Tomshaw earns win, Miracle down Manatees, 4-2

FORT MYERS, Fla. (July 21, 2014) - The Fort Myers Miracle defeated the Brevard County Manatees, 4-2, at Hammond Stadium on Monday evening in the second of a four-game series.

Scoreless through the first three innings, the Manatees broke the tie with two runs in the top of the fourth. After Miracle starter Matt Tomshaw struck out Greg Hopkins to start the frame, Cameron Garfield reached on a walk and moved to second on a single by Victor Roache. Mike Garza then sliced a 1-2 pitch into right center field to score Garfield. Garrett Cooper followed with a sacrifice fly to give the Manatees a 2-0 lead.

The Miracle answered immediately. In the bottom of the fourth, Fort Myers rallied with two outs. After going down in the 0-2, Dalton Hicks worked a full count from Brevard County starter Austin Ross. Hicks then sliced a single into center field. Adam Brett Walker then stepped up and smashed an 0-2 pitch off the wall in dead center to score Hicks from first. The RBI for Walker was his Florida State League leading 73rd.

Mike Gonzales then took a hammered a 1-1 pitch off the wall in left center to plate Walker and tie the game, 2-2. The double for Gonzales extended his hitting streak to 13 games.

Fort Myers gained the lead in the sixth. Ross (7-3) issued a lead-off walk on four pitches to Travis Harrison. Hicks then picked up his second base hit of the game with a single to left. Ross then issued a free pass to Walker to load the bases.

Brevard County manager Joe Ayrault went to the bullpen and brought in left-hander Michael Strong. On Strong's second pitch, Gonzales hit a grounder to third. Greg Hopkins fired to second base to get a force out, but Gonzales reached on a fielder's choice to knock in a run. Stuart Turner followed by poking a single into right field to push across another run and give the Miracle a 4-2 lead.

Tomshaw (9-2) went 6.2 innings giving up two runs on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts. In the seventh, Tomshaw exited the game with the bases loaded and two outs. Miracle manager Doug Mientkiewicz turned to Brian Gilbert out of the pen. Gilbert proceeded to strikeout Hopkins to end the threat then pitched two more scoreless frames to earn his fifth save of the season.

The Miracle (61-37, 20-9) host the Manatees (51-41, 15-11) on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. Gates open at 6 p.m. for a 2-4-1 Tuesday with buy one, get one domestic draft beers and hot dogs. Fans can pick up a special 2-for-1 ticket offer in the Bonita Daily News. For tickets and information, call (239) 768-4210 or visit www.miraclebaseball.com.