Miracle stave off Cubs for sweep

Special to the Cape Coral Daily Breeze

DAYTONA BEACH — After seeing a seven-run lead disappear Wednesday night, the Fort Myers Miracle bounced back with two runs in the ninth inning on their way to a 9-8 victory and series sweep of the Daytona Cubs.

Dwayne White drove in the game-winner with a sacrifice fly to cap the Miracle ninth.

The Miracle put seven runs on the board, all with two outs in the second, racing to a 7-0 lead. Danny Valencia kept the inning alive with a two-out single to left, also pushing his hitting streak to eight. He scored moments later on Johnny Woodard’s double to right.

An RBI-single by Jeff Christy made it a two-run game before a fielding error by Cubs third baseman Billy Mottram opened the floodgates. Erik Lis and Dustin Martin slapped back-to-back two-run doubles helping stake the Miracle to a seven-run bulge.

Daytona answered with three runs in the second highlighted by three straight hits, including an RBI-double by Alfred Joseph and an infield single by Mark Reed made it 7-3.

Daytona tied it up in the fifth without the benefit of a hit. A pair of one-out singles in the sixth put the Cubs ahead.

The ninth-inning rally began with a lead-off single by Lis and a double down the left-field line by Martin.

With the win, the Miracle picked up their first four-game series sweep of the season. They start a four-game homestand with Brevard County Thursday night.