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Dogs fall before hot Javilina offense

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:43:32 GMT

W: J. Jeffress (1-0, 3.00); L: J. Manship (0-1, 6.00)
HR: None.

Former Miracle hurler Jeff Manship (Minnesota) gave up 3 runs on four hits over three innings while fanning 3, putting the Desert Dogs in an early hole that they never recovered from. He'd take the loss, his first of the season for the defending Arizona Fall League champions.

The Dogs actually got on the board first, with Evan Frey (Arizona) taking a lead off walk. Eric Young (Colorado) would bunt into a force out, then stole 2nd. Following a ground out to J.P. Arencibia (Toronto), Sean Doolittle (Oakland) doubled to drive in Young.

Manship with drill former Sarasota Reds Drew Stubbs with a pitch to lead off, but got Carlos Triunfel (Seattle) to ground into a double play and Austin Jackson (NY Yankees) to fly out to get out of the inning. Juan Miranda (NY Yankees) singled to lead off the bottom of the second. Greg Halman (Seattle) singled, moving Miranda to 3rd. He'd then try to steal 2nd, and would have been caught, but an error Adrian Cardenas (Oakland) gave Halman the base. Manship would would get J.T. Hall (Tampa Bay) out on strikes, but then unleashed a wild pitch at scored Miranda, and put Halman on 3rd and Hall on first. Justin Turner (Cincinnati) would ground into a double play that served to plate Halman before Rob Johnson (Seattle) would go down on a foul tipped strike to end the inning.

Taylor Green (Milwaukee) doubled in the bottom of the 3rd before Manship could take Stubbs down on strikes. Triunfel then doubled as well, knocking in Green. Jackson would hit into a fielder's choice double play to end the inning.

Tony Barnette (Arizona) replaced Manship for the fourth, then gave way to Jeff Gray (Oakland) in the fifth.

Peoria struck again in the sixth with Zach Dials (Toronto) on the mound. Miranda tripled and was singled in by Halman. Hall singled as well before Turner and Johnson could be taken out on strikes. Mike McDonald (Oakland) would be summoned from the bullpen. Green would reach on a Josh Donaldson (Oakland) fielding error, which scored Halman as well, before Stubbs would be induced to hit into a ground out to end the inning.

McDonald returned to the mound for the bottom of the 7th, allowing a double to Truinfel to open things up. Jackson's ground out put Truinfel on 3rd, and Miranda would double him in, to make the score 6-1 in favor of the Javalinas.

The Dogs would finally get back onto the board in the 9th, with Doolittle singling off reliever Rob Manuel (Cincinnati), then moving to second on a wild pitch. Danny Valencia (Minnesota) singled to move Doolittle to 3rd, and a sac fly by Rusty Ryal (Arizona) would bring the South Dakota native home.

Chris Mason (Tampa Bay) would take over the pitching chores for Peoria in the ninth, getting Chris Nelson (Colorado) to ground out before giving up a walk to Ryan Patterson (Toronto). A fielding error by Stubbs allowed Scott Campbell (Toroto) to reach and Patterson to score. Eric Young's ground out would plate Campbell, but that was the all the Dogs would get despite a single to Young and walk to Doolittle.

Milwaukee's Jeremy Jeffress took the win for the Javelinas who remain unbeaten after three games.

Phoenix continues their string of night games, facing the Scottsdale Scorpions for a 7:05 PM MST contest Friday at Scottsdale Stadium.

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Beloit Snappers' centerfielder Ben Revere was honored by Baseball America once again in their most recent issue after his impressive 2008 campaign. The speedy outfielder from Kentucky was rated as the 4th best prospect in the Midwest League, trailing Mike Moustakas (Burlington Bees), Neftali Feliz (Clinton LumberKings) and Jarrod Parker (South Bend Silver Hawks).

Revere had what may turn out to be the most successful season in Snappers’ history. The Twins’ 2007 first round draft pick ended up hitting .375 with 129 hits and 44 stolen bases while picking up the following awards:

- Midwest League MVP
- Midwest League Prospect of the Year
- Midwest League All-Star
- Midwest League Post-Season All-Star
- Best Batting Prospect (Baseball America)
- Best Strike Zone Judgment (Baseball America)
- Fastest Baserunner (Baseball America)
- Most Exciting Player (Baseball America)
- Topps Co-Midwest League Player of the Month (May)
- Minnesota Twins Minor League Player of the Month (May)
- Brodie Trophy Player of the Year

Miracle catcher Wilson Ramos as also honored by the magazine as the 8th best prospect in the Florida State League. Ramos batted .288 with 13 home runs and 23 doubles during the 2008 season for the FSL West Division Champions. Wilson also collected an impressive 130 hits in 452 at-bats.

