Miracle back on winning track, 2-1

Special to the Cape Coral Daily Breeze

SARASOTA — Fort Myers Miracle starter Jay Rainville went 6 2/3 innings Thursday night while closer Eddie Morlan sailed through the final 2 1/3 innings as the two hurlers shut down the Sarasota Reds in a 2-1 victory that snapped a three-game losing streak.

Rainville gave up a run on five hits, with seven strikeouts. Morlan picked up his 18th save facing the final eight hitters on one hit while fanning two.

Both Miracle runs came early. A two-out single by Danny Valencia in the second kept the inning alive. After Reds starter Sean Watson hit Edward Ovalle with a pitch, Dwayne White connected on a 3-2 pitch with two outs and the runners in motion for an RBI-single to left.

In the Miracle fourth, three straight hits by Juan Portes, Valencia and Ovalle loaded the bases for White, who hit a chopper up the middle. Sarasota second baseman Wayne Kendrick stepped on the bag and turned two as Portes scored from third.

Rainville surrendered his lone run in the seventh. Tonys Gutierrez led off with a single to center and later scored on Anthony Esquer’s two-out single.

The brief two-game series with the Reds concludes Friday night with the Miracle sending lefty Errol Simonitsch (3-0, 6.00) to the hill.