Miracle defeat Jays, stretch win streak to 3 games

Errol Simonitsch

Fort Myers 7 at Dunedin 4

Record 37 - 30

W: E. Simonitsch (5-0, 4.17); L: R. Ray (3-3, 4.86)
HR: FTM: J. Portes (12).

If anyone on the Miracle deserves a call up to AAA to end the season, it is without doubt Errol Simonitsch, who seems to have worked past his injury and has pitched quite well over has past several starts.

Simo allowed 6 Jays hits and walked 1 but allowed only 1 run in 7 innings of work while striking out 7. A hit batter and 2 singles allowed Jesus Gonzalez to score to give the Jays their first run of the game and by then, the Miracle had put up a lead that Dunedin found tough to overcome.

A Brian Dinkelman single, a Steve Tolleson walk and a Dustin Martin single combined to get Dinkelman across the plate and the Miracle on the scoreboard in the first.

Dink and Erik Lis would also score runs in the 3rd with the pair hitting singles and then having Martin join them on base after being hit by a pitch. Juan Portes line drive brought the two initial runners in, but a Johnny Woodard strike out and a Dwyane White pop out left 2 men stranded.

If Portes had not made a case for a promotion to AA next season, he certainly did so in the 7th when he homered in Martin to give the Miracle a 5 run lead before Dunedin solved Simonitsch.

Toby Gardenhire singled and stoled second in the eighth inning, coming home on a Tolleson line drive to tack one more on to the visitors lead.

A Martin double off Connor Falkenbach and a Dwayne White single finished off the scoring.

Winston Marquez, a big southpaw who played the entire GCL season as starter, made a late season FSL appearance for the Miracle in the 8th. He allowed only a Kyle Phillips single in that inning, but a Luke Hetherington double greeted him in the 9th as the Jays attempted a rally.

He would walk Brian Jeroloman and Chris Gutierrez single to load the bases before Kevin Boles sent Rob Delaney out to the mound, Hetherington would score on Carlo Cotas' ground out a Jeroloman would be plated by a Anthony Hatch sac-fly. An Eric Nielsen single brought in the last of the inherited runners. A Jacob Butler fly out would strand 2 to end the game.

The two teams meet again tonight with Jay Manship (7-5, 3.41) taking to the mound against Adrian Martin.

The Miracle remain entrenched in fourth place in the division, but the win knocks the Blue Jays down into second place after the Threshers split a pair with the Flying Tigers last night.

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