Arias, Romero lead Miracle past Manatees Wednesday
Fort Myers Miracle starting pitcher Santos Arias dominated Brevard County for seven innings Wednesday and Deibinson Romero added a two-run blast, lifting the Miracle to a 4-2 victory at Hammond Stadium.
The Miracle built a 2-0 lead in the fifth and sixth with RBI singles from Rene Leveret and Chris Parmelee. In the bottom of the seventh, Romero added what turned out to be very valuable insurance with his fourth homer of the year to left field with a runner on.
Arias (5-1) kept the Manatees scoreless with seven innings of five-hit ball. He walked one and struck out three, while Brevard’s Michael Bowman (3-4) took the loss. Bowman gave up two earned runs on five hits in five innings with five walks and three strikeouts.
Miracle batters drew a staggering eleven walks in the game. After eight innings, the Miracle led 4-0.
As excellent as Arias was, things got interesting in the ninth. Blair Erickson, who had been battling recent control problems, retired the first batter in the ninth but walked the next two. He induced a flyout to right for the second out, but an infield single loaded the bases and prompted manager Jeff Smith to call upon Loek van Mil.
Van Mil allowed a two-run single but finished off the Manatees.