Miracle lose pitchers' duel, 3-2

Fort Myers 2 at Lakeland 3

Record 13 - 10

W: J. Nickerson (2-2, 6.12); L: M. Fox (1-1, 4.05); SV: E. Clelland (2)
HR: None.

The Miracle lost their third straight game, scoring late and failing to catch up with the Lakeland Flying Tigers at Joker Marchant Stadium.

Kevin Slowey worked 5 hitless innings of ball, allowing only 1 walk while striking out 5 and appeared about ready to head up to the Twins. Matt Fox would come on in relief, and the Tigers hounded him for three runs on three hits and 1 walk. He struck out 2 in 2 innings worth of work.

A fielding error by Danny Valencia allowed Brandon Timm to reach in the bottom of the 3rd. A sac bunt by Jeff Kunkel would move Timm to second. A second fielding error by Valencia put Cale Iorg on base. Justin Justice then doubled the pair in. Scott Sizemore would strike out swinging and Justice would be caught stealing 3rd to end the inning.

Brennan Boesch singled out to left, and then moved to 2nd on a passed ball by Miracle catcher Wilson Ramos. A Jeramy Laster single allowed Boesch to score what would prove to be the game winning run.

Jonah Nickerson would work 7.1 innings for the Tigers and he looked like a totally different pitcher than the one the Miracle faced last Monday. Nickerson kept the Miracle off the board through 7 innings and held them to only 2 hits while striking out 4.

Johnny Woodard and Ramos would both single off him in the top of the 8th, before he hit his pitch count and was replaced by Angel Castro. Whit Robbins then tripled in the pair, but that was all the Miracle would see off the Tigers' pitching staff.

For the Miracle, it was a game with more strike outs then hits, with Woodard getting 2 K's and Valencia, Ramos, Danny Santiesteban and Eddie Ovalle picking up one each.

The two teams rematch tomorrow for a 1:00 PM start, with Fort Myers' Deolis Guerra (2-0, 1.42) opposing Lakeland's Matt O'Brien (1-0, 4.32) on the mound.

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Over in Appleton, Wisconsin, the Beloit Snappers and Wisconsin Timber Rattlers split a double header. David Bromberg picked up the win in game one as the Snappers came out on top, 6-5. Bromberg would allow 5 runs, all earned, on 9 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5 through 5 innings worth of work. All five runs came in the first two innings. The Snappers bats were up the task though, with Steve Singleton going 3-for-4 at the plate with a run and 2 RBIs, catcher Jair Fernandez going 3-for-3 with 2 runs and 1 RBI and designated hitter Ben Petsch going 2-for-2 with 1 run and 2 RBIs. (Boxscore)

The Snappers bats were silent in game two however, with Donald Hume limiting Beloit to 3 hits through 4 innings and Phillippe Aumont giving up only 1 hit through 3. Both struck out 2 and walked 1. Joe Benson was 2-f0r3 at the plate. Mike Tarsi lost his 5th game of the season, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3. (Boxscore)

Steve Tolleson hit his 2nd home run of the season as the New Britain Rock Cats downed the Trenton Thunder 7-4 in a 12 inning contest. Tolleson was 3-for-6 at the plate with two runs and 3 RBIs. Brock Peterson and Matt Moses were also 3-for-6 in the contest, both with one run and Peterson with 1 RBI as well. Trevor Plouffe was 2-for-6 with a run and David Winfree was 2-for-7 with 1 RBI. Danny Graves picked up the win, working 1.1 innings worth of relief. (Boxscore)

In Triple A action, Rochester blanked the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs 10-0. Glen Perkins picked up the win while former Miracle J.D. Durbin suffered his 5th loss of the season and saw his ERA raise to 9.51. Randy Ruiz, Chris Basak and Jose Morales were all 3-for-5 at the plate, Ruiz with 2 runs, and Basak with 1, while Morales and Ruiz had 1 RBI each. Jason Pridie was 3-for-6 with 1 run and 1 RBI, extending his hitting streak while Howie Clark was 2-for-5 with 1 run and 4 RBIs. (Boxscore)

Former Miracle Errol Simonitsch took a rehab stint with the GCL Twins in extended spring training. The Twins slaughtered the GCL Pirates 10-2. Simo allowed a triple and walk but struck out 2 over 2 innings, facing only 9 batters. First baseman Jon Waltenbury was 3-for-3 at the plate with 2 runs, including a triple in the sixth inning. Catcher Danny Rohlfing was 2-for-2 with a pair of doubles, 1 run and 1 RBI. The game also included rehab appearances by pitcher Mike Allen and former Miracle Jose Leger.