Miracle devour Tigers, 10 - 4

Lakeland 4 at Fort Myers 10

Record 11 - 7

W: D. Guerra (2-0, 1.42); L: J. Nickerson (1-2, 7.64)
HR: LAK: J. Laster (3), J. Justice (2). FTM: J. Woodard (4).

A grand slam home run by Johnny Woodard in the 3rd inning started out a night that ended up in 15 hits and 10 runs for the Fort Myers Miracle.

Minnesota Twins righty Kevin Slowey took the start for the Miracle, allowing 1 run on 1 hit when Jeremy Laster went yard in the second inning on him. He would strike out 5 otherwise over 3 innings worth of work before giving way to Deolis Guerra who would be credited with the win.

Fort Myers took an early lead in the 1st when Rene Tosoni, Danny Valencia and Woodard all recorded singles, which brought Tosoni in for the first run. After the Tigers tied it up in the 2nd, Whit Robbins drew a walk in the bottom of the inning. A Danny Santiesteban single would bring Robbins in, in part due to a throwing error by Lakeland firstbaseman Pedro Cotto. Tiger's third baseman Michael Bertram was run over by Robbins during the play, but was able to continue the game after a brief delay.

Brian Dinkelman and Tosoni had both recorded singles in the 3rd and Valencia drew a walk, loading the bases for Woodard's mamoth hit, that jumped the right field fence to make it 6-1 Miracle.

Lakeland took one run back in the top of the 4th when Michael Bertram doubled and Jeramy Laster singled. Pedro Cotto would reach on what was called a fielder's choice after Woodard dropped the ball, twice, at first base allowing Bertram to score.

The game would settle down until the top of the 7th, when Luis Ott would draw a walk off Guerra. Justin Justice then went deep over the right field fence to score 2.

The Miracle were undaunted however, as Dinkelman drew a walk in the bottom of the 7th, then stole 2nd base. Rene Tosoni would bring him in on a ground ball to center.

With Nicholas Martin on the mound for the bottom of the 8th and 2 outs, Toby Gardenhire would single. Dinkleman and Tosoni followed suite to bring in Gardenhire. Valencia then brought in Dinkelman with a line drive to center. After Woodard was hit by a pitch, Martin would be done, with Brendan Wise coming in from the Lakeland bullpen to finish up. Edward Ovalle singled off of him to drive in Tosoni before Wilson Ramos ground into a force out to end the Miracle offense.

Tim Lahey, who is getting a look at some live hitters before being reassigned to Rochester, finished off the game, setting three Lakeland batters down in order.

Tosoni was 4-for-5 in game with 3 runs and 2 RBIs. Valencia was 3-for-4 with a run and 1 RBI while Dinkleman, Woodard and Ovalle were all 2-for-4. Woodard's grand slam gave him 5 RBIs in the game, Dinkleman had 3 runs and walk and Ovalle had a walk and 1 RBI. Ramos, who went 0-for-5, saw his batting average drop to .189.

The Miracle look for a sweep tonight, sending lefty Tyler Robertson (0-1, 2.57) to the hill against right-hander Matt O'Brien (1-0, 3.86).

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Take I-75 North

The Snappers fell to the West Michigan Whitecaps 2-1 Monday night (Boxscore). Deibinson Romero had a single shot home run in the 5th inning for the Twins Low A farm team. Shortstop Chris Cates was 2-for-3 in the game, but the Tampa, Florida, native did not figure into the scoring.

Reading fell to the New Britain Rock Cats, 5-2. Former Miracle 1st baseman Brock Peterson was 2-for-3 with a walk, a pair of doubles and a run for the Cats while Luke Hughes and Trevor Plouffe were both 2-for-4, Hughes with 1 run and 1 RBI on a single shot home run. Former Miracle Erik Lis also went yard, bringing in 2 RBIs (Boxscore). Armando Gabino picked up the win in relief of starter Anthony Swarzak, who gave up 2 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks while striking out 6 over only 4 innings.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre shut out the Rochester Red Wings for the second straight game. Jason Pridie and Jose Morales had the only hits for the Wings who cold against Yankees starter Darrell Rasner (Boxscore). Glen Perkins suffered the loss, the former Miracle gave up 1 run on six hits and 2 walks while striking out 2 over 5 innings worth of play.