PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (May 13, 2017) - The Fort Myers Miracle (17-20) scored six runs in the rain in the final two innings after being down 6-1 to win the final game of the series against the Charlotte Stone Crabs (18-18) on Saturday night. Shane Kennedy and Chris Paul's ninth inning
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (May 13, 2017) - The Fort Myers Miracle (17-20) scored six runs in the rain in the final two innings after being down 6-1 to win the final game of the series against the Charlotte Stone Crabs (18-18) on Saturday night. Shane Kennedy and Chris Paul's ninth inning extra-base hits supplied the tying and go-ahead runs for the 7-6 win.
Fort Myers struck first in the top of the first when Kennedy singled in Max Murphy. RHP Dereck Rodríguez went to work and did not allow a run until the fourth inning in the 1-0 contest. After the first, Stone Crabs' starter RHP Blake Bivens shut down the Miracle offense for the nest six innings. He finished allowing one run over seven with six strikeouts.
Charlotte tied the game in the fourth with a Dalton Kelly sacrifice fly. An inning later, Ryan Brett connected against Rodriguez on a go-ahead solo home run. The Stone Crabs added two more in the inningthanks to doubles by Jake Cronenworth and Brandon Lowe. The Miracle righty ended his night surrendering four runs over six frames.
Charlotte added two more in the seventh against RHP Nick Anderson. Anderson, who hadn't allowed a run over his first 13.1 innings on the year, gave up back to back extra base hits to Peter Maris and Cronenworth. He left the game with the Miracle trailing by five.
In the top of the eighth, Forty Myers began their run against RHP Jairo Munoz. They loaded the bases with one out when Sean Miller singled, chasing Munoz from the game. RHP Brandon Lawson entered and promptly hit Rafael Valera with a fastball. Kevin Garcia then jumped on the first pitch he saw and smacked a single to left field, scoring two.
After a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth from LHP Sam Clay (W, 4-0), Fort Myers entered the ninth trailing 6-5. Max Murphy slapped a sharp ground ball to third that snuck under the glove of Maris. Bradley Strong sacrificed Murphy to second with a bunt. Shane Kennedy came up clutch once again with a triple to right-center, and on the next pitch to Paul, the Miracle first baseman doubled to right to take a 7-6 lead. Clay locked down the ninth, ending the game by snaring a comebacker.
Fort Myers enjoys an off day on Mother's Day before starting up a seven-game homestand on Monday. The Miracle will see the Clearwater Threshers for four before getting the Bradenton Marauders three more times.
To stay up to date on upcoming promotional nights, follow the Miracle online at Miraclebaseball.com or through social media; Twitter: @MiracleBaseball, Instagram: fortmyersmiracle, Facebook: Fort Myers Miracle, Snapchat: ftmyersmiracle. For further information or questions regarding the 2017 25th Anniversary Season, call the Miracle offices at (239) 768-4210.