Ramos was signed by the Twins as a non-drafted free agent on July 7th, 2004. In 73 games for the Snappers in 2007, Wilson hit .291 with eight homers, 17 doubles and 42 RBIs.

The honor often times leads to good things for the players chosen by the prestigious magazine. Five of the ten players listed in 2003 by Baseball America as the top prospects in the Midwest League are now playing at the major league level. Prince Fielder #1 (Beloit Snappers), Manny Parra #4 (Beloit Snappers), Joe Blanton #5 (Kane County Cougars), Joel Zumaya #6 (West Michigan Whitecaps) and Felix Pie #8 (Lansing Lugnuts) all called the Midwest League home at one time in their playing career.

Dogs top Sox, 7-5

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:20:36 GMT

W: S. Lindsay (1-0, 0.00); L: T. Brummett (0-1, 6.75); SV: A. Carignan (1)
HR: PDD: J. Arencibia (1). MSS: L. Morrison (1).

Wednesday night the Pheonix Desert Dogs overcame the Mesa Solar Sox, 7-5. Both teams pounded out 10 hits each, but the Dogs made their hits count.

A throwing error in the first inning put lead off man Evan Frey (Arizona) on second base to start the game for the Dogs. Steve Tolleson (Minnesota) took a single off Mesa starter Jesse Estrada (Chi Cubs), driving in Frey. Following a J.P. Arencibia (Toronto) fly out to right, Sean Doolittle (Oakland) ground into a force out that nabbed Tolleson at second. Danny Valencia (Minnesota) smacked a ground rule which put Doolittle on 3rd, and Dustin Martin (Minnesota) doubled in the pair to make it 3-0 Dogs, before Josh Donaldson (Oakland) was taken out on strikes.

Mesa bounced back in the bottom of the inning. Matt Young would lead off with ground out, but Scott Cousins (Florida) drew a walk off Chad Roe (Colorado). Tyler Colvin (Chi Cubs) flew out but a wild pitch by Roe moved Cousins to second. Struggling with his control, Roe would then walk Jeff Larish (Detroit) and give up a home run to Logan Morrison (Florida) that tied up the game.

Nate Spears (Chi Cubs) singled in the bottom of the second with Young drawing a walk off Roe to move him to second. Cousins would go down on strikes before Colvin singled to score Spears putting the Solar Sox on top.

The Dogs responded in the top of the fourth, with Martin singling, then stealing 2nd. After Ryan Patterson (Toronto) was taken out on strikes, Tyson Brummett (Philadelphia) would be called out to the mound for the Sox. He'd give up a single to Adrian Cardenas (Oakland) which scored Martin to tie the game.

Colorado's Shane Lindsay would replace Roe for the third inning working 2. The top of the fifth would see Arencibia knock a Brummett pitch over the right field wall to make it 5-4 Dogs.

Andrew Bailey (Oakland) took over for Lindsay in the fifth allowing singled to Colvin and Morrison, but the Sox could not convert.

Donaldson would take a walk off reliever Donald Veal (Chi Cubs) in the top of the sixth. Following a fly out to Patterson, Cardenas would also walk. Frey's line drive to center plated Donaldson, making it 6-4 for the Dogs. A wild pitch and a walk to Tolleson would load the bags, but Sergio Escalona (Philadelphia) entered the contest for the Sox, getting Arencibia out on strikes to strand the Pheonix runners.

Reid Mahon (Arizona) worked the bottom of the sixth allowing a double to Darwin Barney (Chi Cubs), who would be taken out at 3rd when he tried to stretch the grounder to left for a triple.

with two outs on the board, Martin walked in the top of seventh. He'd be replaced by pinch runner Eric Young Jr. (Colorado), who then stole 2nd. Donaldson's line drive to left brought in Young, making it 7-4 Dogs.

