Fort Myers falters in ninth, loses 4-3

DUNEDIN — All day long, the Fort Myers Miracle’s pitchers left the ball up in the zone. The Dunedin Blue Jays made them pay with a couple of long balls and the Miracle gave up a run in the ninth and lost 4-3 Tuesday afternoon at Knology Park.

Dunedin right fielder Alex Romero had 10 putouts — one shy of tying the Florida State League record for putouts in a nine-inning game by an outfielder, set last season by Jason Waugh of the Blue Jays.

The Miracle entered the bottom of the ninth tied at 3, but a leadoff walk by Jannio Gutierrez and by a single by Vito Chiaravalloti put the winning run in scoring position. One out later, Rodney Medina lined a single to right-center.

The Miracle jumped out to the early lead when Trent Oeltjen singled, went to third on a two-base throwing error and scored on a Danny Matienzo single.

Dunedin answered in the bottom of the inning with a two-run shot by Ron Davenport.

The Miracle knotted it in the fourth. Matienzo led off with a single, went to second on a ground out and scored on a two-out single by Elvis Corporan.

The Blue Jays used the long ball to regain the lead in the fifth when Raul Tablado hit his 14th homer of the season.

The Miracle tied it at 3 in the seventh on a Jesus Merchan single and a Felix Molina RBI double.

Fort Myers’ Doug Deeds, who had a 19-game hitting streak earlier this season, now has a seven-gamer.

The teams meet at noon today at the Lee County Sports Complex.