Eades sharp as bats bash Yankees, 11-4, on the road

TAMPA, Fla. (April 13, 2015) - The Fort Myers Miracle offense exploded for 11 runs on 13 hits in a series opening 11-4 win over the Tampa Yankees on Monday night at Steinbrenner Field.

Miracle starter Ryan Eades made a successful Florida State League debut with six scoreless frames. Eades (1-0) scattered five hits and two walks with three strikeouts.

The onslaught began in the first inning when the Miracle plated three runs off Tampa starter Jhon Morban. Niko Goodrum led off with a walk and moved to second on a ground ball out by Engelb Vielma. With Mitch Garver at the plate, Goodrum swiped third base. Morban (0-1) issued Garver a walk to put runners on the corners.

Alex Swim then bounced a first pitch through the right side to score Goodrum. Chad Christensen followed with an infield hit to load the bases up. Aderling Mejia then secured a second run with a sacrifice fly into center field to bring in Garver. Jason Kanzler then rolled a chopper to first base. Matt Snyder fielded, but Morban dropped the toss and Swim raced home, 3-0.

Fort Myers tagged Morban for two more runs in the second. Michael Quesada led off by drawing a walk and moved to third on a double down the right field line by Goodrum. Vielma reached on an error by Snyder at first to load the bases. Mitch Garver watched four pitches sail outside the strike zone to force in a run with a bases loaded walk. Swim followed with a ground out to first base that brought in Goodrum to push the Miracle lead to 5-0.

Chad Christensen notched one of his two RBI hits in the fourth inning with a two-out double into right field. After Garver doubled into center and Swim rolled out to short, Christensen smacked a 1-2 pitch from Tamp reliever Matt Wotherspoon into the corner to plate Garver.

Two innings later, Garver tallied his second RBI of the night with his second double. On a 1-2 pitch from Philip Walby, Garver sent a drive into right field that one-hopped the wall and scored Vielma from first, 7-0.

The Miracle erased any doubt in the seventh with a four run, five hit inning. Sending nine batters to the plate, the Miracle got RBI hits from Vielma and Christensen while Swim knocked in a run on a fielder's choice.

Swim finished 1-for-5 with a team-high three RBI and extended his hitting streak to five games to start the season. Goodrum went 2-for-4 with three runs scored and one driven in, registering his fourth multi-hit game of the season. Garver finished the night 2-for-3 and reached base five times with a pair of doubles and RBI. Christensen was 3-for-5 with a double. Marcus Knecht and Michael Quesada each had two hits.

Todd Van Steensel tossed two scoreless innings in relief of Eades, but the shutout was lost in the ninth. Miracle reliever J.T. Chargois allowed four runs on five hits while only recording one out. Madison Boer entered the game and retired the final two hitters of the game.

The Miracle (3-2) will battle the Yankees (2-3) on Tuesday morning at 10:30 a.m. Fans can listen to the broadcast on www.miraclebaseball.com with the "Voice of the Miracle" Brice Zimmerman. The MiracleBaseball.com pregame show begins at 10:10 a.m.