Jaren Lansford (Oakland) worked the bottom of the 7th and was replace in the bottom of the 8th by Minnesota's Rob Delaney. The former Miracle closer would give up back-to-back doubles to Morrison and Slayer, which gave the Sox their fifth run, but would then settle down taking the next three batters he face out.

Martin, working as the designated hitter, finished up 2-for-3 at the plate with a walk, a run and 2 RBIs. Valencia would work 1-for-4 in the contest with a run, while Tolleson was 1-for-3 with a pair of walks and a RBI.

Pheonix takes on the Javelinas for a 7:05 PM MST time game at the Peoria Sports Complex.

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The Peoria Javelinas defeated the Sunrise Surprise 8-7, while the Peoria Saguaros topped the Scottsdale Scorpions 10-7.

Hicks, Morales recognized by Baseball America

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:13:33 GMT

GCL Twins outfielder Aaron Hicks leads off the list of Baseball American's top 20 GCL Prospects. This is probably not surprising has Hicks enjoyed a great season with the GCL Twins, having a chance to focus on his fielding and his batting.

The list also included Michael Almanzar (3b), Casey Kelly (SS/rhp) and Derrik Gibson (3b) for the GCL Red Sox and Jarek Cunningham (3b/ss) for the GCL Pirates in the South Division.

Former GCLer Angel Morales picked up recognition as a top Appalachian League prospect, finishing up 8th on B.A.'s list. While the E-Twins enjoyed a great deal of success on the field, Elizabethton was largely snubbed by BA in the post season honors category.

BA will announce their top Midwest League prospects on September the 23, their top Florida State League prospects on the 29th, the Eastern League list on the 30th and the International League list will post on October 3rd.

BA also announced their first and second team All-stars. The Twins prospects were shut out of both except for the inclusion of closer Rob Delany as a post season All-star pitcher. Delaney is one of five former Beloit Snappers headed to the Arizona Fall league.

From a Beloit Snappers press release:

Five former Snappers will be participating in the upcoming Arizona Fall League next month for the Minnesota Twins. Rob Delaney, Jeff Manship, Anthony Slama, Steve Tolleson and Danny Valencia will all be members of the Phoenix Desert Dogs along with prospects from the following teams:

- Arizona Diamondbacks
- Colorado Rockies
- Oakland Athletics
- Toronto Blue Jays

The Arizona Fall League is considered by many to be final step before entering the Major League level. Six top prospects from each Major League team are chosen to compile six different teams split into two divisions. Each team will be made up of 30 players, totaling 180 with the league schedule running from October 7th to November 20th.

Rob Delaney was a member of the 2007 Beloit Snappers where he went 1-0 with a 0.77 ERA in 36 games. His 28 saves broke the all-time record for the Snappers and were good enough for second in the Midwest League, even after he was promoted to Fort Myers half way through the season. Delaney signed with the Twins as a non-drafted free agent on June 19, 2006.

Jeff Manship was a Snapper during the beginning of the '07 season. Manship went 7-1 with a 1.51 ERA in 13 starts, while compiling 77 strikeouts in 77.2 innings of work. He was a 14th round pick by the Twins in the 2006 First-Year Player draft.

Anthony Slama was another member of the '07 Snappers, taking over the closer role after Rob Delaney's promotion to Fort Myers. In 21 games for the Snappers, Slama saved 10 while posting a 1.48 ERA. Anthony also had an impressive 39 strikeouts in 24.1 innings pitched. Slama was a 39th round pick by the Twins in the 2006 First-Year Player draft.

Steve Tolleson played in Beloit for parts of the 2005 and '06 seasons, totaling 78 games. During the '06 campaign, Steve hit .287 with 49 hits, 23 runs and 16 RBIs. Tolleson was the Twins' 5th round pick in the 2005 First-Year Player draft.

Danny Valencia played for the Snappers during the 2007 season, hitting .302 with 15 doubles, 11 home runs and 35 RBIs. Valencia also sported a .374 on-base percentage in 66 games. Danny was drafted by the Twins' in the 19th of the 2006 First-Year Player draft.

Delaney, Manship, Tolleson and Valencia all spent the majority of the 2008 season with the Twins' Double-A Affiliate New Britain Rock Cats, while Slama spent the entire season with the High-A Affiliate Fort Myers Miracle.

Joining the five for the AzFL are Dustin Martin, who was acquired in a 2007 trade with the Mets and pitcher Tim Lahey, a catcher converted to pitcher. Neither wore a Snappers uniform during their Twins minor league careers.

