Fort Myers outlasts St. Lucie, 11-8, in series opener
Sano hits his fifth home run, O'Rourke wins fourth game
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (April 18, 2013) - The Fort Myers Miracle rebounded from their first loss of the season yesterday to take game one of a set of three with the St. Lucie Mets, 11-8, at Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie, Fla on Thursday night.
In a game that featured three lead changes and two tie scores, Miracle first baseman Kennys Vargas' two-out, two-run double down the right field line in the seventh inning gave Fort Myers the lead for good.
The Miracle started off quickly with a lead off double from A.J. Pettersen in the first inning off Mets starter Noah Syndergaard. After Angel Morales and Eddie Rosario were retired, Miguel Sano launched a 1-0 pitch well over the wall in straight away left field to put the Miracle on top, 2-0. The home run for Sano was his fifth in 14 games and the 6-4, 236-pound third baseman has now driven in 14 runs.
St. Lucie answered with a run in the bottom of both the first and second innings off Miracle starter Madison Boer. The Mets got an RBI triple from Matt Reynolds in the first and a run-scoring base hit from Gilbert Gomez in the second.
Tied at 2-2, Fort Myers broke away briefly in the top of the third with a four hit, five run outburst on Syndergaard. Michael Gonzales drove in two with a two-out triple off the base of the center field wall, Vargas followed with an RBI single and Kyle Knudson knocked home a pair on a double into right field.
Syndergaard left after the third and received a no decision with seven earned runs on eight hits, two walks and a couple of strikeouts.
Boer also struggled in the third inning. The Mets touched up Boer for five runs including a two-run homer from Matt Reynolds. Boer left after 2.1 innings allowing seven runs on six hits, four walks and fanned two.
In the fourth inning, the Mets took their first lead, 8-7, on a solo home run from Aderlin Rodriguez off Miracle reliever Nelvin Fuentes.
After Vargas' two-run double in the 7th, the Miracle added a run in the eighth on a Sano RBI single and another in the ninth on a bloop hit from Stephen Wickens.
Ryan O'Rourke (4-0) picked up another win after tossing a pair of scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh. Zack Jones came on in the eighth to complete a two inning save, his fifth of the season.
The Miracle (13-1) return to Tradition Field on Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. against the St. Lucie Mets (9-5).