Tampa blasts past Sosa, Miracle

Fort Myers 1 at Tampa 7

W: I. Nova (7-11, 4.24); L: O. Sosa (2-1, 4.59)
HR: FTM: D. Santiesteban (5).

It seems like not too long ago, it was the Fort Myers Miracle who were beating up on the Tampa Yankees. Tuesday night, in a game shortened to 8 innings by rain and lightning, it was the Miracle who were victimized.

Danny Santiesteban's solo shot home run in the top of the fifth would be the only tally for First Half West Division Champs. His fifth of the season, Santiesteban's blast went over the left field wall to prevent the Miracle from being shut out.

Tampa, on the other hand, did not have to worry about such things. Luis Nunez lead off the bottom of the first with a single to Edward Ovalle, then stole 2nd base. Eduardo Nunez reached on a fielder's choice as Yancarlos Ortiz fired the ball to Juan Portes at 3rd to take Luis out. Eduardo then stole 2nd. Kevin Smith would take a walk and the pair would steal 3rd and 2nd. Following a line out to Josh Kreuzer, Seth Fortenberry's ground ball to right allowed Nunes and Smith. Fortenberry decided he could run for second, but was caught out just past first base and was taken down on the throw.

In the bottom of the 2nd, Andres Perez doubled. A throwing error by Fort Myers starter Oswaldo Sosa moved Perez to 3rd. After a ground out by Mitch Hillgoss, Jose Gil sacrificed Perez in, giving the Yankees a 3-0 lead.

They would double that in bottom of the third, with the Nunez boys taking a walk off Sosa. The pair then stole 2nd and 3rd before Smith and Kreuzer were called out on strikes. A single to Fortenberry scored the pair, while Fortenberry moved to 2nd on the throw in from right. Perez then singled to plate Fortenberry. Matthew Williams would replace Sosa at the point, allowing a single to Hillgoss, but Perez was taken out at 3rd to end the inning.

Sosa, who had filled Tyler Robertson's rotation space effectively, would allow 6 runs, 5 earned, on five hits and 3 walks while striking out 3 over 2.2 innings. Williams would go for the next 4.1 innings.

"The Professor" would hit Perez with a pitch in the bottom of the sixth, and Hilligoss would double him in to give the Yankees their seventh run.

Santiesteban would pitch the final out before the game was called for lightning in the area. I still entertain visions of Santiesteban getting a grand slam to put the Miracle on top in the bottom of the eighth inning during the FSL championship game, then coming in to pitch to close out the game in the ninth. Ah...but playoffs are still 28 days way.

For the time present, Santiesteban went 1-for-1 with a walk and a hit by pitch, plus a run and a RBI on the yarder. Garrett Olson would finish up 2-for-3, and Brandon Roberts was 2-for-4. Ortiz would lock up the one hit wonder title, going 1-for-4 at the plate.

Fort Myers will try to get something going Wednesday night at Casa de Steinbreener. The Miracle is reporting that Cole Devries (8-8, 2.97), not Matt Fox, will take the 7:00 PM start against Tampa's Zach McAllister (6-5, 2.01), weather permitting.

Box
Log
Miracle
News Press
Breeze
NDN
Pending Pinstripes Blog

My computer's power supply blew out last night. I expect to be back online later tonight unless things are worse than I feared. I have a mini-feature on Cole Devries in the works that I had hoped to run today as well, but that's being put off for at least another day.

Miracle Rally past Reds late

Sarasota 2 at Fort Myers 3

W: J. Lugo (2-4, 4.19); L: R. Medina (2-7, 3.33)
HR: FTM: W. Ramos (12).

Brandon Roberts line drive out to center plated Danny Berg for the game winning run in the bottom of the 9th inning, a nice win in a game that, for a long time, looked like it might see the Fort Myers Miracle shut out.

Jose Castro doubled in the top of the first off Deolis Guerra and Juan Francisco's line drive to left plated him to put the Sarasota Reds on the board.

