Tropical Storm Fay 1, Fort Myers 0

Monday's game between the Sarasota Red and the Fort Myers Miracle at Ed Smith Stadium was canceled as weather conditions deteriorated in the area due to Tropical Storm Fay.

Fay is expected make landfall in the Fort Myers area on Tuesday around 8:00 AM. She is expected to be packing winds of up to 95 miles per hour, at Category One Hurricane.

As this was the last game between the two teams scheduled for the 2008 season, it will not be made up. The Reds win the 19-game season series, 11 games to 8.

The Florida State League takes a scheduled day off on Tuesday, the Miracle return on action on Wednesday against the Lakeland Flying Tigers at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland. First pitch is due for 7:00 PM.

This is the final road trip of the 2008 season. Fort Myers returns home on Tuesday, August 26th for their final regular season home stand.

Tickets for the playoffs are now on sale. All prices remain the same as for regular season seating. Season Ticket holder have until September 2nd to reserve their same location seat for the playoff series. Contact Justin Stecz at (239) 768-4210 to reserve your seat for the first round of the Florida State League playoffs today!

Alexi Casilla to Join Snappers for Rehab Stint

Beloit Snappers Press Release

Minnesota Twins' second baseman Alexi Casilla will be in uniform for the Snappers on Monday as they take on the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Casilla will join the Snappers for a short rehab assignment that could land him back with the big league club as early as Wednesday.

Alexi has been on the 15-day DL since July 29th with a torn ligament in his right thumb. The second baseman originally thought he was done for the year after injuring his thumb against the Chicago White Sox.

In 62 games this season, Alexi is hitting .313 with 15 doubles, four homers and 39 RBIs. Casilla is slugging .424 with just 25 strikeouts in 243 at-bats.

Along with Casilla joining the squad, the Snappers have placed infielder Paul Kelly back on the disabled list with a knee injury.

Miracle rout Reds in Sara

Fort Myers 15 at Sarasota 2

W: M. Fox (7-6, 3.55); L: R. Gonzalez (5-10, 6.85)
HR: FTM: J. Portes (10), J. Woodard (5).

The Fort Myers Miracle made short work of Rafael Gonzalez, taking 9 runs, 8 earned, from the Sarasota Reds starter in route to a 15-2 drubbing at Ed Smith Stadium.

Steve Singleton led off in the first with a line drive to center with one out on the board. Danny Berg Singled and Johnny Woodard took a walk to load up the bags. After a pop out to Edward Ovalle, Eli Tintor drew walk to force in Singleton. Garrett Olson then doubled to clean off the plates before Danny Lehmann ground out to end the inning.

Matt Fox would blank the Reds through seven innings of work, scattering six hits and a pair of walks while striking out 5. Following a ground out to Jose Castro, Carson Kainer would double off Fox in the bottom of the 1st and move to 3rd on a wild pitch. Juan Francisco drew a walk, but Fox took Todd Frazier and Logan Parker down on strikes to leave the Red's runners stranded.

Danny Santiesteban would strike out to start the top of the 2nd. Juan Portes followed it up with a single shot home run over the left field wall, his 10th of the season. Singleton and Berg hit back-to-back line drives to find their way onto base. Woodard's fly ball to left scored Sing, while Ovalle singled out to right, loading the bases. Tintor sacrificed in Berg, and Olson's line drive brought in Woodard. Lehmann single to plate Ovalle before Santiesteban, batting around the order, flew out to end the inning.

Gonzalez was not invited back out to the mound for the third inning, the Reds sent Logan Ondrusek out instead. Gonzales and Ondrusek and blanked the Miracle on August 3rd at Hammond Stadium, but the table were certainly turned in Sarasota.

Portes drew a walk off the tall Texan, and Singleton doubled. Berg tripled the pair in and came home on Woodard's ground out. Ovalle would ground out as well, and Tintor would go down on strikes, leaving Ondrusek relatively unscathed.

