Miracle top Yankees 5-4

Rain halts second game in 5th

The Fort Myers Miracle dropped a rain-suspended game to the Tampa Yankees 5-4, finishing the contest Wednesday evening at Hammond Stadium.

The Miracle hurt their own cause by leaving 13 men on base after scoring just four runs and pounding out 13 hits in the Florida State League game.

Fort Myers left the bases loaded in the first and third, and left the tying and winning runs on base in the ninth. With runners at first and second in the ninth, Yankees closer Edwardo Sierra got Brett Tamburrino on strikes and Kaulana Kuhaulua to fly out to center to pick up his FSL-tops 24th save.

With the Miracle down 1-0 in the fourth, Tamburrino led off with a walk. One out later, Felix Molina singled. Alex Romero drove in a run with a double to left. Trent Oeltjen put the Miracle ahead with an RBI single.

The Yankees, however, tied it just before the rain came in the fifth inning Tuesday night. Jayson Drobiak led off the inning with a walk. J.T. Stotts hit a dribbler up the third-base line and reached base. Gabe Lopez followed with a bunt single. Melky Cabrera’s fielder’s choice scored the tying run. That’s when the rain came. When play resumed Wednesday, Jared Koutnik’s sacrifice fly gave the Yankees the lead. They got two insurance runs in the sixth on a two-run double by Lopez.

The Miracle scored in the seventh on an RBI single by Jose Morales and in the eighth on an RBI single by Oeltjen, but that was as close as it got. Oeltjen finished the night 4-for-5, with a double, two RBI and a run scored. Alex Romero had three hits. Miracle starter John Thomas was saddled with his fourth consecutive loss, despite giving up just three hits in 4.1 innings while allowing three runs and striking out seven.

The second game saw Tampa take a 2-1 lead on the Miracle, but the rain halted play in the top of the fifth with two outs and an 0-2 count on Manny Mejia. The teams will pick up from there Thursday, Aug. 12 at Hammond Stadium. The game will still be a seven-inning contest. The regularly scheduled game will also be seven innings.

The Miracle will play host to the Clearwater Threshers tonight, with the first game the resumption of a rain-halted game from July 27. The game will begin at 5:05 p.m. in the bottom of the first and will be nine innings. The regularly scheduled game will begin 30 minutes after the first game ends and will be a seven-inning contest.