Miracle, Twins extended affiliation

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 05:17:26 GMT

The Fort Myers Miracle and the Minnesota Twins announced Friday that they have expended their affiliation agreement for an additional four year, running through 2012.

"We are delighted to extend our affiliation with Fort Myers," said Twins Director of Minor League Operations Jim Rantz. "[Fort Myers president] Linda McNabb and her staff have created a great environment for Minor League Baseball and give our players top-notch facilities and treatment.”

The Twins value their farm system and currently bost a number of former Fort Myers Miracle players on their Roster including the M&M boys Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer, outfielder Jason Kubul, center fielder Denard Span, and the entire Twins starting rotations of Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn, Glenn Perkins, Kevin Slowey and Francisco Liriano.

Former Twin prospect and Naples resident Jeff Smith took the Miracle to the FSL championship game in 2008, and the team has reached the post season twice in the last three years.

Aside from reliever Pat Neshek, who is currently on the DL, a look at the Twins roster reveals names like Jesse Crain, Jose Mijares, Alexi Casilla, Matt Tolbert and Mike Cuddyer, all of which spent developmental time with the Fort Myers Miracle during their career.

Additionally the Twins have been active in the Fort Myers Community, sponsoring free youth baseball camps which start in January and run through the beginning of spring training, plus winter caravan visits to Fort Myers local hospitals and retirement homes. The Twins have an lease with the Lee County Sportsplex that runs through 2020 with two five-year extensions that could see the Twins in Fort Myers for spring training through the year 2030.

The Miracle are a member of the Goldklang Group, which provides Operational consulting and Management services in all areas relating to sports franchise and event acquisition, promotion and operation.

USA Today announced their minor league player of the year and it should come as no surprise to the informed minor league fan that they chose Tampa Bay prospect David Price for the honor. Price posted an 11-0 record with a 1.87 era in 15 starts at High-A Vero Beach (FSL) and AA Montgomery before earning a promotion to the AAA Durham Bulls. He was 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA in the regular season for Durham and 1-0 with a 3.27 era in the Governors' Cup playoffs. The first overall selection of the Rays in the 2007 amateur draft received 57% of the over 23,000 online votes cast by fans at the USA Today and Sports Weekly website.

The same organization named pitcher Mike McCardell as the Twins Minor League Player of the year. McCardell posted a 9-4 record with a 2.86 ERA in 22 games with the Low-A Beloit Snappers in 2008. He walked 25, and struck out 139 in 135.1 innings pitched. The 23 year old native of West Chester, Pa, will be one of the players that will fill in the Miracle starting rotation in 2009, but don't expect the big right hander to stay around long if he continues to pitch the way he did for the Snappers.

Cole Devries, Alex Burnett, Deolis Guerra and Matt Fox will all likely start the 2009 season in AA. Players like McCardell, David Bromberg and Steve Hirschfield will be critical to the Miracle's success in the upcoming season.

While some have questioned how Twins phenom Ben Revere could have been bypassed for this honor, both players certainly deserve the recognition, and it is good to see McCardell getting his fair of the limelight.

McCardell was named the Twins Minor League Pitcher of the month for June of 2008, as he went 4-0 in five starts while posting a 2.45 era and .87 WHIP during that period.

Rather unfortunately, McCardell will not be at this year's Fall Instructional League, having attended the camp last season. You will have to wait until Spring Training to get a look a the next Miracle ace.

Daytona defeats Miracle, 7-3 to capture FSL title

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 09:13:02 GMT

Fort Myers 3 at Daytona 7

W: A. Cashner (1-0, 0.00); L: A. Burnett (1-1, 3.38)
HR: FTM: J. Woodard (1). DAY: J. Adduci (1), Y. Carter (1).

The Daytona Cubs were bound and determined not to wait one more day for a Florida State League Championship. As a result, they wasted little time defeating the Fort Myers Miracle, 7-3 to take the title.

I said I would be happy of the Miracle got past Dunedin and I stand by that. Great job boys!

The Miracle actually got on to the scoreboard first, with Johnny Woodard putting one over the right field wall in the 2nd inning.

