty of runs and I didn't get the job done. It went both ways. It wasn't just a matter of me not catching the breaks.

"People throughout the organization told me to keep my head up and just keep doing what I was doing because the numbers were there for the most part. I just wasn’t getting the results in the win-loss column."

· Despite time off for an injury, Luke Hughes continues to lead the Rock Cats in runs (33) and hits (54), and is tied for the lead in home runs (10) with David Winfree. Winfree leads the team in runs scored with 36, one more then Brock Peterson, who has appeared in one less game. Steve Tolleson has taken the most walks for the Cats, while Brock Peterson heads up the strike out list with 42.

· Joe Christensen is reporting at Twins shortstop Adam Everett is headed back to the disabled list after experiencing more pain in his right shoulder. The team will announce a roster move following Thursday's game. Twins field manager Ron Gardenhire did not rule out the possibility of promoting Trevor Plouffe or Luke Hughes from AA New Britain to replace him. The Twins are thin through the middle with Matt Tolbert and Nick Punto on the DL. Alexi Casilla has already been promoted from AAA Rochester, so the pickings are slim for replacements.

With the rash of injuries, expect call ups to effect most of the minor league system shortly. On a more positive note, Scott Baker threw a pain free bullpen session on Wednesday and will now likely progress to throwing live batting practice. If that goes well, he could make a rehab start in Extended Spring Training on Monday.

Snappers clubbed by Lumber Kings

Beloit 2 at Clinton 7

W: B. Beavan (3-1, 3.60); L: B. Kirwan (3-2, 4.44)
HR: BEL: C. Parmelee (8). CLI: J. Greene (6).

The Beloit Snappers got 2 runs in the 7th inning, narrowly avoiding a shut out by the Clinton Lumber Kings. Brian Kirwan would suffer the loss, allowing 6 run, earned on 7 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3 over 4.2 innings.

The bottom of the 4th inning got ugly when Ian Gac doubled out to right and Jonathan Greene went yard over the center field wall for the first two runs in the game. Mitchell Moreland followed that up with a double and Cristian Santana would be hit by a Kirwan pitch. A throwing error by Steve Singleton resulted in Jake Kaase reaching which loaded up the bags. Justin Pickett singled to bring in Moreland, before Kirwan would get Engel Beltre and Renny Osuna to strike out to end the inning.

The bottom of the 5th was nearly identical, with Gac doubling and Greene tripling him in. A wild pitch by Kirwan brought in Greene. Moreland would fly out and Miguel Alfonzo would be walked before Blair Erickson was brought in to replace Kirwan. He'd walk Kaase, then give up a double to Pickett that plated Alfanzo to make it 6-0 Clinton.

Chris Cates singled in the top of the 7th. Following a ground out to Garrett Olson, Chris Parmelee sent his eight ball of the season over the fence for the only two Snappers runs.

Steve Hirschfield would take over the mound in the bottom of the 7th. Gac singled out to left. After Greene struck out swinging, Moreland doubled to bring in Gac, making the final score 7-2 Lumber Kings.

None of the Snappers had multi-hit games. Ben Revere was 1-for-4 to in the contest; Singleton and Gerg Yersich were 1-for-3 with none of these players figuring into the scoring.

While Parmelee leads the team in home runs and runs batted in, his .233 batting average remains a concern.

The series concludes on Thursday, with Santos Arias (1-1, 3.32) handling the pitching chores for the Snappers.

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Venezuelan Summer League played started on Monday, May 19th. The Twins are not participating in the league this year. The Dominican Summer League should be starting up around the beginning of June.

Senators, Rock Cats split 7-hour double header

Harrisburg 6 at New Britain 2

W: Z. Zinicola (2-1, 2.00); L: E. Simonitsch (0-1, 6.30)
HR: HAR: W. Bergolla (1). NBR: D. Butera (1).

Errol Simonitsch gave up 3 runs, earned, on 7 hits and 4 walks while striking out four in 5 innings to absorb his first loss of the 2008 season.

Harrisburg took an early lead in the top of the 2nd inning, when Andrew Lefave tripled out to right field, then came home on Devin Ivany's line drive to center.

The Cats took it back in the second when catcher Drew Butera knocked his first home run over the left field wall off Nationals prospect Jordan Zimmermann.

Ian Desmond would double for the Senators in the top of the 5th. Following a line out to Mike Daniel, William Bergolla sent a Simonitsch pitch yard over the left field wall to make it 3-1 Harrisburg.

Armando Gabino took over the mound for the top of the six. Lefave singled his way onto base. Gabino would get Ivany to strike out, but Desmond followed tat up with a single. Daniel would be hit by a pitch to load the bags. Following a strike out to Bergolla, Roger Dernadina doubled to drive in two, as the Sens continued to pulled away from the Cats.

A Matt Moses single and a David Winfree double gave the Cats only their second run of the game in the bottom of the sixth.

Luis Jimenez would single his way onto base in the top of the 7th, but was nabbed at 2nd on Ofilio Castro's force out. Lefave then singled, followed by an Ivany double to drive in Castro for Harrisburg's sixth run of the night.

New Britain found no answers in the bottom of the seventh, taking the loss on game of one a double header.

Luke Hughes was 0-for-3 in the contest with a walk and pair of strike outs. He still remains the prime candidate to replace the injured Denard Span on the Red Wings roster.

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Harrisburg 1 at New Britain 2

W: O. Sosa (2-3, 6.37); L: S. Martis (3-2, 3.04); SV: B. Julianel (7)
HR: None.

Oswaldo Sosa took a clue from Jay Rainville's outstanding game on Monday and limited the Senators to just 1 run on 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5 over six innings.

