Opening Night With the Ft. Myers Miracle

So tonight I found out that Francisco Liriano was making his first rehab start for the Ft. Myers Miracle on ther opening night and decided that since it's only about 20 minutes away and that tickets were only $7 that I would go with my friend Steve. The game was scheduled to start at 7:05, but as per tradition the skies opened up about an hour before the game and the start was delayed about 10 minutes or so. The Miracle got off to a good start with Liriano retiring the first hitter, giving up a double, but then striking out the next two batters to end the inning. Ft. Myers responded with 2 runs in the bottom frame but that lead wouldnt last as Liriano was a little shaky in the top of the second walking the leadoff guy, giving up a hit, making a throwing error on a bunt that led to a run, and allowing one more run to score before the inning was over. After that point, Liriano settled down and began to look like the phenom that he was, allowing only 1 hit in the next 3 innings while striking out 6. In the top of the 6th however, Liriano got the first out then allowed 2 consecutive hits putting runners on the corners with only 1 out. Take into account that his pitch count was getting high, that was all that was needed to make the decision to take him out, his final line was 5.1 ip, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 8 k. After being removed from the game, the pitcher releiving Liriano promptly gave up a few hits and allowed his 2 inherited runners to score, and then allowing 4 more runs the next inning. After 7, it was Sarasota-8, Ft. Myers-3. A scoreless 8th inning and no runs allowed in the top of the 9th led up to a chance for the Miracle to not only get a win, but to get Liriano off the hook. I know that scoring 5 runs to tie it in the bottom of the 9th doesn't happen often (although I do remember that Atlanta scored 5 runs in the bottom of the ninth on their home opener to tie it against Pittsburgh just a few days ago) but for some reason I felt like it might happen. Of course that feeling quickly went away as the first 2 batters were quickly retired, but an 0-2 count that turned into a walk, followed by a 4 pitch walk let a little bit of hope come back. The next batter got down 1-2 before getting a hanging curveball and blasting it over the left field fence bringing Ft. Myers to within 2 runs. The comeback would not be completed though, as the next batter grounded out to the 3rd baseman ending the game. While the Miracle didn't win (and I'll admit I was somewhat rooting for them) Liriano looked decent and I'm hopeful that he will make it back to the bigs soon and be effective. The final line was:Sarasota - 8 11 1Ft. Myers- 6 8 1-Danthecardsfan