Daytona took it right back with Yusef Carter going yard in the bottom half of the stanza. John Mota would follow that up with a single, and be plated by Darwin Barney's double. Tony Thomas smacked a line drive out to center that scored Barney. He'd try to stretch it for a double and failed, finishing the inning with the Cubs up 3-1.

James Adduci took a home run off Miracle starter Alex Burnett as well, putting his over the left field fence just to be a little different. Ty Wright singled and advanced to second on a error by Yancarlos Ortiz as he and Wilson Ramos attempted to take out Wright, who chose to steal 2nd. Following a ground out to Blake Lalli that advanced the runner to 3rd, Russ Canzier hit a sac-fly to bring Wright in, for the fifth Cubs run.

Back-to-back doubles by Ramos and Whit Robbins gave the Miracle another run. Edward Ovalle would single Robbins to 3rd, and after Woodard went down on strikes, Garrett Olson hit into a sac double-play that plated Robbins.

The score would stand at 5-3 until the bottom of the sixth when the Cubs tacked on two more. Steve Clevenger doubled and moved to 3rd on a wild pitch by Spencer Steedley. A walk to Carter signaled a pitching change for the Miracle, with Ozzie Sosa coming in to replace Steedley. Mota singled to drive in Clevenger, and Barney followed that up with a double that brought in Carter. Jose Lugo would be brought, the second pitching change of the inning, to get Adduci to ground out before the Cubs could add a few more runs.

In the end, the Cubs out hit the Miracle 48 to 25 and it was their prowess with a bat that made the difference.

Fort Myer recorded five hits in the final match of the contest with Steve Singleton, Ramos, Edward Ovalle and Johnny Woodard all going 1-for-4 and Robbins going 1-for-2. Sing, Ramos and Robbins all had extra base hits, Woodard had the home run and Robbins, Woodard and Olson had the RBIs.

The Miracle conclude what can only be considered a successful 2008 season under field manager Jeff Smith. With Fall Instructional League and Arizona Fall League on the way, www.miraclefans.com will be taking a look at some of the prospects you can expect to see in a Miracle uniform in 2009, so don't go away!

Again, thanks to the Minnesota Twins for providing us with a great group of players, and to the staff of the Fort Myers Miracle for being such wonderful hosts at Hammond Stadium.

Congratulations to the Cubs who captured their second Championship since the turn of the century.

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Miracle avoid sweep, force game four

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:34:32 GMT

Fort Myers 5 at Daytona 3

W: C. Gutierrez (1-1, 9.00); L: J. Russell (0-1, 6.75); SV: A. Slama (3)
HR: FTM: E. Ovalle (1), W. Robbins (1). DAY: T. Thomas (1).

It seems the Miracle weren't quite as done in as some bloggers seemed to think. Indeed, the Fort Myers Miracle will live to see game four of the best of five series against Daytona, batting their way past the Cubs at Jackie Robinson Stadium Monday night.

Juan Portes would lead off with a double in the top of the 1st and Edward Ovalle smacked a home run over the left field fence, giving the Miracle a 2-0 lead. Rene Tosoni would follow it up with a single, but Wilson Ramos hit into a double play and Whit Robbins ground out to send the Cubs up to bat.

The Miracle would give the ball to Deolis Guerra, who would in turn keep the Cubs off the board until the bottom of the third, when Tony Thomas singled and stole 2nd. He'd be given 3rd when Guerra unleashed a wild pitch, and James Adduci doubled him in, cutting the score in half. Guerra would walk Ty Wright before getting Blake Lalli and Russ Canzier out on fly balls, leaving two men stranded.

Tosoni lead off the top of the fourth with a singled and Ramos doubled him in. Robbins then rocked one out of the park for two more runs, giving the Miracle a 5-1 lead.

It would stay that way until the bottom of the fifth when Darwin Barney singled and Thomas put one out of the park for the Cubs, making it 5-3. Adduci would go down on strikes and Wright would walk before Jose Lugo was brought in to replace Guerra. Lugo would take pinch hitter Marquez Smith out on strikes and induce Canzier to ground into a force out to end the inning.

Carlos Gutierrez replaced Lugo in the bottom of the the sixth and worked one inning, walking one and striking out one before giving way to Blair Erickson. Erickson allowed 2 hits and a walk over the next 1.2 innings while fanning three but keeping the Cubs off the board. Anthony Slama would strike out four, allowing a hit and a pair of walks in 1.1 innings to finish off the contest for the Miracle.

