Close first-half finish still stings Fort Myers

FORT MYERS — Garrett Guzman, at 23 and, like most in the minors, still unschooled in the art of big-league clubhouse speak when it comes to dealing with reporters, offered the most direct appraisal of a Miracle first half that ended in heartbreaking fashion last Wednesday.

"It sucked it had to end this way," he said after Fort Myers lost, 2-1, to Lakeland to finish on the short-end of a first-place tie with Dunedin (also 38-32, but winners in three of five against the Miracle). "But it was a lot of fun."

In fact, such an ending appeared unlikely over the all-star break, when a pair of losses in Sarasota put the Miracle on the brink of elimination entering the three-game set with the Tigers.

They made up the two games while Dunedin was getting bashed by Tampa, and emptied the clubhouse after Wednesday's finale only mildly comforted by news of the Blue Jays' 4-2 lead through 7½ innings.

The fourth-place Yankees ultimately scored three in the bottom of the eighth, though, adding a little extra sting to falling just shy of the franchise's fourth playoff berth since arriving in Fort Myers in 1992.

"Our guys never quit, no matter what the score, no matter what the situation," manager Kevin Boles said. "They came out every day, worked hard and now we're looking forward to more good things in the second half. We're very proud of how these guys competed."

Several players credited an all-star break without baseball for the final-week push, almost enough to overcome dropping seven of the team's first 10 to open the month, then the pair of losses to the Reds that put them two back with three left.

"Everyone forgot about baseball over those three days," shortstop Trevor Plouffe said. "You don't erase the first half, but you kind of take in those last games before the break, and you could say there was no pressure because we were facing such a difficult task. We started to play the way we knew we were capable."

Said reliever Tim Lahey, who threw two scoreless innings to get the decision in a 4-3 win over Clearwater in the second-half opener on Thursday: "It's not going to feel any better because we made it come down to the last game, but absolutely, we could have folded earlier. ... It's very disappointing, but the nice thing about the format is that you get a second half where we can still get in."

THREE FOR THE ROAD: The loss was the last in Fort Myers for Guzman, righthander Kevin Slowey and infielder Matt Tolbert, who were all promoted to Double-A New Britain after the game.

The 22-year-old Slowey allowed the two unearned runs to the Tigers to lower his minor league-leading ERA to 1.01 in 14 starts for the Miracle. He finished 4-2, led the FSL in ERA, innings (89Ð), and finished second with 99 strikeouts against just nine walks. Slowey gave up eight hits, six runs (four earned), struck out four and allowed a two-run homer in the second inning of New Britain's 7-3 loss to Portland.

"I'm confident this team is going to keep right on going," said Slowey, who left for Connecticut with his teammates last Wednesday morning. "It would have been great to win the first half, but I think this is one of, if not the most talented team in the Florida State League. A couple breaks here and there and it could have been a championship regular season, but that's baseball. That's how it goes."

Guzman, who missed all of 2005 after breaking a vertebrae in his neck in an offseason car accident, was hitting .274 with eight homers and 51 RBIs, good for fourth in the FSL.

"I came from spring training and said there were no excuses if I came out here and didn't have a good season," he said. "I couldn't blame it on the accident. I felt fine, I felt good from spring training, so I'm glad things are going well for me right now."

Including Tolbert, who hit .303 in 40 games since he was sent down from the Rock Cats on May 5, Fort Myers has promoted seven players to the Twins' Eastern League affiliate this season.

"It's a credit to our players, how hard they compete and how hard they work," Boles said. "Moving this many guys to Double-A at this point, it's great for those guys and that's what we're looking for. They're one step closer to the big leagues, and I'm very proud."

BUMPY START: After opening the second half with back-to-back wins over Clearwater, the Miracle were swept in Dunedin the past three nights, including a 22-4 pounding on Sunday. ... Former Miracle outfielder Trent Oeltjen was chosen as the lone Twins' representative to participate in the 2006 Futures Game, part of Major League Baseball's all-star festivities in Pittsburgh on July 9.

Oeltjen, who hit .287 with four homers, 43 RBIs and had 21 steals in 98 games for Fort Myers last season, will represent his native Australia as part of the foreign-born team that plays a 25-man U.S. all-star squad. Oeltjen is currently 10th in the Eastern League in hitting with a team-best .298 batting average in 56 games.