Deolis Guerra would limit the Reds to that lone run on six hits over five innings, but he'd walk six and fan only one. Scott Carroll on the other hand blanked Miracle, scattering six hits a walk over six innings while fanning two.

The Miracle finally found some action in the bottom of the 7th, with Joseph Krebs taking over the mound for Carroll. He'd give up a home run to Wilson Ramos. The Venezuelan catcher launched his 12th home run of the season over the center field wall to finally put the the Miracle on the board.

Logan Parker doubled off Carlos Gutierrez in the top of the 8th and moved to 3rd on Carson Kainer's sac bunt. Daniel Perales doubled to drive in Parker, putting the Reds back on top. Blair Erickson would come in at that point to get Justin Tordi to strike out and Jacob Long to ground out.

With two outs on the board in the bottom of the stanza, Brandon Roberts drew a walk, and Yancarlos Ortiz followed that up with a single. Edward Ovalle's line drive to right plated Roberts to tie up the game again. Ruben Medina would replace Krebs on the mound, getting Ramos to fly out to end the inning.

Erickson would walk Chris Heisey, who would be advanced by Castro's sac-bunt. Erickson then intentionally walked Francisco to get at Todd Fraizer, who flew out. Jeff Smith would then put Jose Lugo into the game, and the Dominican reliever walked Parker to load up the bags. But he'd put Kainer down on strikes, much to the delight of 900 or so fans still in attendance.

Berg walked to lead off the bottom of the ninth and Juan Portes singled to move him to 2nd. Smith would keep signaling for a bunt, first with Portes then with Tintor so perhaps it was not surprise that Tintor ended up striking out once the bunt was off. A wild pitch moved Berg and Portes around and Medina intentionally walked Santiesteban to get at Garrett Olson, who would pop out. That's when Roberts walk-off RBI came on a single out to Heisey in center, and set off a feel good win that had the guys jumping around on the field like they'd just won the world series.

Roberts finished up 3-for-4 on the night with a walk, a run and a run batted in. Ortis was 2-for-3 while Ovalle, Ramos, and Portes were all 2-for-4. Ovalle had a RBI, while Ramos added a run and a run scored. Santiesteban finished up 1-for-3 with a walk, while Berg, who was 0-for-2 at the plate had a run on a pair of walks.

The Miracle head off on a six game road trip starting off Tuesday night in Tampa where Ivan Nova (6-11, 4.37) will toss out the first pitch at 7:00 PM. The Miracle will counter with Oswaldo Sosa (2-0, 3.52).

Box
Log
Miracle
NDN
Breeze
Breeze: Photo
Breeze: Photo
NDN
Let's go Miracle Blog

Jose Mijares was promoted prior to the game, I believe to the Rock Cats. It would have been nice to hang onto him, but we already knew it was only a matter of time before he went up.

What up with the Miracle? It's pretty obvious that their play of late has been not up to par. That's because Jeff Smith has been working the team hard on drills and trying to get them ready for the up coming playoffs. Up until about a week ago. He's now started to lay off, let the guys use the skills they've learned, and get a little bit of breather before they head down the home stretch.

From MiLB.com:

THE WEEK THAT WAS: The Miracle split their six games last week, chalking up two wins over Dunedin and a win over Clearwater to end the week. The Miracle are in fifth place, seven games behind Dunedin in the FSL West.

WHO'S HOT, WHO'S NOT: C Wilson Ramos has been opening some eyes with his bat. With 16 hits over his last 40 plate appearances, Ramos has been hitting at a .400 clip. In his last nine games Ramos has 12 RBIs and a home run. ... SP Deolis Guerra has been tagged for 10 runs in his last nine innings pitched.

PLAYER TO WATCH: CF Danny Santiesteban has been giving FSL pitchers headaches in recent days, averaging nearly an RBI a hit. The Miami native has 12 RBIs in his last 10 games while racking up 13 hits in 33 at-bats for a .394 average.

PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK: Ramos was responsible for a third of the Miracle's 15 runs in a 15-4 home win over Clearwater July 31. The native of Venezuela had four hits in five at-bats, including a double, for five RBIs. The right-handed hitter began the game with a run-scoring line drive single to left as part of a three-run first inning for Fort Myers. He drove home two more runs in the second on a double to center, singled to center in the third for another RBI and plated another run in the sixth on a ground ball to center.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "He always told me to put away the bat and start pitching," RHP Carlos Gutierrez told the Fort Myers News-Press of how his high school coach coaxed him to pitch, which he first began in his junior year of high school. "I played infield for a good part of my life."

Ft. Myers Miracle catcher Wilson Ramos is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week for July 27-August 2. Ramos, 20, hit .433 (13-for-30) with three doubles, a home run, four runs scored and 10 RBIs in six games. Ramos entered the season as the Twins third ranked prospect by Baseball America. He was signed as a non-drafted free agent, July 7, 2004.

Miracle fan 15 to slip past Threshers

Clearwater 4 at Fort Myers 5

W: C. Devries (8-8, 2.97); L: D. Naylor (1-6, 6.95); SV: A. Slama (22)
HR: None.

Despite being jipped out of a run in the bottom of the 7th inning, the Fort Myers Miracle took the rubber match, 5-4, to win the series, 2 games to one.

Cole Devries was his usual efficient self, limiting the Threshers to just two runs while scattering seven hits and a walk over six inning. Devries was also kind enough to fan 9, working hard for the "Strike out Lou Gehrig's Disease" campaign as the ALS Association was at the game tonight.

The Miracle had opened up a fairly comfortable three run lead before Clearwater got on the board.

Yancarlos Ortiz singled and stole 2nd, and Brandon Roberts took a walk to lead off the top of the 3rd inning. A Steve Singleton ground out advanced the runners, allowing Wilson Ramos to sacrifice in Ortiz. Edward Ovalle's line drive to right plated Roberts and Ovalle moved to second on the throw. Whit Robbins would draw a walk off Thresher's starter Drew Naylor, a native of Queensland, Australia. However, Juan Portes would go down on strikes, spoiling the Miracle's fun for the moment.

Danny Berg, the Miracle's own Aussie, singled to start off the bottom of the fourth. Danny Santiesteban's line drive moved him to second, and Ortiz's ground bunt loaded up the bags. Brandon Roberts ground into a double play that allowed Berg to score. Singleton would ground out, stranding Santiestesban at 3rd.

After getting John Urick out on strikes, Devries would walk Tuffy Gosewisch. Fidel Hernandez singled to move Gosewisch to 2nd. Devries then took Jesus Villegas Andino before allowing a line drive to Gary Cates that plated Gosewisch. Quinton Berry followed that up with a line drive out to center that plated Hernandez. In both cases, the plays were to Roberts, who still has some defensive issues out in center. Rob Watson would, thankfully, go down on strikes before the Threshers tie it up.

Ramos doubled in the bottom of the fifth before Ovalle was plunked with a pitch. Robbins flew out to center and Portes flew out to right, moving Ramos to 3rd. Berg singled out to right to drive in Ovalle and Santiesteban singled out drive to score Ovalle. Ortiz would ground out to end the inning.

Jose Lugo took over for Devries in the top of the 7th. While Lugo has been lights out of late, it was the bad Jose Lugo that came out of the bullpen this time, as he he allowed a single to Hernandez. Andino ground into a force out that took Hernandez out at second and Lugo would get Cates to ground out. Berry singled to drive in Andino however. Lugo then walked Watson and allowed a single to Taylor that plated Berry. Jeff Smith trotted up the steps of the dugout right about then and out to the mound, calling Blair Erickson out of the bullpen to replace the struggling Lugo. Erickson would take Milner out on strikes to end the inning.