Daytona's James Russell gave up all five runs for the Cubs on 8 hits while striking out 3 over 5.2 innings. Guerra would also give up 8 hits, plus a walk, while fanning 3, but his would come over 4.1 innings and he'd allow only three runs.

Tosoni was 2-for-3 with a run and a walk, while Ovlle and Ramos were both 2-for-4 with a run each, Ovalle with 2 RBIs and Ramos with a double and 2 rbis. Robbins finished up 1-for-4 with the home run and a pair of RBIs. Portes was also 1-for-4 with a run, but added a double instead of a yarder.

So the Miracle push it to game four Tuesday night at 7:05 PM. Alex Burnett (1-0, 0.00) will go up against the Cubs Marcos Mateo (0-1, 2.45) on the mound. The Miracle faithful can listen in to the play-by-play action with the Voice of the Miracle, Sean Fox, on WMYR AM-1410 and WCNZ AM-1660 starting a 6:50 PM.

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Yankees, Yankees everywhere: The Scranton/WB Yankees will take on the the Devil Rays affiliated Durham Bulls for the International League's Governor's Cup. In the Eastern League, the Yankee affiliated Trenton Thunder will seek a championship against the Cleveland affiliated Akron Aeros.

LEN3 lists Wilson Ramos as his top prospect pick for the Twins this year. Ramos would, in my honest opinion, benefit from a bit of plate discipline. As Alex put it "He hits into a shit load of double plays." In part, I think you have to look at which prospects are in a position to help the Twins the soonest, so I'd have to go with either Anthony Swarzak or Luke Hughes as the top prospect overall. But then, we all have our own agendas in filling out lists, don't we?

Cubs put Miracle in 2-0 hole in best-of-five series

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 09:50:52 GMT

Daytona 9 at Fort Myers 1

W: J. Jackson (1-0, 0.00); L: C. Devries (1-1, 4.22)
HR: DAY: B. Lalli (1).

The Daytona Cubs wasted no time sending the Fort Myers Miracle packing, taking five runs off Cole Devries in the 3rd inning in route to a 9-1 win, and a 2-0 game lead, in the best of five Florida State League Championship series.

The Miracle will have to win three straight at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Dayonta Beach in order to win their first Championship since their relocation back to Fort Myers.

Ryan Harvey tripled in the top of the 3rd and scored on a Jonathan Mota ground out. Darwin Barney doubled and Tony Thomas took a walk. James Adduci singled to drive in Barney, and following a ground out to Ty Wright that plated Thomas, Blake Lalli put one over the right center field fence, scoring two to make it 5-0 Cubs.

Joe Testa would replace Devries in the top of the 5th. After getting Thomas to ground out and taking Adduci down on strikes, he'd give up a walk to Wright. Lalli singled, moving Wright to 2nd, and Russ Carter's line drive brought the runner home for the Cubs's sixth of the evening.

Ozzie Sosa allowed a double to Harvey in the top of the sixth, who moved ot 3rd on a Mota ground out. Barney would line out before Thomas singled Harvey in for Daytona's seventh tally.

Matt Williams would come in for the top of te 8th, striking out Steve Clevenger, and getting Harvey to pop out. But Mota and Barney took back-to-back singles, and a throwing error by Danny Santiesteban in right allowed Mota to score making it 8-0.

Jay Jackson allowed only 4 hits to Fort Myers over 5.2 innings. Relievers Jay Ruhlman and Michael Cooper held the Miracle to only a pair of walks in the next 1.1 innings, although Cooper gave up a couple of wild pitches that moved Edward Ovalle all the way to 3rd before he'd find a pair of strikes outs to retire the Fort Myers.

Todd Blackford replaced Cooper in the 8th and walked Steve Singleton. Rene Tosoni would go down on strikes, but passed ball by Clevenger moved Sing to 2nd. Wilson Ramos ground out advanced the runner to 3rd and Whit Robbins singled him in to keep the Miracle from being shut out. It was too little a rally, too late.

Wright singled off Williams in the 9th and two outs later, allowed a single to Clevenger. He'd hit Harvey with a pitch to load the bags, and then hit Mota as well, forcing in Wright to finish off the Cubs' scoring.

The Miracle would get nothing off Dustin Sasser in the ninth, with Juan Portes flying out to end the contest.

