Miracle bats spark West to East 7-4 win in FSL All-Star Game

LAKELAND — The Fort Myers Miracle produced one-third of the West's base hits in the 45th Florida State League All-Star Game.

Newly acquired outfielder Brandon Roberts and speedy infielder Alexi Casilla each notched singles in the West's 7-4 victory against the East on Saturday night at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland.

Roberts was the lone Miracle to score.

All-Star games tend to be slugfests, but pitchers ruled in the FSL classic, surrendering only eleven hits.

Photo by KEVIN JOHNSON, Banner

Fort Myers catcher Kyle Geiger waves to the crowd during the West team's introductions at the Florida State League All-Star Game on Saturday in Lakeland. At right is new Miracle outfielder Brandon Roberts. At left is Dunedin infielder Ryan Klosterman.

After striking out on a 3-2 count with two men on in his first at-bat as a Miracle in the fifth, Roberts singled and scored in the seventh to give the West a 6-1 lead.

Roberts played center field in the middle and late innings.

Casilla started at shortstop. He beat out an infield chopper in the first and flied out to left in the third.

In the field, Casilla turned in a defensive gem when he snagged a bad bounce chopper to get Brevard County's Steve Solmann in the third inning.

With his parents, an aunt and an uncle in attendance, Miracle catcher/first baseman Kyle Geiger made his first appearance in an all-star game. Geiger, who caught the middle three innings, struck out in both plate appearances, but that didn't diminish his evening.

"This was a blast," he said. "Just playing with the all-stars in both divisions and getting to know them. I had a smile on my face all night."

Geiger wasn't alone in the strikeout department. He was one of seven players who fanned twice. The teams combined for 25 strikeouts. No one had a rougher night than East designated hitter Brendan Katin from Brevard County. The former Fort Myers High star struck out four times.

Fort Myers' Kevin Slowey fanned the side on nine pitches to start the game, earning Pitcher of the Game honors. Slowey did not figure in the decision, which went to Tampa's Gerardo Casadiego.

Photo by KEVIN JOHNSON, Banner

Detroit Tigers legend Al Kaline heads to the mound for the ceremonial first pitch.

Lakeland designated hitter Jeff Frazier generated the biggest cheer of the night — outside of the tuxedo-clad grounds crew — when he belted a two-run homer off Jose Sanchez of the St. Lucie Mets that gave the West a 4-1 lead in the sixth.

St. Lucie's Ambiorix Concepcion concluded the scoring with a three-run homer for the East off Clearwater's Joe Bisenius in the eighth inning.

• Roberts turned a few heads when he donned a Miracle uniform at the All-Star Game.

"A couple of buddies that I played against were like, 'dude, you're tripping me out. I thought you played for the Reds,'" said Roberts, who resides in Bakersfield, Calif.

After all, earlier in the week Roberts was playing for the Sarasota Reds, where he hit .267 with 66 hits and 23 stolen bases in 55 games. But on Thursday, Roberts was part of a trade between Cincinnati and Minnesota that sent infielder Juan Castro to the Reds.

"I'm glad to be with the Twins," said Roberts, 21. "It seems like they're interested in me since they wanted to acquire me. I'm happy to be there."

Roberts, who played at Cal Poly, was drafted in the seventh round by Cincinnati in 2005.

• Forty-five Miracle fans and four team employees made the 150-mile trip to Tigerland on a coach bus. The Miracle faithful rivaled a contingent from Vero Beach for most fans from a visiting city.

Geiger must have thought he was in Geigerland when he made his first plate appearance in the fifth inning.

Photo by KEVIN JOHNSON, Banner

Following his infield single in the first, Fort Myers' Alexi Casilla takes a lead against East starter Blake Hawksworth of Palm Beach. Holding Casilla on is Daytona first baseman Matt Craig.

"I heard them spell my name out, so I knew it was them. I heard G-E-I-G-E-R. That was fun," said Geiger. "I heard every one of them. I looked up and saw them. It was great they came up to watch the game."

The Miracle usually sponsor one or two fan bus trips to visiting games per year, but this was the first time they did it for an all-star game.

• St. Luice Mets catcher Jesus Flores won the battle, but lost the war in the home run derby contest. Flores smashed eight homers in the second round of the derby, more than the rest of the field combined. But he lost in the championship round to former LSU slugger Ryan Patterson of Dunedin, 2-1.

No Miracle player participated in the derby, which featured a significant right-to-left cross wind.

• Following a sizzling performance on the mound where he struck out the side in the first, Slowey spent a couple innings as the West's first base coach.

"Maybe that's in my future," Slowey said, before adding, "not for awhile, I hope."

More all-star games — as a player — are what's likely in Slowey's future.

• The Miracle entered this week with a 36-31 record, two games behind first place Dunedin. The Miracle would need to sweep their three-game series against Lakeland — scheduled to conclude tonight at Hammond Stadium (7 p.m.) — and hope the Blue Jays get swept by Tampa.

The second half of the season opens Thursday when Clearwater visits Fort Myers for a three-game series. All games in the series start at 7 p.m.

Upcoming promotions include a pet fair on Friday — when dogs will be admitted free — and a hurricane awareness night on Saturday.