Oeltjen blast lifts Miracle over Jays

Grand slam occurs in team's final at-bat

By Special to The News-Press

Trent Oeltjen's grand slam in the seventh inning Friday night lifted the Fort Myers Miracle over the Dunedin Blue Jays 6-2 in the first game of a doubleheader in Dunedin.

The Miracle, desperately trying to catch the Florida State League West Division-leading Blue Jays, were playing the nightcap against Dunedin at press time.

Pending the second game, Fort Myers trailed Dunedin by 1 1/2 games in the FSL West.

Oeltjen had a huge game for Fort Myers, going 4-for-4 at the plate with four RBI, two runs scored and his 21st stolen base of the season. The homer was his fourth of 2005.

Oeltjen raised his batting average to .292.

Fort Myers trailed throughout, falling behind 2-0 after three innings and still trailing 2-1 entering its final at-bat in the seven-inning contest.

The rally made a winner of Miracle starter Adam Harben (9-5), who went the first six innings. He gave up two runs, one earned, on seven hits and a walk. He struck out three.

Jay Sawatski pitched a scoreless seventh for the Miracle.

Milton Tavarez (4-7) blew his eighth save opportunity of the season. giving up Oeltjen's grand slam. Tavarez surrendered five hits and four runs in two-thirds of an inning for Dunedin.

Matt Tolbert drove in his 44th run of the season for the Miracle, the first run of the five-run seventh inning. Mark Zamojc drove in the first Fort Myers run in the fourth inning.