Singleton finished off the game 1-for-3 with a walk and a run, while Rene Tosoni, Wilson Ramos, Robins and Yancarlos Ortiz were all 1-for-4.

Unless the Miracle can find some road mojo of their own, the Cubs can sweep the series tomorrow night in Daytona. Game time is 7:05 PM and the contest can be heard live on WMYR AM-1410 and WCNZ AM-1660 with the Voice of the Miracle, Sean Fox calling all the play-by-play action.

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Cubs score late to take early lead in series

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 08:49:19 GMT

Daytona 5 at Fort Myers 1

W: J. Latham (1-0, 0.00); L: C. Gutierrez (0-1, 13.50)
HR: FTM: R. Tosoni (2).

Matt Fox pitched an absolutely incredible game for six innings, scattering 3 hits and a pair of walks and striking out an astounding 10 batters. But unfortunately, the bullpen could not match his performance.

Carlos Gutierrez would get Carlos Canzier to strike out swinging to start his shift in the seventh, but Steve Clevenger, Ryan Harvey and Jonathan Mota all took singles off the Miami native, scoring Clevenger to tie up the contest. A throwing error on a pick off attempt would put Harvey over the plate, putting the Cubs on top. After Darwin Barney ground out, Tony Thomas tripled off the sink-ball throwing rookie, bringing Mota home. Jeff Smith would get Jose Lugo out of the bullpen at that point, and the Dominican hurler walked James Adduci before getting Ty Wright to ground into a force out, retiring the Cubs.

Rene Tosoni would launch a solo shot home run over the right field wall in the bottom of the fourth for the Miracle. Despite out hitting the Cubs through the first six innings, it would be all that they would manage to get over the plate off the Daytona team.

Lugo would work a solid 8th inning, but despite a single to Juan Portes, the Fort Myers Miracle could not come up with a Miracle to even up the score. David Shinskie replaced Lugo in the top of the 9th. Harvey would go down on strikes, but Mota and Barney both singled. Thomas' sack bunt scored Mota and moved Barney to 2nd. Adduci would single which, combined with a throwing error by Yancarlos Ortiz, scored Barney making it 5-1 Cubs.

Whit Robbins would single off closer Brian Schlitter in the 9th, but Wilson Ramos, Edward Ovalle and Johnny Woodard all went down on strikes to end the contest in the Cubbies' favor.

Tosoni would go 2-for-3 at the plate with walk, a run and a RBI but he could not provide all the offense by himself. Portes was 2-for-4 with Steve Singleton, Ramos and Robbins all chipping in with singles and finishing off the contest 1-for-4 as one hit wonders. Ovalle, Woodard and Eli Tintor all drew walks, but were otherwise "0-fer" - the first two being 0-for-3 with Tint going 0-for-2.

Not the sort of thing that the Miracle would like to see. They will attempt to bounce back against the hard hitting Cubs Sunday evening at 7:05 for game two of the Florida State League Finals. Cole Devries (1-0, 0.00) will get the nod to take the mound for the Miracle, while the Cubs send up right-hander Jay Jackson (0-0, 0.00) out to counter.

Sunday's contest is the last game at The Bill, as the series reverts to Jackie Robinson Stadium for Monday's match up.

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When the Marlins faced the Cubs in post season play in 2003, one of the radio stations in the area held a ceremony in which a stuffed "Cub" was impaled on the bill of the 50 foot Marlin out in front of Grey's Taxidermy off I-90. Anyone know where we can acquire a big bill fish at so we can impale a cub of our own at The Bill?

Daytona has a speedway, but Lee and Collier Counties have four Racetrac locations where you can go to get free general admission tickets to the Hammond Stadium for the playoff games on Sunday. Don't forget to plan a pit stop at Racetrac on your way to the Bill Sunday night!

Cubs shut out Cards to validate their bus ticket to Hammond Stadium

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 05:12:49 GMT

Daytona 6 at Palm Beach 0

W: H. Chen (1-0, 0.00); L: M. Diapoules (0-1, 7.20)
HR: None.

When the Daytona Cubs were in town earlier in the year for the regular season, they bought with them the reputation of being quite the road team. Evidently the travel mojo is still in effect as they blanked the Palm Beach Cardinals 6-0 at Roger Dean Stadium, to earn themselves a trip to Southwest Florida and the waiting Fort Myers Miracle.

