Miracle shut out for 17th time

By Special to the Naples Daily News

FORT MYERS — With Florida Marlins big-leaguers Cody Ross and Aaron Boone in Fort Myers for a rehab stint with the Jupiter Hammerheads, starter Brett Sinkbeil wanted to give the guys a little taste of what’s to come in the near future. The first-round pick of the Marlins a year ago came out dealt the first complete game shutout of his career in a 3-0 win over the Miracle on Wednesday night.

Sinkbeil’s final line read nine innings, no runs, seven hits, with a walk a four strikeouts. The biggest jam Sinkbeil had on the night was a leadoff double from Erik Lis to lead off the second. A couple of fly balls and a line drive later, Sinkbeil would bail himself out of the early jam.

Boone brought in the first run of the night in a two-run Jupiter fourth. Boone, who tweaked his left knee that originally sent him to the DL, rolled a ground ball to short that scored Chris Coghlan for a 1-0 lead. Later in the inning, Boone would tally the second run on John Purdom’s RBI single.

Gaby Sanchez led off the Hammerhead seventh with a single to left. After a ground-rule double from Kevin Randel, Purdom would picked up his second RBI of the night with another ground out to second base.

Boone finished the night 0-for-3, with the RBI and run scored while Ross with 1-for-3 slapping a single in the fourth. Steve Tolleson picked up a pair of hits for the Miracle while Juan Portes pushed his hitting streak further with a two-out hit in the ninth.

The Miracle will look to bounce back on Thursday night in game two of the series. A couple of first round draft picks will square off on the mound. The Miracle send ’04 pick Jay Rainville (4-9, 3.80) to the hill against Jupiter’s top selection in ’05, Chris Volstad (7-7, 4.16).