The Fort Myers Miracle scored five early runs Monday night against Clearwater – backing a strong outing by Liam Hendriks – en route to a 5-2 victory in a rain-delayed game at Hammond Stadium.

Play was suspended with one out in the top of the seventh inning for rain, but resumed after about an hour delay.

The Australian right-hander was solid in his Hammond Stadium debut, holding the Threshers – the top team in the Florida State League – to just two runs on six hits. Hendriks (2-0) followed last week’s solid first outing against the Tampa Yankees, where he pitched seven innings also allowing just two runs in a 3-2 Miracle win.

Hendriks lasted 6 1/3 innings until the delay, striking out four and walking none. He has not walked a batter in 13 1/3 innings since being promoted to the Miracle.

Steve Blevins entered from the bullpen and pitched a scoreless 2 2/3 innings for his first save in Fort Myers.

The Threshers took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning on an RBI single by Tim Kennelly, but the Miracle offense broke out in the bottom of the inning, scoring two runs to take the lead.

After a one-out double by Chris Herrmann and a walk by Nate Hanson, Evan Bigley drove in the first run of the night on a single to left. Jair Fernandez followed with an RBI groundout to short.

The Miracle (17-20) plated three more runs in the next two innings. In the third, Deibinson Romero picked up a two-out RBI single to put the Miracle up 4-1. The Miracle added a two-run inning in the fourth. Nick Romero doubled in a run and Chris Parmelee added a two-out RBI single to put the Miracle up 5-2.

The Miracle had three standout players from the 2009 season join the team Monday as Parmelee, Joe Benson and Estarlin De Los Santos were sent down from Double-A New Britain. In other roster moves, Chris Cates, Brandon Roberts, and Loek Van Mil were promoted up to Double-A.

The Miracle and Threshers (24-14) play the third of a four-game series Tuesday night at Hammond Stadium.

Week’s best: Miracle pitcher Bruce Pugh, 21, was named FSL Pitcher of the Week Monday.

The Twins’ 2008 19th-round draft pick threw seven shutout innings, allowing one hit while striking out 10 in his only outing of the week. He didn’t factor in the decision Friday at Bradenton.

The third-year pro is 2-4 with a 3.40 ERA and leads the Miracle with 47 strikeouts in 39 2/3 innings pitched.

Scholarship: The Miracle are participating in the annual Florida Marlins/Florida State League Scholarship Program.

The $1,500 scholarships will be presented to a student employee, child or grandchild of an employee of FSL teams. Selection is based on grades (minimum GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale), leadership capabilities and job performance. A total of 132 scholarships have been awarded to qualified applicants since the inception of the program.

Applications must be completed and returned to the participating team by June 25. A finalist from each club will be selected by July 23 and the scholarship committee will award the scholarships no later than Aug. 6.