Hung-Wen Chen allowed only 3 hits over six innings - the Cards only got five over nine - while the Cubs Offense did the rest.

Tony Thomas singled to lead off the first inning, then moved to 2nd on Jim Adduci's ground out. Ty Wright scored Thomas, and Blake Lalli doubled in Wright to give the Cubbies a 2 run lead in the the first inning.

They'd increase it in the top of the 5th when Thomas took a walk with one out on the board then came in on an Adduci double. A fielding error by Cards first baseman Matt Arburr allowed Wright to reach and Adduci to score, to give Daytona a four run lead.

Thomas, Adduci and Wright struck again in the top of the 7th to combine for 2 more runs for a total of six for Daytona.

Keeping that trio in check will be the first thing the Miracle need to accomplish Saturday night as they host game one of the best-of-five Florida State League championship series.

You've waited long enough Southwest Florida! Be there as the Miracle take on the Cubs in an attempt to bring a baseball championship back to to Southwest Floria. It's been 13 years since the Miracle were in a FSL Championship match. They were defeated by the Cubs then. It's time to defeat the Cubs now!

First pitch is 7:05 PM at Hammond stadium.

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Daytona has a speedway, but Lee and Collier Counties have four Racetrac locations where you can go to get free general admission tickets to the Hammond Stadium for the playoff games on Saturday and Sunday. Don't forget to plan a pit stop at Racetrac on your way to the Bill Saturday and Sunday night!

The Twins traded Brian Bass to Baltimore for a player to be named later. Bass (3-4, 4.87) spent most of the season in the Twins' bullpen but was sent down to Rochester in August. The Twins are expected to receive an A-ball prospect in return (LEN3).

Miracle still waiting

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 06:30:40 GMT

Palm Beach 5 at Daytona 4

W: S. Garceau (1-0, 2.70); L: M. Mateo (0-1, 2.45); SV: P. Parise (1)
HR: None.

The come-back Cubs fell one short at Jackie Robinson Stadium, as the Palm Beach Cardinals forced game three of the Eastern Division finals.

Antonio DeJesus singled to lead off the top of the first inning and Peter Kozma followed suite. Steve Hill would ground into a double play that allowed DeJesus to score, putting the Cards on the board.

Hill would reach on a fielding error in the top of the 4th, and Tyler Henley singled him to 2nd. After a fly out to Matthew Arburr, Charles Kingrey doubled in Hill. Nick Derba would go down on strikes, but Mike Foli singled driving in Henley and Kingrey. A wild pitch by Cubs starter Marcos Mateo advanced the runner, and a Oliver Marmol singled brought in Foli to make it 5-0 Cards. DeJesus would take a walk before the Cubs brought in Andrew Cashner to stop of the bleeding, and he'd take Kozma out on strikes for the 3rd out.

Daytona would get two in the bottom of the fifth as Jonathan Mota lead off with a walk. Darwin Barney singled before Tony Thomas was taken out on strikes. James Adduci singled in Mota and Ty Wright sacrificed in Barney for the host team.

Barney would start the Cubbies rally in the bottom of the 9th with a pop out, but Thomas took a walk. Adduci ground out but Wright doubled to score Thomas. The Cards would get Pete Parise on the mound, who allowed a single to Marquz Smith to score Wright. With the tying run on base however, Russ Canzier would go down on strikes, ending the contest in the Cards favor.

The series now reverts to Roger Dean Stadium for a 7:05 PM start on Friday. The winner of that contest will face the Miracle at Hammond Stadium on Saturday night for a 7:05 PM game.

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Less then 600 fans showed up for a weekday game between the Marlins and the Braves on Wednesday. The unofficial tally was 589 although 11,211 tickets were announced as being sold for the game. The Fish won the game 5-3.

RaceTrac has acquired tickets to all the potential Miracle playoff games and are distributing them now, at no cost to their customers. General admission tickets are available at the four RaceTrac Southwest Florida locations. Tickets obtained at RaceTrac can be upgraded to a box seat for only $2.00 at the Miracle’s Hammond Stadium offices from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday or at the box office the nights of the game.

The Miracle will host game one and two of the FSL Finals on Saturday and Sunday, starting at 7:05 pm.

Former Miracle Adam Harben had not been playing for the Cubs during their playoff run as he is on the D.L.