DUNEDIN, Fla. - The Miracle took a 5-0 lead early, but the Dunedin Blue Jays stormed back to take the series opener, 8-6, on Thursday night at Dunedin Stadium. Fort Myers scored four runs in the opening inning, as they took advantage of two walks, a hit by pitch, wild pitch,
DUNEDIN, Fla. - The Miracle took a 5-0 lead early, but the Dunedin Blue Jays stormed back to take the series opener, 8-6, on Thursday night at Dunedin Stadium.
Fort Myers scored four runs in the opening inning, as they took advantage of two walks, a hit by pitch, wild pitch, and error by Dunedin starter Angel Perdomo. Mark Contreras opened the game with a double and later came around to score the first run. He later tripled and was hit by a pitch.
The Miracle added another run in the third inning on an RBI double by Jimmy Kerrigan, who just re-joined the club from Triple-A Rochester.
Miracle starter Andro Cutura set down the first seven batters he faced, but ran into trouble in the third inning, as Dunedin scored three runs. Josh Palacios brought home a pair with a double. Logan Warmoth delivered a sacrifice fly. Warmoth later came up with a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning.
With the Miracle up 5-4, the Blue Jays scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh to surge ahead for the first time. Eduard Pinto hit a two-run home run, his first of the season. Kacy Clemens added an RBI triple.
The Miracle rallied in the ninth inning, but came up short. Joe Cronin tripled to center with two out and Nelson Molina followed with an RBI single. Representing the go-ahead run with two on and two out, Lewin Diaz hit a ground ball up the middle and was robbed on a diving play by second baseman John La Prise to end the game.
Jonathan Cheshire (2-0) earned the win in relief with three shutout innings. Kevin Marnon (0-1) suffered the loss. Ty Tice recorded the final out of the contest to pick up his first save.
The three-game series continues on Friday night in Dunedin. Right-hander Brady Anderson (0-3) will start for Fort Myers. First pitch is 6:30 p.m.