Alexander Conception replaced Naylor for the Threshers in the bottom half of the stanza. With one out on board, Whit Robbins took a walk and Juan Portes hit a ground rule double. Robbins came home on the play but was only allowed 3rd base. Now maybe I am miss remembering, but if must have been a group hallucination because none of us remember Robbins going back to 3rd. Berg hit into a double play and Portes tried to come home, being taken out the plate, but the scorer says Robbins was out at home and none of us remember it that way. Ed even when to check on it. But that's just the way we saw it, and we want our run!

In any case. Anthony Slama made things interesting in the ninth, walking Kevin Mahar and Berry, but he would take Watson out on strikes, and then Michael Taylor as well, to close out the game and give the Miracle the win, phantom run not withstanding.

Berg was 3-for-4 for the Miracle with a run and a run scored. Roberts and Ortiz were both 2-for-4 with a run, Roberts with a walk as well. Santiesteban was also 2-for-4, with a RBI instead of a run. Ramos and Ovalle were both 1-for-3 at the plate with a run and a run scored, Ramos with a double, Ovalle with a single. Portes finished up 1-for-4 with a double.

The Miracle pitching staff posted a total of 15 strike outs. (Kudos guys, that was really well done!)

Sarasota comes into town for a (hopefully) sunny Sunday at the Bill. Alex Burnett (7-4, 3.89) will throw the first pitch for the Miracle at 1:05 PM, while the Reds will send Rafael Gonzalez (4-8, 6.93) to the hill.

Box
Log
Miracle
Threshers
News Press
NDN
Inside the Threshers Blog
JeffCrupper.com Blog

Michael Cuddyer is being sent down this week to begin a rehab stint. The Twins have stated they wanted him to play six or seven game in Florida. While it's likely he'll play several games with the GCL Twins, it it possible that he'll play a rehab stint with the Miracle when they return home Monday, August 11th to face Sarasota. Pat Neshak is also expected in shortly to begin his rehab assignment.

Brian Dinkelman was activated from New Britain's D.L. to replace Luke Hughes on the Rock Cats roster. The moves at the major league level should not affect the Miracle at this time.

Playoff tickets are currently on sale. The Miracle host game two and if necessary, game three of the West Division Series on September 3rd and 4th. Ticket prices are the same as for a regular season game: $7 for a box seat, $5 for reserved seats. Season ticket holders have until Sept. 2 to reserve "their" regular season seat for the playoffs.

Ed Pelegrino brought by Ed Reed, the sports editor of the News-Press, by to meet me. Pelegrino's got some silly notion of selling me off to the News-Press next year as the "fan" blogger. I told him (Pelegrino) this won't work as I'm way too controversial for the News-Press to touch. Just ask Carl, from Bonita.

Seen in the stands:


Miracle pitcher Tyler Robertson (right) and his little brother, who will be pitching for Fresno State this year.

Tyler was cleared to start playing catch for this coming week, and reports that he is expected to start throwing again the following week.

St. Lucie long ball ropes Miracle

St. Lucie 5 at Fort Myers 2

W: E. Niesen (5-10, 4.70); L: M. Fox (5-5, 3.94)
HR: SLU: L. Duda (7), V. Mendez (3), S. Bowman (2).

Matt Fox doesn't give up too many hits. The problem is, when he does give up one, it generally goes out of the yard.

That was the case tonight at Rodeo night as three of the little buckaroos found their way out of the corral.

Shawn Bowman would put the first over the right field fence in the top of the second. Peeter Ramos would double in the top of the 3rd and two outs later, Lucas Duda put one over the right center field fence to add two more to the total. Victor Mendez then followed up with one of his own.

The four run hole would be too much for Fort Myers, even with a few Miracles to overcome.

And there were a few Miracles. Danny Berg made an incredible diving save and nearly ended up in the dugout for what to be the play of the game.

With two outs on the board in the fifth, Danny Lehmann would double and score on Danny Santiesteban's line drive to center.

