Slegers deals, Miracle sweep Daytona with 4-1 win in finale
Tortugas held from clinching FSL North Division at Hammond Stadium
FORT MYERS, Fla. (June 18, 2015) - The Fort Myers Miracle completed a four-game sweep over the Daytona Tortugas with a 4-1 victory at Hammond Stadium on Thursday night with a crowd of 2,941.
The Miracle capitalized on a Tortuga mistake in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs, Mitch Garver singled into left off Daytona starter Barrett Astin. Marcus Knecht then bounced an infield base hit to short to put runners at first and second. Bryan Haar stepped up and hit a grounder to Carlton Daal at shortstop. Daal fielded and threw wildly to second base allowing Garver to score, 1-0. Daal's miscue was the seventh error of the series committed by Daytona.
In the third, the Miracle added another run. Jason Kanzler led off with a double down the right field line and advanced to third on Garver's ground out to second. Knecht then chopped a single through a drawn-in infield to score Kanzler and double the lead, 2-0.
Garver continued a solid night at the plate with an RBI single in the fifth. Engelb Vielma started the inning with a single up the middle off Astin (4-2). Zack Granite then sacrificed Vielma to second base with a bunt. After Kanzler rolled out to third, Vielma swiped third base. Garver worked a 2-2 count before serving a broken bat line drive into center field to extend the Miracle advantage to 3-0.
A final insurance run was pushed across in the bottom of the eighth with two outs. Knecht led off with a single into center off Tortugas reliever Alejandro Chacin. Retiring the next two Miracle batters, Chacin surrendered a 2-2 bloop hit to Michael Quesada to drive in Knecht, 4-0.
Aaron Slegers made the start for the Miracle and delivered six strong innings. On 80 pitches, Slegers (4-4) yielded just two hits with two walks and struck out five while allowing just one man to reach second base.
D.J. Johnson entered in the seventh and tossed two scoreless frames. In the ninth, Alex Muren came out of the Miracle bullpen and gave up a run-scoring single to Taylor Sparks before sealing the sweep.
The Miracle (35-32) have now won four in a row and 10 of the last 12 games prior to the Florida State League All-Star break. Fort Myers will not return to the diamond until Monday evening at Hammond Stadium with the Palm Beach Cardinals coming to town. Game time is set for 7:05 p.m. and gates open at 6 p.m. To order tickets, call (239) 768-4210 or visit www.miraclebaseball.com.
The Miracle capitalized on a Tortuga mistake in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs, Mitch Garver singled into left off Daytona starter Barrett Astin. Marcus Knecht then bounced an infield base hit to short to put runners at first and second. Bryan Haar stepped up and hit a grounder to Carlton Daal at shortstop. Daal fielded and threw wildly to second base allowing Garver to score, 1-0. Daal's miscue was the seventh error of the series committed by Daytona.
In the third, the Miracle added another run. Jason Kanzler led off with a double down the right field line and advanced to third on Garver's ground out to second. Knecht then chopped a single through a drawn-in infield to score Kanzler and double the lead, 2-0.
Garver continued a solid night at the plate with an RBI single in the fifth. Engelb Vielma started the inning with a single up the middle off Astin (4-2). Zack Granite then sacrificed Vielma to second base with a bunt. After Kanzler rolled out to third, Vielma swiped third base. Garver worked a 2-2 count before serving a broken bat line drive into center field to extend the Miracle advantage to 3-0.
A final insurance run was pushed across in the bottom of the eighth with two outs. Knecht led off with a single into center off Tortugas reliever Alejandro Chacin. Retiring the next two Miracle batters, Chacin surrendered a 2-2 bloop hit to Michael Quesada to drive in Knecht, 4-0.
Aaron Slegers made the start for the Miracle and delivered six strong innings. On 80 pitches, Slegers (4-4) yielded just two hits with two walks and struck out five while allowing just one man to reach second base.
D.J. Johnson entered in the seventh and tossed two scoreless frames. In the ninth, Alex Muren came out of the Miracle bullpen and gave up a run-scoring single to Taylor Sparks before sealing the sweep.
The Miracle (35-32) have now won four in a row and 10 of the last 12 games prior to the Florida State League All-Star break. Fort Myers will not return to the diamond until Monday evening at Hammond Stadium with the Palm Beach Cardinals coming to town. Game time is set for 7:05 p.m. and gates open at 6 p.m. To order tickets, call (239) 768-4210 or visit www.miraclebaseball.com.