Miracle Down Do Dodgers By BILL BOEDING Press-Journal Staff Writer In the past the Miami Miracle was considered the laughing stock of the Florida State League. But no more. Spurred by a 3-for-4 performance by shortstop Mike Lansing, the Miracle smacked 10 hits and stole five bases to win a 5-2 decision against the Vero Beach Dodgers Saturday night. Until last season, the Miracle and its predecessor the Miami Marlins - was comprised primarily of has-beens and never-will-bes. In 1990, the Miracle, as an independent team, exercised its right to take part in the June draft. The team signed 15 of 16 players it drafted. The move gave the team credibility. This season, as part of the new player development contract between the majors and minors, all Miracle contracts were taken over by the Commissioner's office. In addition, four organizations - the New York Mets, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles and Texas Rangers - sent players to the Miracle. "It's gotten better. They're taking care of us better," said Lansing, who played for Wichita State in 1989 when the Shockers won the College World Series. "I think it has to do with the Commissioner's office, but they're paying us what they should be and the meal money is better." Lansing admitted that if he had his druthers, he would rather be associated with an major league organization, but insisted he's not unhappy where he's at. "I'm in a league where I'm going to get better. Because our contracts are owned by the commissioner, we can be picked up any time. So I'm trying to play as YB Dodgers well as I can and hopefully someone will pick me up at mid-season." Lansing made the best of Dodgers' pitching Saturday. After flying out to center in the first inning, Lansing belted three singles to center, drew a base on balls and stole two bases. "I've been working on staying back and trying to drive the ball up the middle more," Lansing said. "Tonight with the lefthander (Tim Patrick) throwing, I was able to stay back and wait on his curve." With his performance against the Dodgers, Lansing improved his batting average 32 points to .305. "A lot of it is I have a good attitude and a good mental approach," Lansing said. "I'm a lot happier than I was last year." Apparently so is Nate Minchey, who allowed just six Dodgers hits in seven shutout innings. On loan from the Braves, Min- chey, who was 4-11 last season with Durham, improved his record to 3-1 and lowered his ERA to 1.09. "That guy was good tonight," Vero Beach manager Jerry Royster said. "He gave up nothing. He was right on all night. He shut us down." The Miracle (18-16) tagged Patrick for single runs in the second, third, fifth and seventh innings. Greg D'Alexander led off the second with a single. He went to third when Paris Hayden, a product of Indian River Community College, doubled to center and scored on a sacrifice fly by former St. Lucie Met James Morrisette. Hector Roa led off the third with an infield hit and went to second when Lansing singled. Roa appeared to be picked off between second and third, but Patrick's throw got away from third baseman Steve O'Donnell allowing Roa to score. In the fifth, Edwin Alicea hit a one-out double and scored when Lansing singled. Patrick (4-3) gave up a leadoff single to Miah Bradbury in the seventh. Dale Coleman, on in relief, walked the bases loaded then gave up a two-run single to D'Alexander. The Dodgers (22-12) came up with a pair of runs in the ninth. Brock McMurray walked and went to third when Scott Doffek doubled to left. McMurray scored when Ken Whitworth, the third Miracle reliever, balked. Two outs later, Matt Howard drove in Doffek with a single.
