Four Miracle picked for All-Star contest

Naples Daily News staff

Four members of the Fort Myers Miracle have been selected to play in the Florida State League All-Star Game.

Pitchers Matt Garza and Kevin Slowey, infielder Alexi Casilla, and catcher Kyle Geiger were picked to play in Lakeland on June 17.

Garza won’t play in the game because he was called up to Double-A New Britain on May 15. The 2005 first-round pick of the Minnesota Twins went 5-1 with a 1.42 ERA, striking out 53 in 44.1 innings. Garza is 2-0 with a 2.04 ERA in three games at New Britain.

Slowey, 22, is 2-1 with a 1.48 ERA in 10 games. He has just six walks in 60.2 innings, with 75 strikeouts. The 2005 second-round pick is second in the league in ERA and strikeouts.

Casilla, 21, is batting .308 with 19 RBI, 10 doubles, four triples, and 17 stolen bases. He has struck out only 27 times in 211 at-bats. Casilla has played 29 games at second base and 20 at shortstop.

Geiger, 24, has played first base as well as catcher. He’s batting .248 with 12 RBI in 37 games. Geiger, a 42nd round pick in 2002, has thrown out 32 percent of attempted base stealers.

The All-Star Game will be at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland on Saturday, June 17 at 7:35 p.m. A home run derby will be at 6 Fans interested in attending the All-Star game can call the Miracle front office and inquire about the bus trip by calling 239-768-4210.

Shutout streak ends in loss

The Miracle’s streak of not allowing a run ended at 36.2 innings, and ended with a loss, 1-0, to the Daytona Cubs in Daytona on Thursday.

Kevin Slowey and Daytona starter Mark Holliman didn’t allow a run in seven innings.

The shutout streak ended in the eighth against reliever Jose Mijares. A single, sacrifice, and two-out double by Sam Fuld ended the streak, the longest in club history.

The Miracle got a runner to second with nobody out in the ninth, but two strikeouts sandwiched around a groundout ended the game.

Fort Myers will try again for its 1,000th victory in team franchise history tonight at 7:05.