Woodard making his own Miracles

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Woodard making his own Miracles
04/21/2008 10:43 PM ET
By Eric Justic

It's taken a few years, but Johnny Woodard finally seems to be getting used to Florida State League pitching.
Woodard hit a grand slam and matched a career high with five RBIs as Fort Myers defeated visiting Lakeland, 10-4, on Monday at William Hammond Stadium.
The 23-year-old first baseman drove in all five runs in his first two at-bats with an RBI single in the first and his first professional slam in the third.
"He threw a couple of bad pitches early and he threw a fastball," Woodard said. "I was waiting for it because the bases were loaded. I was pretty sure he didn't want to walk any more batters so I was sitting on it."
Woodard is hitting .286 with four homers and 11 RBIs in 15 games for the Miracle (11-7). The Oakland, Calif. native is 7-for-16 in his past four games. He also homered three times in four games from April 11-15. This is a far reach from his past experience with the Twins' Class A Advanced affiliate.
Selected by Minnesota in the third round of the 2003 draft, Woodard spent parts of the past two seasons with Fort Myers without much success. He batted .181 with two homers and eight RBIs in 23 games with Fort Myers in 2006, then followed that up last season by hitting .201 with seven homers and 23 RBIs in 51 games.
"You know the saying, 'when it rains, it rains'," he said. "But I've been in the league a couple of times. I kind of know how the pitching is. It might be my time to shine now."
Woodard was better with Beloit of the Midwest League, batting .276 with 10 homers and 31 RBIs in 66 games last season. He also had all three of his two-homer games with the Snappers, including his other five-RBI performance on Aug. 2, 2005.
"I've had a few seasons with injuries and have struggled a lot, so maybe this is the light at the end of the tunnel," he said. "It may be too early to say anything, but I'm feeling good right now. It just seems like everything is slowing down."
Minnesota Twins right-hander Kevin Slowey pitched three innings in a rehab start for Fort Myers, yielding one hit -- Jeramy Laster's solo homer in the second -- and striking out five with one walk. He fanned three of the first four batters he faced in the first.
The 23-year-old Slowey had the flu late in Spring Training, then took the loss in a start against the Angels on April 3. He was placed on the disabled list a day later due to a right biceps strain.
Rene Tosoni was 4-for-5 with three runs scored and two RBIs to raise his batting average to .373 for Fort Myers. Brian Dinkelman chipped in two hits and scored three times.
Deolis Guerra (2-0) gave up three runs -- two earned -- on four hits and two walks with three strikeouts in four frames for the win.
Flying Tigers starter Jonah Nickerson (1-2), a seventh-round pick in the 2006 draft, allowed six runs -- five earned -- on eight hits and two walks with three strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.
Justin Justice clubbed a two-run shot in the seventh for Lakeland (8-10).
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.