The Miracle rested in the fourth, but Singleton's double in the top of the 5th got them sparked again. Woodard would put his 5th home run of the season over the right field wall to score two. Red's manager Joe Ayrault was very unhappy, as the umpire had called what looked to be a strike with a 2-2 count a ball, and the next pitch was the one Woodard crushed over the fence. He was unhappier when Shawn Barber did not see it his way and ejected him from the game.

Ondrusek would follow his manager off the field, with Steve Otterness replacing him in the mound. The Tampa, Florida, native would get through the sixth and the seventh untouched, although he'd plunk Sing with a pitch in the seventh. Woodard singled off him in the top of the 8th, and Ovalle reached on a force attempt, in which 3rd baseman Jason Louwsma failed to field the ball. A sacrifice by Tintor brought in Woodard. Ovalle would make it to 3rd on Lehmann's double, but would left stranded when Santiesteban struck out.

David Shinskie finally found his way onto the Fort Myers' roster after spending some time rehabbing an injury at the Lee County Sportsplex. He'd replace Fox for the bottom of the 8th, and allow a single to Kainer. Francisco ground into a force out and Frazier doubled him to 3rd. Parker would knock a line drive single to right to plate the pair, ending the Miracle's shut out bid.

Zach Stewart would close out the game for the Reds, while Carlos Gutierrez handled the mop up detail for the Miracle.

Singleton finished up the game 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles, and 4 runs; Berg went 3-for-6 a the plate with a triple, 3 runs and 2 RBIs. Woodard was 3-for-4 with 4 runs and 4 RBIs, while Olson and Lehmann finished up 2-for-5 each, Lehmann with a double.

Tintor finished up 0-for-2 with walk, a run and 3 RBIs.

The two teams rematch tomorrow, Tropical Storm Fay permitting for a 7:00 PM game. Joe Testa (1-0, 1.80) will take the start for the Miracle against the Sarasota's Daryl Thompson (0-1, 7.71).

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The New Britain Rock Cats downed the Cleveland affiliated Akron Aeros, 8-2 in Eastern League play Sunday afternoon. David Winfree, Dustin Martin and Danny Valencia all knocked balls over the wall for the Rock Cats, who have won their fifth straight. The Rock Cats are in fifth place in the Northern Division, 21.5 games behind the division leading Trenton Thunder (Yankees). Both New Britain and the Toronto affiliated New Hampshire Fisher Cats have been mathematically eliminated from their league's playoffs.

In the International League, the Rochester Red Wings defeated the Syracuse Chiefs 8-5 Saturday night. Former Miracle Luke Hughes put his third AAA home run of the season over the wall in that contest. The two teams play an evening game on Sunday. With the win, Rochester reached .500 on the season. They are in 3rd place in the North division, 14 games behind the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees and virtually eliminated from the playoffs.

The Beloit Snappers fell to the Cedar Rapid Kernals 5-4 on the road. Ramon Santana went yard with his 7th home run of the season for the Snappers. Blake Martin suffered his second loss of the season, pitching .1 inning of relief in the bottom of the 13th inning. Mike McCardell gave up 4 runs, 2 earned on 7 hits and 2 walks in five inning while striking out eight. The Snappers have lost their last three, falling to fifth place in the Western division, six games behind the division leading Burlinton Bees (Kansas City).

Elizabethon, who was idle on Sunday, leads Kingsport by 5 games with 9 left to play in their season. The E-Twins have won their last four, and will likely face the Pulaski Mariners in the Applachian League playoffs.

Former Miracle and Fort Myers resident Tommy Watkins was at Saturday night's Miracle game. A member of the AAA Red Wings, Watkins suffered a separated shoulder that ended his season early. Watkins was hitting .219 for the wings through 76 games before his season came to an end.

With 13 games left to play in the Florida State League regular season, Lakeland (13), Sarasota (14.5) and Clearwater (16) have all been eliminated from the West Division playoffs. Tampa, trailing Dunedin by 11.5 games is the only other candidate left in the West Division as the Miracle have already locked up their playoff berth.

Red Sox slip by Twins in the ninth

GCL Twins 4 at GCL Red Sox 5

W: A. Batista (5-1, 6.41); L: K. Nanney (3-1, 1.76)
HR: None.