Former Rock Cat Luis Jimenez would double to right, then move to 3rd on Otillo Castro's ground out. Andrew Lefave would sacrifice him in for the loan Harrisburg run.

New Britain had gotten on the board first, when Luke Hughes doubled and was plated by Matt Moses' triple.

Neither team saw much in the way of hits. In the top of the 5th, Felix Molina drew a walk and was moved to second by Toby Gardenhire's sac-bunt. Jeff Christy then doubled Molina in for the game inning run.

Dustin Martin and Trevor Plouffe had the other two hits for the Cats, but did not factor into the scoring. Hughes, in the designated hitter role, saw his batting average fall to .349, going 1-for-3 at the plate with a pair of strike outs.

The series concludes on Thursday with a 10:35 AM game. Yohan Pino (1-2, 3.25) will most likely handle the pitching chores for New Britain.

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Miracle slide by Hammerheads to claim series

Fort Myers 4 at Jupiter 3

W: C. Devries (3-4, 4.13); L: J. Santos (4-2, 3.21); SV: R. Delaney (10)
HR: FTM: W. Ramos (6). JUP: K. Randel (2).

Wilson Ramos cranked out his sixth home run of the season and Cole Devries limited the Hammerheads to 1 run (unearned) on 4 hits and 2 walks while fanning 4 over 5 innings.

Yangervis Solarte and Danny Valencia hit back-to-back doubles in the first inning to open the scoring for the visiting Fort Myers Squad. Edward Ovalle's line drive would bring in Valencia making it two for the Miracle.

The'd add another run in the top of the 3rd when Ramos went yard on Hammerhead starter Jarrett Santos.

Brian Peterson and Smelin Perez hit back-to-back singles in the bottom half of the stanza, one out later, Kevin Randal would reach on a fielding error by Yancarlos Ortiz which also allowed Peterson to score. It was Ortiz 6th error of the season, he now leads the Miracle squad in that category.

Jay Buente replaced Santos at the top of the fifth inning and gave up back-to-back double to Valencia and Ovalle to add another onto the Miracle total. It would be the last run the Miracle would tally, but it would prove to be the game winner.

Matt Fox allowed a single to Logan Morrison in the bottom of the 8th, then watched as Randel took him yard over the right field fence. He would get Spike McDougall out on strikes before Rob Delaney was called in to finish off the game. Delaney would allow a walk to Greg Burns and a single to Agustin Septimo, but got Jake Blackwood and Justin Webb out on strikes to retire the side.

The Miracle pitching staff has only allowed 18 home runs this season, Fox is tied with starter Deolis Guerra, with each of them giving up 4. Only Daytona (17) and Tampa (13) have allowed fewer balls over the fence so far in 2008.

Ovalle and Ramos were both 2-for-4 at the plate, Ovalle with 2 RBIs and Ramos with a run and a RBI. Solarte and Valencia were 2-for-5 each, Solarte with 1 runs and Valencia with a pair of runs and an RBI. When he wasn't hitting the ball, Valencia was striking out - picking up 3 in the game. Ovalle and Juan Portes both had a pair of strike outs each. Valencia is second on the team in hits (51) and is also tied for 3rd on the team for strike outs, with 31.

Brian Dinkelman leads the team in hits (52) and runs (32) but has only 17 strike outs to his. Ramos home run makes him the lead yard-getter on the Miracle, Valencia follows with 5 and Ovalle and Woodard with 4 each.

With the brief road trip concluded the Miracle return home Thursday night for Thirsty Thursday where they will host the East Division leading Palm Beach Cardinals for a four-game Clash of the Titans series.

Miracle Ace Jeff Manship (5-1, 3.62) will toss out the first pitch at 7:05. The Cards will likely counter with right hander David Kopp (1-3, 3.76).

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Let's Go Miracle

Former Miracle Matt Tolbert will have surgery Thursday to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb. He will be restricted from baseball activities for 5-6 weeks and will likely be out as much as 2 months before he can play again. Tolbert, currently with the major league Twins, will report to the Lee County Sportsplex for rehab after the surgery is completed.

Alexi Casilla, who played with the 2006 Miracle squad, got his first major league home run Monday night as the Twins defeated the Texas Rangers 7-6 in 12 innings. Casilla was called up to replace Tolbert, and has 2 runs on 3 hits with 5 RBIs in 5 games for the Twins in the 2008 season.

Upcoming Events

CEO Sandi Stewart of Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida, Inc. of Sarasota will throw the first pitch for Fort Myers Miracle baseball team on Monday, June 9, at 7:15 p.m., at Hammond Stadium, 14400 Six Mile Cypress Parkway, in Fort Myers.

Girl Scout Jaclyn Granitz, age 12, of Troop 531 in Bonita Springs, will sing the National Anthem and nearly 200 Girl Scouts will be there to cheer on the team.

Fort Myers Miracle and Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida, Inc. have partnered to kick off the summer and invite all current Girl Scout families and anyone interested in learning about Girl Scouts to join them for America's favorite pastime!

Cost is $10 per person and includes admission, Miracle baseball hat, hot dog, and soda.

Tickets can be ordered online at www.MIRACLEFUN.com (enter "girl" as the password).

For information contact either Sean Fox (239) 768-4210 or sfox@miraclebaseball.com or Amy Gainey (239) 561-1800 ext 402 or amyg@gsgcf.org.

Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida, Inc. is chartered by Girl Scouts of the USA and serves more than 10,000 girls in ten counties: Manatee, Hardee, Highlands, Sarasota, Charlotte, DeSoto, Lee, Glades, Hendry, and Collier.