Gray's skies clearer after ending drought

By DANA OPPEDISANO
Naples Daily News

FORT MYERS — The first clubhouse call came from Josh Gray's wife, Kendra, giddy at the possibility of her husband's first win in 14 months even as Dunedin put the tying run on first in the bottom of the eighth.

Three insurance runs later, the 24-year-old saw his losing streak — at 12 and dating back to April 16, 2004 — come to its merciful close with a 13-9 win Monday over the Blue Jays.

Not that he was keeping track or anything.

"I knew it had been a long time," he said with a laugh. "Of course my family and my wife were freaking out, but I really tried not to think about it. If you think about the past, it'll get in your head. You don't want that to happen, so you just hope you can progress from the day before."

That's precisely the kind of thinking, says Miracle manager Riccardo Ingram, that's made the former starter a valuable middle-relief option in his second season with the team.

"Josh has gone through this league and now he understands what he has to do to be effective," Ingram said of the lefty, now 1-2 with a 3.76 ERA in 38-1/3 innings. "In the minor leagues, you have to develop against the league but also develop yourself. I think Josh is doing that now, and he knows what he can and what he can't do."

LEADING MAN?

When center fielder Denard Span was promoted to Double-A New Britain on June 22, it opened a spot atop the order that Matt Tolbert didn't exactly have dreams of filling.

"He's an outfielder, I play infield, so it wasn't even on my mind," said the 23-year-old second baseman, who had hit ninth in 23 of 50 first-half games. "(Outfielder) Ron (Perodin) was hitting first, so I guess we'll flip-flop depending on who's getting hits and who's getting on base."

In six games since Span's call-up, Ingram has auditioned both Perodin and Tolbert in the leadoff spot, with Perodin going 1-for-12 with a run scored in the Miracle's three-game sweep of Clearwater to open the second half.

Tolbert, in three straight starts entering Thursday night's game against Tampa, had gone 5 for his first 14 batting first, including leadoff homers in the Monday win at Dunedin and in Thursday night's 6-1 win at Hammond Stadium.

"I've talked with (coach Jeff Carter) about taking some pitches," says Tolbert, who, in his second pro season, is the only player on the Miracle to have skipped Low-A. "When you're hitting in the nine-spot, a lot of times you'll get fastballs and I'll just go after them. I've just got to learn to be more patient, take some walks and let the other guys see how the guy looks that day."

HEALING HARBEN

Adam Harben threw five scoreless innings Wednesday in a 3-1 win over Tampa with tightness in his left side.

Harben said he was fine in warm-ups, then tweaked a back muscle on an early pitch and spent the rest of the night — aside from allowing just two hits — stretching like a yoga instructor.

"I was trying to keep it stretched out, hoping that would help," said Harben, who had the same injury at the University of Arkansas-Ft. Smith in 2002. "They asked if I could still pitch and I told them I could. Then I walked in after the fifth and they said, 'You're done.'"

Said Ingram of Harben, who is now fifth in the Florida State League with a 2.62 ERA: "We didn't want to press it, then he has five scoreless innings and he didn't want to come out."