Miracle Make It Seven Straight on Paul's Walk-Off

FORT MYERS, Fla. (May 20, 2017) - On the way to their seventh straight win, the Fort Myers Miracle (23-20) overcame three different deficits, including trailing 8-4, to beat the Bradenton Marauders (26-17 in extra innings, 9-8, on Saturday night. Chris Paul's walk-off single in the tenth sealed the deal for the Miracle.
Early on, home runs were the scoring method of choice. Logan Hill took RHP Dereck Rodríguez deep in the top of the second to put the Marauders up 1-0. Half an inning later, Zander Wiel tied the game with a solo moonshot of his own.
In the top of the third, Casey Hughston led off with another solo home run, and Bradenton padded the lead with one more. Dereck Rodriguez escaped a bases loaded, no out jam with just one extra run. Down 3-1 in the fourth, Tanner English smacked his first home run of the year, a two-run shot to tie the game. Fort Myers took the lead in the bottom of the fifth without the use of a base hit. Against starter RHP Logan Sendelbach, Paul walked and then worked his way around to score on a balk and two wild pitches to put the Miracle up 4-3.
The sixth inning proved to be the most exciting with nine total runs in the top and bottom half. The Marauders plated five in the top of the inning to take an 8-4 lead. The inning was punctuated by a Cole Tucker single, but in the bottom of the sixth, Fort Myers responded against LHP Jake Brentz.
After back-to-back leadoff singles, Max Murphy brought in a run with a knock of his own. Two batter later, Paul drilled a two-out two-run double to cut the lead to one. After a Zander Wiel walk, English singled home Paul to tie the game at eight.
The relievers settled in to hold both sides scoreless to the tenth. LHP Sam Clay (W, 5-0) came up with some key putouts down the stretch. The lefty stranded runners in scoring position in the eighth, ninth and tenth to keep the game tied. His scoreless innings streak is now at 23.1.
In the bottom of the tenth, Sean Miller led off with a single against RHP Jess Amedee (L, 3-1). After a single by Murphy, Paul stepped in with one out and Miller on third. His line drive single to left-center ended the game, giving Fort Myers a seventh straight win.
The Miracle look for the series sweep against Bradenton on Sunday at 4:05 PM ET.
To stay up to date on upcoming promotional nights, follow the Miracle online at Miraclebaseball.com or through social media; Twitter: @MiracleBaseball, Instagram: fortmyersmiracle, Facebook: Fort Myers Miracle, Snapchat: ftmyersmiracle. For further information or questions regarding the 2017 25^th Anniversary Season, call the Miracle offices at (239) 768-4210.