Miracle ace Reds, 5-3

Sarasota 3 at Fort Myers 5

W: A. Burnett (6-2, 3.40); L: A. Smit (5-5, 3.91); SV: A. Slama (14)
HR: FTM: S. Singleton (1).

Former Miracle Alex Smit was dealing off the mound for the Sarasota Reds during the early part of Thursday evening's game, but in the end it would a current Fort Myers Miracle Ace who would take game one of the 2nd half of the FSL season.

Steve Singleton would go yard in the second inning for his first home run in a Miracle uniform, but it was all Fort Myers would get off Smit in the first five innings.

Meanwhile, the Reds took an early lead off Miracle starter Alex Burnett. Jose Castro singled out to center. Burnett would get Chris Heisey out on strikes before Todd Frazier's line drive moved Castro to second. Juan Francisco would fly out before Drew Stubbs hit his 17th double of the season to bring in the two runners.

The score would stay 2-1 Sarasota until the bottom of the sixth. Following a fly out to Nick Punto, Edward Ovalle walked. Juan Portes ground out out before Wilson Ramos singled out left to drive in Ovalle. Ramos would progress to 2nd on the throw. Whit Robbins then singled him in with a ground ball out to right to give the Miracle a 3-2 lead.

Stubbs would single off Burnett in the top of the 7th, and come in on Carson Kainer's double out to left, tying up the game.

Smit would finally tire in the bottom of the 7th, allowing a single to Garrett Olson who advanced to 2nd on Jose Castro's throwing error. A wild pitch moved Olson to 3rd. Steve Singleton would draw a walk, and following a pitching change that put Logan Ondrusek on the mound, moved to 2nd on Danny Santiesteban's ground out. Yangervis Solarte then smacked a grounder out to center to drive in the pair, making it 5-3.

Burnett would work seven innings, allowing 3 runs on six hits while fanning 4. Smit would be charged with 5 runs, all earned on 5 hits and a pair of walks while striking out six over six.

Ozzie Sosa gave the crowd a bit of a thrill in the 8th, looking a little shaky during his outing, walking Castro then moving him to 2nd on a while pitch. Heisey would single to move Castro to 3rd, but Sosa would get Frazier out on strikes and Francisco on a fly out to get out of the jam.

Ramos was 2-for-4 with a run and a RBI for the Miracle. Singleton was 1-for-2 with a walk, 2 runs and 2 RBIs, while Olson was 1-for-4 with a run. Robbins was also 1-for-4 with a run scored. Nick Punto and Juan Portes were the one hit wonders for the evening.

Friday is "Water Day" at the ball park as Miracle starter Tyler Robertson (4-2, 2.76) puts it. The big lefty will be pitted against Scott Carroll (3-1, 5.75). The park opens at 9 AM so you can enjoy all the water day festivities, with the game slated to start at Noon.

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And yes, for those who were curious, I did get some great autographs down at the Reds dugout. Drew Stubbs was very nice and signed everything! The only I didn't get was Danny Guerrero, largely because Sharpie had turned the mic on by that point, and I can't outshout Sharpie once he gets going. No biggie. I'm sure he'll be in the stands tomorrow or Saturday.

Manship, Slama shut out Reds

Sarasota 0 at Fort Myers 2

W: J. Manship (6-2, 3.11); L: A. Smit (4-4, 3.51); SV: A. Slama (9)
HR: None.

For the second straight game, the Miracle shut out the Sarasota Reds, this time 2-0. The 3-game home-and-home series concludes tonight in Sarasota at 7:00.

Jeff Manship allowed only 3 hits and 3 walks over 7 innings. Uncharacteristically, he only struck out 2, and seemed to throw more balls then unusual, but got through the game unscathed. It probably wasn't the best outing I've seen from him, but it was far from being the worst on as well.

In the bottom of the second, Juan Portes and Eli Tintor hit back-to-back singles. Allan de San Miguel walked to load the bases. A Yancarlos Ortiz sac-fly to center brought in Portes to put one run on the board.

Former Miracle Alex Smit pitched well for the Reds. That would be the only run he'd give up, on 7 hits and 2 walks while fanning 4 over six innings. It was as good of a classic pitcher's duel as we've seen in the stadium in a while.

Philippe-Alexandre Valiquette replace Smit on the Reds mound in the bottom of the 7th. Ortiz would single his way onto base, and move over to 2nd on a sac-bunt by Brian Dinkelman. A balk saw Ortiz advance to 3rd before Ovalle hit a ground ball single to center to bring in the Miracle short stop for the second Fort Myers run.

Anthony Slama came in to pitch the last two innings, allowing a line drive single to Juan Francisco in the top of the 9th, but otherwise mowing through the competition to pick up his 9th save of the season.

Portes finished up the game 3-for-4 with a run. Tintor was 2-for-4, both legitimate hits, not flukes like last night's hit was. He also struck out twice as did Ovalle up near the top of the order.

Danny Valencia hit a beautiful fly down the first base line that Chris Heisey could not quite get a glove on in the bottom of the 5th for a triple, but with 2 outs already on the board, Smit was able to get Whit Robbins out on strikes to end the inning.

Deolis Guerra (5-1, 4.56) will get the start tonight on Dollar Days at Ed Smith Stadium. Sarasota counters with a 70-million dollar proposal to lure the Red Sox away from Lee County. Or perhaps Rafael Gonzalez (2-3, 8.65), who is actually more in their price range.

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The oft injured Danny Berg is experiencing some issues with his hamstring and is day-to-day.

Scott Baker will pitch for the Miracle Friday in Tampa at the newly renamed Case de Steinbrener. With the GCL Twins on the road this weekend, one could stop by Bradenton to pick up the noon game there, then progress on to Tampa to see Scotty pitch against the T-Yanks. Then spend the night at Sarasota and stop off at Twins Lakes for the Noon game there on the way back for a nice baseball road trip.

One could, but as my car has never quite recovered from the last Bradenton trip, this one is not.

Where is Jose Mijares? Section 108, Row 12, Seat 4 or there abouts the last time I checked. The lefty reliever is rehabbing back at the Lee County Sportsplex, and has been attending Miracle games quite a bit.