BRADENTON – Trailing 7-0 after two innings, the Fort Myers Miracle chipped away at the deficit all night, but fell short of a comeback in an an eventual 8-7 loss to the Bradenton Maruaders Thursday night.

Trailing 8-5 in the ninth, the Miracle made things interesting against Bradenton reliever Diego Moreno. Nick Romero drew a leadoff walk before a double by Nate Hanson put both in scoring position. Chris Herrmann pushed across the first run with a sac-fly to deep center field, and Danny Rams followed with an RBI single to left. Moreno then retired Steve Liddle and James Beresford to hold on for the save.

Tom Stuifbergen (0-1) took the loss for the Miracle (4-4), giving up eight runs (seven earned) in only three innings of work.

Aaron Baker began the offensive onslaught in the first inning for Bradenton with a monstrous three-run home run that clanked midway up the batter’s eye in dead center field. The Marauders then batted around their order in the second, scoring four runs on six hits.

The Miracle bullpen kept the team in the game to the very end, posting five scoreless innings in relief. Lefties Ryan Mullins and Blake Martin combined to allow no hits while allowing just three base runners on walks the rest of the night.

The Miracle battled back as they scored two runs in the third, one in the fifth, and two more in the sixth inning. The Miracle outhit the Marauders 12-9, but stranded 10 baserunners and grounded into two double plays.

The loss is the fourth in a row for the Miracle after opening the season with four wins over Jupiter.

The Miracle and Marauders resume their series Friday night. Right-hander Brad Stillings makes his second start of the year for the Miracle.