Miracle deliver lesson to Yanks with 5-3 victory

By SPECIAL TO THE NEWS-PRESS

The Fort Myers Miracle "schooled" the Tampa Yankees 5-3 on Wednesday on Education Day at the Lee County Sports Complex.

With an announced crowd of 6,683 fans in the stands, including about 5,000 elementary school children, outfielder Trent Oeltjen, filling in as the leadoff hitter for the injured Denard Span, hit an RBI single in the third inning, tying the score at 1-1.

Two batters later, first baseman Brock Peterson hit a sacrifice fly to give the Miracle (17-8) the lead for good.

"A noisy stadium is always good," Miracle manager Riccardo Ingram said. "That's pretty fun."

Miracle left-handed starting pitcher Glen Perkins tossed five innings, allowing one run on three hits while walking two and striking out five for his first win of the season.

"Perkins was sharp," Ingram said of the 2004 first-round draft pick of the Minnesota Twins. "He was pretty good. He's still on a limited pitch count, but he looked good when he was in there."

The Miracle tacked on two more runs in the fourth on a two-run single from Jesus Merchan.

After the Yankees got two in the sixth, the Miracle answered quickly with one in the bottom of the sixth when Felix Molina singled, moved to second on a wild pitch, went to third on a ground out and scored on a passed ball.

Josh Gray, Chris Schutt and Jay Sawatski pitched the final four innings, allowing five hits while walking one and striking out four to preserve the victory. Sawatski tossed the ninth inning to earn his third save of the season.

The same two teams meet at 7:05 tonight at Hammond Stadium as the Miracle go for the three-game sweep. The Miracle send left-handed Errol Simonitsch (2-1, 3.96) to the hill against Yankee RHP Jason Jones (1-2, 3.96).