Rainville, Portes lead Miracle win

Special to the Cape Coral Daily Breeze

JUPITER — Juan Portes provided the offense and Jay Rainville brought the pitching as the Fort Myers Miracle grabbed a 5-3 over the Palm Beach Cardinals Tuesday night to avoid a four-game series sweep.

Portes went 4-for-5, finishing a triple shy of the cycle, while Rainville went 7 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits in the win.

Edward Ovalle (2-for-4) brought home the first Miracle run with a single to center in the second, scoring Danny Valencia (2-for-4). Ovalle’s RBI-double in the fourth plated Luis Ugueto for a 2-0 lead.

After three straight singles by Caleb Moore, Brian Dinkelman and Portes sent the Miracle to a three-run advantage, Valencia added a sacrifice-fly to make it 4-0.

Palm Beach wouldn’t go away quietly, cutting it to a one-run game heading into the ninth. With one out in the top of the ninth, Portes belted a solo home run to left and Angel Garcia closed the door on Palm Beach in the bottom of the ninth for his fourth save of the season.

The Miracle return to Hammond Stadium to kick off a seven-game homestand Wednesday night, starting with the St. Lucie Mets for a four-game series and three with the Lakeland Tigers.