Miracle power way to 9-6 win
BRADENTON -Trailing 5-1 in the sixth, Fort Myers Miracle rallied for five runs on six hits en route to a 9-6 victory over Bradenton Saturday night.
The Miracle pounded out 15 hits for the second consecutive night with big home runs by Danny Rams and Nate Hanson providing most of the damage.
After a double by Chris Herrmann with one out in the sixth, Rams clobbered his first home run of the season over the left field scoreboard to cut the deficit to 5-3. James Beresford and Anderson Hidalgo followed with singles before Jhonathan Goncalves walked to load the bases. Aaron Hicks then hit a high chopper to third, which was mishandled by Bradenton third baseman Elevys Gonzalez allowing Beresford to score.
Brian Dozier then swung at the first pitch from Nate Baker, lining a single into right field to score Hidalgo and tie the game 5-5. Eliecer Navarro relieved Baker and gave up a sac-fly to Nick Romero giving the Miracle a 6-5 lead.
The Marauders fought back with a run off Miracle reliever Shooter Hunt in the bottom of the seventh. Elevys Gonzalez struck out, but the pitch got away from Rams, allowing Aaron Baker to score from third.
With the game tied 6-6 in the eighth, Aaron Hicks led off with a single against Navarro. Dozier sacrificed him to second and Navarro was relieved by Jhonathan Ramos. First-pitch swinging Nick Romero’s line drive into right field scored Hicks, giving the Miracle a 7-6 lead. Hanson stepped in and slugged a two-run home run to left, his second long ball of the year.
Hunt (1-0) pitched two innings in relief to pick up the win. He allowed no earned runs on one hit and struck out a season-high five while walking two. Bruce Pugh pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth to earn his third save of the year.
The Miracle finished with 42 hits in the three-game series, scoring a total of 25 runs. Five players had multihit games on Saturday, including Hicks (2-for 5), Dozier (3-for-5), Hanson (2-for-5), Rams (2-for-4) and Beresford (3-for-5).
The Miracle (6-4) head to St. Lucie for a rematch with the first-place Mets (9-1), who have won eight in a row. St. Lucie swept the Miracle at Hammond Stadium earlier last week. Kane Holrbooks gets the start Sunday for the Miracle.


