Swim, Doe lead Miracle 12-1 rout
VIERA – The Fort Myers Miracle battered the Brevard County Manatees 12-1 Friday night with a 19-hit barrage to halt a four-game losing streak.
The Miracle sent nine batters to the plate in the top of the second inning against Manatees starter Tristan Archer. Jason Kanzler led off with an infield hit. After T.J. White flew out to left, Archer got Chad Christensen to hit into a force play that retired Kanzler at second. Tanner Vavra kept the inning alive with a single up the middle. Archer (1-4) then walked Zack Granite to load the bases.
Alex Swim stepped up and smashed a 1-0 pitch on the ground back up the middle to plate Christensen and Vavra. Mitch Garver the coaxed a walk to reload the bases and Brett Doe lined a single into right-center to score two more runs. Archer then threw a wild pitch with Ryan Walker at the plate and Garver raced home for a five-run lead.
In the fifth, the Miracle tagged Manatees reliever Stephen Peterson for a pair of runs. With two outs, White smacked a double into right field. Christensen hit rope into center for a stand-up RBI triple. Vavra followed with a flare single to right and Christensen trotted home making it 7-0.
Brevard County picked up a run in the sixth off Miracle starter Mat Batts. Omar Garcia led off with a single and was sacrificed over to second base by Chris McFarland. Clint Coulter then reached on an error by White at third base. With two on, Garrett Cooper rolled an RBI hit through the right side to cut the Miracle lead to 7-1.
Batts (4-2) earned the win with seven strong frames. Lowering his season ERA to 1.66, Batts allowed just one run on five hit with no walks and five strikeouts.
In the last two innings, the Miracle pumped out five more runs.
Doe and Swim each registered four hits on the night. Doe was 4-for-6 with two RBI and a run scored. Swim was 4-for-5 with a double, two RBI and a run. All nine Miracle starters tallied a hit and six recorded multi-hit games. Walker, Kanzler, Christensen and Vavra each had two hits.
Todd Van Steensel and Nick Burdi each tossed scoreless relief innings in the eighth and ninth respectively.
The Miracle (51-41, 13-9) seek a series split with the Manatees (38-52, 9-12) Saturday night.