I've been boycotting the Red Sox due to the local political problems with a team. Mainly we build then a nice stadium which is only used for about 10 weeks in the spring and eats taxpayer money the rest of the year. We spend a mill or so per year on them for upgrades, and they decide to turn around and move to Sarasota or Orlando.

There's more but that's the sort version.

As a result, I will not journey to the City of Palms Complex this season, although I'm sure that no one over there has missed me, and so I was told by Jim Rantz that I missed "one hell of a game" on Saturday.

The Red Sox would slip by the Twins in the ninth, picking up a 5-4 win. The started out by taking an early lead off Twins starter Edgar Ibarra.

Wilfred Pichardo singled, then stole 2nd. Derrik Gibson singled out to center to score him. He'd steal 2nd as well, but Ibarra would take Casey Kelly out on strikes. Roberto Feliz's double moved Gibson to 3rd, but Ibarra then issued back-to-back strike outs to Chih-Hsian Huang and Andrew Frezza to get out of the jam and keep the Red Sox to a single run.

Juan Sanchez doubled in the top of the 3rd then moved to 3rd on Danny Ortiz ground out. Mike Gonzales' ground out served to plate him, tying up the contest.

Bruce Pugh would replace Ibarra in the bottom of the 4th, and allow a walk to Joantoni Garcia. Christian Vazques walked as well, and a single by Pichardo loaded the bags. A wild pitch by Pugh allowed Garcia to score. Pugh would then be called on a balk, allowing Vazquez over the plate. Pugh would take Gibson and Kelly out on strikes before Roberto Feliz popped out with the Red Sox now leading by two.

The Twins answered back however, with Sanchez doubling. Ortiz would go down on strikes, but Gonzales reached on a throwing error. Gibson's error also allowed Sanchez to score. A wild pitch by Wang-Yi Lin put Gonzales at 2nd. Lin's throwing error then allowed Pinto to reach and Gonzales to score, tying up the contest again. Both Tyler Landendorf and Hyun-wook Choi would fly out to retire the Twins.

Pugh would pitch the next three innings, allowing only 1 hit, but walking 4. He'd fan five before giving way to Khol Nanney.

Anatanaer Batista would work the 8th and 9th for the Red Sox, and would be on the mound when Aaron Hicks doubled in the top of the final stanza. Sanchez sac-bunt advanced him to 3rd, and Ortiz would double him in to give the Twins the lead. Gonzales and Rohlfing both ground out, letting the Sox have a chance at the plate.

Nanney would walk Pichardo, then allow a single to Gibson that moved Pichardo to 3rd. Gibson then stole 2nd. Nanney would get Kelly out on strikes, but Feliz doubled the pair in to end the contest with the Red Sox on top.

The loss would be Nanney's first of the season, coming on 2 hits and walk, while fanning 3 over 2.1 innings.

Sanchez lead the GCL Twins attack, going 3-for-3 at the plate with walk, a pair of doubles and two runs. Javier Brown was 2-for-3 in the contest. Jonathan Goncalves was 1-for-3 with a double, and Wook was 1-for-4 picking up the one hit wonder of the game title.

Hicks and Ortiz were 1-for-5 with a double each, Hicks with a run, Ortiz with a RBI. Gonzales, who finished up 0-for-3 at the plate, was still productive with a walk, a run and a RBI.

The Twins take Sunday off before taking on the South Division leading Pirates on Monday (weather permitting).

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Tropical Storm Fay continued to wreak havoc in the Caribbean, and causing the game between the DSL Twins and the DSL Reds to be postponed or canceled. The DSL Twins take Sunday off as well. The take on the DSL Yankees2 Monday for a 10:30 AM Dominican time game.

The Red Sox agreed to terms at the signing deadline with 4th round pick Peter Hissey (OF), 5th round pick Ryan Westmorland (OF), 13th round pick Tyler Wilson (RHP), 27th round pick Colby Cervenka (LHP), 35th rounder Carson Blair (SS) and 50th rounder Kyle Stroup (RHP). All were assigned to their Gulf Coast League affiliate. The Sox love to spend money, throwing a cool $1 mil at Hissey, and $1.604 mill (with bonuses making it $2 mill) on Wesmorland.

