By DANA OPPEDISANO
Naples Dialy News

FORT MYERS -- Josh Gray didn't understand it, even if the stats supported the
organization's concerns.

"I was almost lost," says Gray. "Things were happening to me, and I felt like
I was making pitches and throwing the ball well. It was just, why was my luck
running that way?"

The tall lefty from Orange, Texas, won his first two starts with the Fort
Myers Miracle last season, including five shutout innings with six strikeouts in
an 8-1 win at Lakeland last April 16.

Then his first season in the Florida State League -- not to mention his
confidence -- came unraveled.

He was winless in his next nine starts, at one point losing four straight and
posting an 8.74 ERA over that stretch.

"There were little infield hits, bloops, and it kept adding up and adding
up," the 24-year-old says. "I was actually throwing well, but the runs would
pile
up in one inning."

Then a mid-season visit from Minnesota's minor league pitching coordinator,
Rick Knapp, shifted Gray, fourth all-time in starts at Lamar University --
where the Twins plucked him in the 30th round of the 2003 draft -- to the
bullpen.

"Maybe it was to humble me, who knows?" said Gray.

"I almost think it's a bit easier. You don't have to really prepare yourself
as much mentally. You know it's going to be under pressure, you know it's
going to be close, and you go with your instincts."

He went 0-3 in 36 innings of relief, but the sinkerball specialist
rediscovered his confidence, holding hitters to a .198 average (versus .293 as a
starter) and providing the Miracle with every thing from long relief to a
closing
option in the second half.

On Friday, he was pulled from pregame stretches in Sarasota by pitching coach
Eric Rasmussen, informed that he'd be starting in place of Glen Perkins
(bruised wrist) in the team's home opener the next night at Hammond Stadium.

Gray looked sharp through the first four of the Miracle's 10-inning, 6-5 win
on Saturday, allowing two runs on two hits with a walk and a pair of
strikeouts. He exited with a 3-2 lead, but Joey Votto's three-run homer off
Tristan
Crawford put Sarasota ahead, 5-4, in the top of the sixth.

The Miracle tied it on Matt Tolbert's sacrifice in the eighth, then first
baseman Brock Peterson plated Denard Span with a bases loaded single to right
off
Carlos Guevara to win it before 8,076 -- the second largest Opening Night
turnout in team history -- at the Lee County Sports Complex.

"There was one pitch down and in on (a double by Miguel Perez) in the second,
but other than that, he was nails," Miracle manager Ricardo Ingram said of
Gray's effort. "He gave us more than we could have asked from him -- four strong
innings -- and save that one pitch, he was right on for us when we needed
him."

The win was the third in as many chances over the Reds this weekend, and
Ingram, in his first season as the Miracle's manager, said he's encouraged with
the quick start.

"It's really nice for the confidence of our club, to get them thinking and
winning games," he said. "We saw some good and some bad things from our bullpen,
but they're getting right after it. They responded tonight when we were down
in the middle part of the game."

April 10, 2005


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