Miracle first baseman Rene Leveret waits for the pickoff throw as Kirk Nieuwenhuis of the Mets returns to the bag safely. Photo by Yunet Holmes.

The Fort Myers Miracle scored three runs in the fifth inning to beat the St. Lucie Mets 3-1 in the first game of Wednesday’s doubleheader at Hammond Stadium, but could not mount a large enough rally in the nightcap to lose 5-4.

In the opener, Tyler Robertson (7-8) went six innings with just two hits and one unearned run. He walked two and struck out five. Blair Erickson recorded the save despite a hit and two walks in the top of the seventh.

Jair Fernandez tied the game with a solo homer in the fifth, making it 1-1. The Miracle scored two more on a St. Lucie throwing error and Mark Dolenc run-scoring single. Angel Calero (3-10) took the loss.

In the finale, Steve Hirschfeld (7-6) didn’t have his best stuff and compounded the struggle with some control problems. He walked three in three innings, gave up four earned runs on six hits, and struck out four.

The Mets scored four in the third inning with back-to-back homers – a three-run blast by Stefan Welch and a solo shot by Brahiam Maldonado, who broke a tie with the Miracle’s Chris Parmelee to become the Florida State League leader with 17 home runs.

Fort Myers scored twice in the fifth inning and once more in the seventh, but it wasn’t enough. Joe Testa worked three innings with one hit, one unearned run, one walk, and five strikeouts. Edgar Ramirez, who relieved Chris Schwinden in his FSL debut, got the win with 2 2/3 of relief.