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.