It's a Miracle! Cubs win in 17 innings

Daytona Beach, FL -  586 pitches, 341 minutes, 41 hits, 39 strikeouts, and 18 walks later, the Daytona Cubs came back to beat the Fort Myers Miracle 11-7 in 17 innings at Radiology Associates Field at Jackie Robinson Ballpark on Friday.

After RHP Yao-Lin Wang stranded the bases loaded with no outs in the top of the 17^th by striking out the side, LF Rock Shoulders launched a grand slam down the right field line in the bottom of the frame to end the game and give Daytona its fifth walk-off win of the season.

The grand slam was Shoulders' third of the year, tying him with Miracle OF Adam Brett Walker II.

Daytona trailed 7-1 in the sixth inning, but scored six-straight runs to climb back and push the game to extras.

In the eighth, C Kyle Schwarber hit his first home run as a Daytona Cubs player (third game) to make it a 7-6 game. Schwarber caught 14 innings before being relieved by Chadd Krist in the 15^th.

DH Willson Contreras hit a game-tying leadoff home run in the ninth that narrowly got over the fence in left to knot things up 7-7. The home run was Contreras' second of the season.

The Cubs scored one in the sixth, three in the seventh, and hit the solo home runs in the eighth and ninth.

Each of the 21 position players that had a plate appearance recorded a hit.

The Miracle had two runners thrown out at the plate and five Daytona Cubs grounded into double plays, including inning-ending twin-killings in both the 15^th and 16^th innings with the game-winning runs in scoring position.

Daytona pitchers struck out 23 Miracle players, & Fort Myers pitchers struck out 19 Cubs, leaving the two teams one strikeout shy of the all-time Florida State League combined record for strikeouts in a game which was set by Miami (18) and St. Petersburg (22) on June 14^th, 1966 in 29 innings.

Fort Myers used nine pitchers and Daytona used five.

RHP Zack Godley tossed two scoreless innings and RHP Stephen Perakslis pitched four shutout frames to get the Cubs from the 10^th through the 15^th.

After keeping the Miracle off the board in the 16^th, Wang allowed back-to-back hits to start the 17^th, and the bases were then loaded after 2B Gioskar Amaya committed an error on a ball that looked like it should be a double play. But Wang was able to strike out 1B Dalton Hicks, Walker and 3B Niko Goodrum to escape and preserve the 7-7 tie.

Both teams began their ninth time through the order offensively.

The Cubs were intentionally walked three times, including SS Marco Hernandez twice who moved into a tie for the league-lead with teammate Shoulders.

CF Albert Almora was ejected from the game in the 10^th after striking out swinging and arguing that the pitch was a foul tip on the swing.

Hernandez, Schwarber, OF Billy McKinney and Amaya each reached base four times.

With the win Wang improved to 2-5 on the season.

Had the game extended to the 18^th, it would have been the final inning of the night, as league rules prohibit an inning from starting after 1 A.M.

With a single in the second, OF Bijan Rademacher extended his on-base streak to 29-straight games.

With the win, the Cubs remain one half-game behind the Brevard County Manatees for first place in the FSL North.

Daytona and Fort Myers are scheduled to play the final game of the four-game series on Saturday at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.