Fort Myers falls to Clearwater,
8-4

By Special to the Naples Daily News

A day after the Fort Myers Miracle put up 15 hits in a win against the Clearwater Threshers, it was the Threshers who would return the favor on Monday night smacking 14 hits in a 8-4 win over the Miracle at Bright House Networks Field. The Threshers used a four-run sixth inning for the second-consecutive night to take the rubber game of the three-game set.

Both teams came out firing from the start as Brian Dinkelman led off with a triple down the right-field line. Juan Portes would immediately follow with a groundball to short, plating Dinkelman, for a speedy 1-0 lead. Clearwater responded with a solo homer from Shaun Boyd in their first to tie it at 1-1.

Edward Ovalle answered the Boyd blast with his own, a solo shot leading off the second, putting the Miracle back on top at 2-1. A pair of Thresher runs a half-inning later would make it a 3-2 game after 12 outs of baseball.

Jason Donald led off with a double to left and promptly scored a pitch later on Matt Thayer’s bunt single to second. Thayer would come around three hitters later on P.J. Antoniato’s single to left for the one-run lead.

Things would quiet down as both teams were held scoreless in the third and fourth innings, until Johnny Woodard’s solo home run to right in the fifth, knotted things up at three apiece.

The four-run Clearwater sixth began with five straight hits, all started by Clay Harris’ double to left. Donald, Thayer, John Suomi and Brad Harman would follow with four straight singles for a 5-3 lead. Donald, Thayer and Harman picked up the RBI while Suomi scored minutes later on a wild pitch.

Harman would pick up his second RBI of the night with a sacrifice fly in the eighth before the Miracle attempted their ninth-inning comeback. Ovalle led off the ninth being drilled in the left shoulder and would later score on Woodard’s triple to center, slicing the deficit in half at 8-4. Thresher reliever Will Savage then retired Jeff Christy and Dwayne White on strikes to end the game.

Portes extended his team-high 11-game hit streak to an even dozen with a two-out single in the eighth. Thresher starter Alex Concepcion went seven innings, allowing three runs on four hits, with nine strikeouts in the win. The Miracle fanned a total of 13 times in the Monday night loss.

The Miracle will now enjoy a minor-league wide off day Tuesday with the MLB All-Star Game being played in San Francisco. A four-game homestand will await the Miracle on Wednesday night as the Jupiter Hammerheads make their only visit to Hammond Stadium. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. as RHP Zach Ward (2-11, 3.08) is the slated to start for the Miracle.