Jose Mijares would enter the game in the sixth. The top of the seventh became interesting when Ezequiel Carrera went to bunt, and stepped into a Jose Mijares fast ball that nailed him on the hand. The umpire - correctly - ruled it a foul as the batter stepped into the pitch. He'd leave the game, possibly with a broken hand, and was replaced by Luis Rivas. Tim Toufel threw a wonderful temper tantrum, kicking dirt all of the plate and then tossing his helmet to the ground in disgust when he was tossed out of the game. Well, you know, Tim, you should not have told Carrera to bunt. Rivera and Tejada would both go down on strikes and Duda ground out to end the inning, stranding Braham Muldando and Ramos, who had both singled before the one field fireworks.

(Jeff never kicks dirt all over the plate when he's ejected.)

Matt Williams got on the mound in the 8th. With one out on the board, Josh Thole doubled out to center and moved to 3rd on a Bowman ground out. D.J.Wabick reached on a throwing error by Lehmann that scored Thole.

The Miracle answered back in the ninth, with Steve Singleton doubled, then moved to 3rd on Wilson Ramos' fly out. Whit Robbins would sacrifice him in, but the Miracle could get no more.

Five different Miracle players had hits. Two - Robbins and Lehmann had doubles. Two had runs and only one, Robbins had a RBI.

Cole Devries (7-7, 2.79) pitches tomorrow on “Salute to Harry Carey” night. Much as I like Cole, I'm not sure I'm going to make anything on Tuesday after spending Monday at the ball park (including a double header at the Gulf Coast League.) Still, there is a lot be said about the restorative powers of a good night's sleep, Irish Spring, and an omelette.

Box
Log
Miracle
News Press: Teufel
Breeze
NDN
TC Palm

A Note to the Street Crew: The trivia questions do not work. We in the audience cannot understand a single word you are saying. Try something else, like the dizzy bat or mascot race that does require speaking parts.

Word around the stadium is that we are going to have Brandon Roberts for the remainder of the season. The speedy outfielder was place on the 7-Day DL for the Rock Cats with a reported left hamstring strain back on April 29. The problem limited him ot just 8-game appearances in 2008 for the Rock Cats.

A bunch of injured players have been showing up at the stadium with Beloit's Brian Kirwan being the most recent addition. It's beginning to look more like a hospital ward than a game.

It would appear that Dodgertown is serious negotiations to move the Baltimore Orioles from Twin Lakes Park to Dodgertown. The plans for the complex could include a Ripken Baseball youth baseball academy on the site of the former golf course. A move for the team, prior to 2010 however, seems unlikely. (TC Palms)

The Orioles and Brewers are also in discussion with the City of Sarasota, as are the Red Sox. Lee has not moved to court a major league team to replace Boston, should they be decide to skip out on the taxpayers of Lee County who so kindly built them a White Elephant Stadium and head over to Sara.

Gardenhire promoted, Roberts placed on DL

The New Britain Rock Cats announced Monday that former Miracle outfielder Brandon Roberts has been placed on the 7-Day disabled list, effective immediately. The 23-year-old from Bakersfield, CA has been bothered much of the early season by a left hamstring strain that has limited him to just 8 game appearances for the 2008 Rock Cats. It is hoped that a complete rest will aid in restoring the speedy Roberts to full capacity.

In 2006, the 6'0"/185-pound Roberts tied for the Florida State League lead with 50 stolen bases. Thus far in 2008, the hobbled Cal Poly product is batting .188 in just 32 at-bats.

Replacing Roberts on the New Britain roster is Toby Gardenhire, a 24-year-old middle infielder who has been playing for the Ft. Myers Miracle in the Single-A Florida State League.

With the Miracle, Gardenhire – son of Minnesota Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire – batted .333 over 15 games in the new season. The 6'0"/175-pound Gardenhire was selected out of the University of Illinois by Minnesota in the 41st Round of the 2005 Draft.

The Miracle have not received anyone to replace Gardenhire, but infielder Danny Berg is scheduled to come off the DL on Thursday.