The Twins on the other hand signed sixth round pick B.J. Hermsen for $650 K. The righthander will not report to Fort Myers until Fall Instructional League, which is to begin around September 22nd. The Twins also agreed to terms with 14th round pick Blayne Weller, a righthanded pitcher from Key West, Florida, High School.

The Pirates also shored up their squad for the upcoming playoffs. Sandlot Swashbucklers is reporting that the Pirates signed 20th rounder Quinton Miller (RHP) and assigned him to Bradenton. 1st rounder Pedro Alvarez was also inked with a $6 Million bonus, but was not yet assigned to a team at the time the article was written. It is however, unlikely that the former Vanderbilt University 3rd baseman will be joining the GCL team.

Steedley's gem grounds Flying Tigers

Lakeland 1 at Fort Myers 5

W: S. Steedley (1-3, 7.83); L: A. Figaro (0-3, 4.64)
HR: FTM: W. Robbins (6).

Some of the Miracle faithful had questioned the wisdom of moving Spencer Steedley into the rotation. Steedley proved that's where he belongs Saturday night, as he limited the Lakeland Flying Tigers to only a pair of hits and 4 walks while fanning six over six innings.

The Miracle got a boost onto the board in the 3rd inning when Whit Robbins launched his sixth home run of the season over the right field wall. Steve Singleton had batted his way onto base one out earlier, so the home run was good for two. The Miracle would make it stand up until the bottom of the eighth.

Robbie Weinhardt would come in to replace Jay Sborz on the Tiger's mound and Singleton doubled off the newcomer. After Ramos went down on strikes, his second strike out of the game, Weinhardt intentionally walked Robbins. Johnny Woodard would also take a walk to load the bags, although in this case, it was not intentional. Edward Ovalle's double to right brought in two of the three runners, and Garret Olson would sacrifice in the slow footed Woodard to make it 5-0 Miracle.

Anthony Slama would be brought in for the ninth. Slama needs a good long rest as his arm is definitely not what it was earlier in the season. Michael Bertram would single off of him. He'd bounce back and get Jeremy Laster and Brandon Timm out on strikes. Justin Justice's double would put Bertram on 3rd and Jordan Lennerton would take a walk to load the bags. Jeff Kunkel singled to score Bertram, ruining the Miracle's shut out. Slama would finally get Devin Thomas out on strikes to end the game.

Robbins was 2-for-3 in the game with a walk, a pair of runs and a run batted in. Singleton and Ovalle were 2-for-4 each at the plate, Singleton with a double and pair of runs, Ovalle with a double and a pair of runs scored. Olson finished up 1-for-3 with a RBI, and Juan Portes, Ramos and Danny Santiesteban were all 1-for-4, and all one hit wonders. Woodard finished up 0-for-2 with a pair of walks and a run.

The win was Steedley's first at the FSL level.

Tropical Storm Fay is on the way and when the local weather will be affected remains to be seen. The Miracle head over to Sarasota for games on Sunday and Monday. Matt Fox (6-6, 3.81) is due to pitch for the Miracle on Sunday, with the contest slated for a 1:00 PM start.

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Deolis Guerra needs to go into the bullpen. He has suffered from control problems most of the season. Sure he's 19, but so is Alex Burnett, who's been much more reliable. Guerra looks uncomfortable in a starting role and vulture magic may make a difference for him. Matt Williams was good for four yesterday, and the Twins have had a lot of luck moving Aussie's into starting roles.

With the win, the Miracle move into 3rd place in the FSL West division, 12 games behind the division leading Dunedin Blue Jays who defeated the Reds on Saturday, 5-1.

Brian Duensing reports in his blog about beating the Canadians at Beijing. Be sure to check it out as the former Miracle picked up the win and gives a nice pitch-by-pitch recount of his final battle with Stubby Clapp.

Following the two game gig in Sarasota and a day off on Tuesday, the Miracle play three at Lakeland and three at Clearwater for the final road trip of the regular season. They return home Tuesday, August 26th for a three-game set against the Flying Tigers.