Class-A: Miracle Drop First Meeting With Yankees, 8-2

We were on-hand Friday night at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers to watch the Miracle open a 4-game weekend series against the Tampa Yankees. It was the first time the two teams have met so far this season.

The Miracle, Class-A Advanced affiliate of the Minnesota Twins and winners of 10 of their last 16 games, entered Friday’s game in first place in the Florida State League South division at 23-18, while leading the second place Bradenton Marauders by two games.

As for the Yankees, they entered the series at 25-16, in second place and a 1.5 games behind the first place Clearwater Threshers in the Florida State League North division.

After an hour and five min rain delay, the two teams took the field and in the first inning, Tampa jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on an RBI single from Miguel Andujar scoring Abiatal Avelino, who had a one out walk earlier in the inning.

In the bottom of the second, with the Miracle still trailing 1-0, Chris Paul hit a one out double to left field, and after Max Murphy walked to put two runners on, Alex Real hit a weak ground ball in front of the plate, and Yankees catcher Santiago Nessy nabbed him at first with both runners moving up a base. With the tying and go-ahead run in scoring position, Kevin Garcia popped out to end the Miracle threat.

Both starters shut down the offense until the top of the fifth when the Yankees put up a five-spot knocking Fort Myers starter Randy Rosario out of the game. He pitched a good game, hitting 94 on the radar with his fastball and retiring nine of the 11 batters he faced from the second to the fourth inning. But a rocky first and fifth, where he allowed a total six runs (two earned) on seven hits, with four walks and four strikeouts, did him in.  It wasn’t all Rosario’s doing as the defense committed two errors behind him to allow runners to reach base and score.

The Miracle offense was non-existent recording only two hits until the bottom of the seventh when Real launched a two run shot over the left field fence to pull the Miracle within 6-2.

But the Yankees were running on all cylinders as they added two more runs in the top of the eighth to pull away for good to an eventual 8-2 victory.

With the loss the Miracle dropped to 23-19, and their lead reduced to one game as the Marauders won their game over the Dunedin Blue Jays 5-4.

As for the Yankees, they improved to 26-16 with their third straight victory and also gained a game on the Threshers who lost to the Palm Beach Cardinals 4-1.

Both teams are right at it again on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 pm.

Game Notes

Twins shortstop Eduardo Escobar was on a MLB Rehab assignment with the Miracle and finished the game 1 for 3, with a triple. It was his first game back after being placed on the 15-day DL on May 7 with a left groin strain.

The Miracle hosted Barry Williams, aka Greg Brady from the Brady Bunch as he threw out the first pitch and signed autographs for the fans.

David Conde

David is the Co-Founder and Executive Editor of Legends On Deck®, as well as a Co-Host on Legends On Deck Podcast. David was a Senior Editor for MetsMerizedOnline.com, MetsMinors.net and Contributor for Hardballchat.com that spanned from 2010 to 2014. David made his MLB Debut as a writer in June 2014, while covering the NY Mets at Citi Field, for MetsmerizedOnline.com. David also coaches baseball for ages 13-15, a Babe Ruth League team in his local community. David's passion is coaching the game he loves to the future Legends of Tomorrow as well as making available a website that people can have fun sharing and reading. David is also passionate about his career as a Mortgage Loan Officer which allows him to help many families reach their dreams of owning a home. Connect with David via his Social Media pages as he loves to chat all about baseball.