Barnes, Cutura pitch Miracle to twin bill sweep

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - Charlie Barnes and Andro Cutura provided stellar starting pitching to help lift the Miracle to a doubleheader sweep of the St. Lucie Mets, 5-1 and 3-1, on Saturday night at First Data Field.
The Miracle needed an extra inning in game one, as they scored five in the top of the eighth to earn the win. Travis Blankenhorn began the inning on second base as a result of the new extra inning rules in Minor League Baseball. Luis Arraez singled him to third and advanced to second on an error. Blankenhorn then scored on a wild pitch.
Later in the frame, Taylor Grzelakowski and Lewin Diaz delivered RBI singles. Jimmy Kerrigan also picked up an RBI groundout and the Mets committed a second error.
Barnes tied a season and career-high with 6.1 innings on the mound. He allowed one run on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Ryan Mason (5-2) earned the win with 1.2 scoreless innings in relief to lower his ERA to 2.28.
Mark Contreras put the Miracle up 1-0 in the third inning with a long home run to center, his third of the season. St. Lucie tied the game with a run in the fourth.
In game two, Cutura went the distance and clutch hitting in the top of the seventh broke a 1-1 tie. With one out, Jimmy Kerrigan, Lewin Diaz, and Caleb Hamilton delivered three straight doubles. It was the second RBI of the game for Diaz, after he put the Miracle up 1-0 with a single in the second. He had two of the five hits in the game for the Miracle.
Cutura (3-1) allowed just three hits in seven innings for the second straight outing. The one run he allowed came in the fourth and he did not allow a hit until the fifth. The right-hander walked two and struck out four. He threw 87 pitches, 54 for strikes.
The four-game series concludes on Saturday at First Data Field. Right-hander Tyler Wells (3-3) will start for the Miracle. First pitch is 12:00 p.m.