TAMPA, Fla. (August 18, 2017) - The Fort Myers Miracle (36-18) used Brent Rooker's go-ahead home run in the seventh inning to cap their largest comeback win of the season, a 7-6 win over the Tampa Yankees (36-16). The Miracle came back from a 6-0 deficit to claim their ninth straight
TAMPA, Fla. (August 18, 2017) - The Fort Myers Miracle (36-18) used Brent Rooker's go-ahead home run in the seventh inning to cap their largest comeback win of the season, a 7-6 win over the Tampa Yankees (36-16). The Miracle came back from a 6-0 deficit to claim their ninth straight win, snapping Tampa's ten-game winning streak overall and 16-game streak at home.
RHP Sean Poppen allowed six runs, four earned, over five innings. The Yankees plated a run in the first on rehabber Matt Holliday's RBI-groundout. In the second, Poppen nearly stranded a leadoff double, but a two-out infield single by Angel Aguilar kept the inning going. Hoy Jun Park then provided his second double in as many innings, and Kyle Holder drove in two with a single to put Tampa up 4-0. Holder added a second two-run single in the fourth to make it 6-0.
The Miracle used two innings to chip away. RHP Erik Swanson held Fort Myers scoreless through five innings but ran into trouble in the sixth. Three straight hits started the frame, including a Brandon Lopez RBI-double to put the Miracle on the board. After striking out Rooker, LHP Trevor Lane (L, 2-2) relieved Swanson and allowed an RBI-single to Mitchell Kranson before inducing in inning-ending double play ball.
In the seventh, Fort Myers made their move. Sean Miller reached with a leadoff single. With one out, Tanner English sent a bouncing ball to shortstop which Park could not handle. The error put two on base as Jermaine Palacios snuck a ball down the left field line to score both runners. Lopez then singled in Palacios to make it a 6-5 game. Chris Paul then made then second out with a loud fly ball to the warning track in right. Rooker stepped up with two outs and smashed a two-run home run off the left field foul pole to give Fort Myers the 7-6 lead.
After Poppen's five innings, four bullpen men contributed with four scoreless frames. LHP Alex Robinson (W, 4-0) had the sixth while RHP Michael Kohn took care of the seventh. In the eighth, LHP Andrew Vasquez dealt with the bases loaded, but got Holder to fly out to left field to end the threat. In the ninth, RHP Tom Hackimer (Sv, 4) walked and hit a batter, but stranded the runners to end the game with a Devyn Bolasky groundout.
The Miracle look for their season-high tenth straight win on Saturday night at 6:30 PM ET. RHP Clark Beeker makes his FSL debut against the Yankees who send RHP Taylor Widener to the hill.
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. To purchase tickets, visit MiracleBaseball.com/tickets. For further information or questions regarding the 2017 25th Anniversary Season, call the Miracle offices at (239) 768-4210.
