CLEARWATER, Fla. (August 24, 2017) - Brent Rooker homered in the Fort Myers Miracle's (38-21) 8-5 rubber match loss to the Clearwater Threshers (27-33) on Thursday night. After an hour-long rain delay, the two sides went back-and-forth before the Threshers pulled out the win.Both sides scored early and often. Chris Paul
CLEARWATER, Fla. (August 24, 2017) - Brent Rooker homered in the Fort Myers Miracle's (38-21) 8-5 rubber match loss to the Clearwater Threshers (27-33) on Thursday night. After an hour-long rain delay, the two sides went back-and-forth before the Threshers pulled out the win.
Both sides scored early and often. Chris Paul and Rooker boomed back-to-back doubles in the first inning to score the first run off starter RHP Edgar Garcia. Clearwater answered with two in the bottom half thanks to RBI-singles from Jose Gomez and Jose Pujols.
In the second, Nelson Molina's RBI-triple tied the game followed a frame later by Rooker's towering two-run home run. The next pitch Garcia threw hit Mitchell Kranson, and the Threshers' righty was ejected on the spot. After the ejection, the Miracle managed just two hits against the bullpen.
Clearwater tied the game and took the lead in the bottom of the third inning. RHP Clark Beeker (L, 1-1) allowed six hits in the inning. A Pujols solo home run to left tied the game at four before Clearwater strung together five straight baserunners to take a 6-4 lead. A bases loaded HBP made it 7-4 as Fort Myers fell behind.
They grabbed a run back against LHP Tyler Gilbert (W, 1-6), but RHP Luke Leftwich (H, 2) and RHP Seth McGarry (Sv, 18) shut down the Miracle hitters to earn the series win. Beeker allowed seven runs on 13 hits over four innings. RHP Williams Ramirez and LHP Sam Clay combined to allow one run over the final four stanzas.
The Miracle begin a three-game series against second place Charlotte on Friday night at 7:00 PM ET. Starting pitchers are TBD.
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.
