LAKELAND – Trailing 6-2 in the fifth inning, the Fort Myers Miracle chipped away at the deficit and had a chance to tie the game in the ninth, but Lakeland Tigers closer Kenny Faulk nailed down the save by striking out Nick Romero with a man at second to preserve a 6-5 victory Wednesday night.

The Miracle (28-25), who stranded seven men in scoring position, have lost three in a row and eight of their last 10 games. St. Lucie shut out Clearwater 3-0 to gain a one-game lead over the Miracle in the South Division standings with 17 games left in the first half.

Miracle starter Edgar Ibarra (1-3) gave up six earned runs on seven hits in only 3 1/3 innings to take the loss. Relievers Jhon Garcia and Matt Hauser allowed no runs the rest of the way, allowing three hits and striking out seven.

Trailing 3-0 in the fourth, Romero got the Miracle on the board with a leadoff home run. After Steve Liddle walked, Josmil Pinto’s RBI double pulled the Miracle within one run.

The Tigers (28-25) added three in the bottom of the fourth, knocking Ibarra out of the game.

In the fifth, Nate Hanson singled and Danny Rams hit a ground-rule double, with Hanson scoring on a passed ball to make it 6-3.

The Tigers batted around the order three times, racking up 17 hits and drawing 11 walks in dropping the Miracle 13-2 in the series opener Tuesday night.

The Miracle look for their first win in Lakeland Thursday night.