Miscues cost Miracle in opener

By Phil Denis
Special to Fort Myers News Press

SARASOTA — Thursday night's Florida State League season opener here at Ed Smith Stadium between the Fort Myers Miracle and Sarasota Reds only took 2:05 to play.

Unfortunately for visiting Fort Myers second-year manager Kevin Boles' ballclub, it all came apart within a couple of minutes.

It occurred in the bottom of the sixth inning when a pair of fielding errors led to two unearned runs and an eventual 2-0 victory for the Reds in front of 1,051 spectators.

Sarasota got a sensational pitching performance from starting pitcher Carlos Fisher.

Fisher (1-0) — scattered three singles, walked one and had three strikeouts before giving way to relief pitchers Ramon Ramirez and Josh Roenicke — who earned the save — for the last three innings.

Fisher, a ground ball inducer, got in early trouble in the top of the first inning when Fort Myers' first two batters reached base on a base hit and fielding error before getting the next three hitters.

Fisher also avoided potential trouble by getting groundout double plays in the sixth and seventh innings.

Overall, Reds pitching coach Tom Brown's trifecta faced only three batters over the minimum of 27.

Fort Myers starting pitcher Kyle Waldrop matched Fisher's masterful performance for five innings as he didn't allow a hit — only a pair of consecutive hit batsmen to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning. Waldrop didn't allow a walk and had seven strikeouts.

Sarasota's offensive breaks came when it scored its pair of unearned runs off relief pitcher Jay Rainville (0-1).

After Adam Rosales drew a one-out walk, Jay Bruce's sharp single to right field was misplayed by outfielder Dwayne White that allowed Rosales to score the game winning run.

Bruce then scored from second base when Miracle first baseman Whit Robbins mishandled Danny Dorn's ground ball.

Notebook

The four-game, alternating-city series to open the FSL's 88th anniversary season moves to Hammond Stadium in the Lee County Sports Complex in Fort Myers at 7 p.m. today. It's the Miracle's 16th season in Southwest Florida. Right-hander Oswaldo Sosa (9-7, 2.75 earned run average in 2006) is the Miracle's scheduled starting pitcher and Sarasota has named another righty, Johnny Cueto (a combined 15-3 with the low Class A Dayton Dragons in the Midwest League and Sarasota last season), as its probable pitcher. The series will resume at 6 p.m. Saturday in Sarasota and, after having Easter Sunday off, Monday evening back in Lee County.

Fort Myers second-year manager Kevin Boles certainly didn't need directions to the ballpark for opening night. Boles is a Cardinal Mooney High grad, the school being located about two miles from the stadium.