THE STONE CRABS ... The Florida State League’s newest club, the Stone Crabs are an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. Owned by the Ripken Group (headed by Cal Ripken), the Stone Crabs are in second place in the South Division.
THE SERIES ... This is the first meeting between the two clubs.
LAKELAND PROBABLES ...
- June 16 - Andrew Hess is 0-2 in his last 3 starts surrendering 4 earned runs in each start. He had his longest stint on June 4 going 6.2 innings in a 4-2 loss in the first game of a DH at St. Lucie.
- June 17 - Thad Weber tossed the Flying Tigers’ first nine-inning complete game of the season in his last start on June 11 against Sarasota. He blanked the Reds over the first eight innings in a 5-1 victory. It was his first win since May 4.
- June 18 - Charlie Furbush picked up a win in his last start on June 12 against Sarasota, scattering six hits in a 9-1 Lakeland win. Prior to that, he was 0-2 in his last five starts.
- June 19 - L.J. Gagnier worked seven innings and allowed one run on five hits while striking out nine and walked one on June 13 against Sarasota in 7-1 victory. He is 3-2 in his last six starts.
POWER SURGE ... With a Michael Bertram homer on Sunday, Lakeland has now hit eight homers in their last four games. Bertram’s round-tripper was his third in as many games for Lakeland and gives him six on the season, one behind team leader Chris Carlson who has hit each of his seven homers in Lakeland.
BANGIN’ BERTRAM ... Speaking of Michael Bertram, the Flying Tiger infielder has hits in 12 of his last 14 games and has hit .340 over that time with 10 RBI. As mentioned above, he has homered in three consecutive games.
FLYING HIGH ... Audy Ciriaco and Jordan Newton are both 5x15 (.333) in their last four games ... Santo De Leon has hits in 9 of his last 10 games and is 5x11 (.455) his last three games ... Justin Henry is 6x18 (.333) his last four games ... Jeramy Laster enters the series with a six-game hit streak in which he is 7x23 (.304) ... Devin Thomas is 6x18 (.333) has last four games.
CAN THEY ALL BE HOME GAMES? ... Chris Carlson has seven homers this season - all coming at Joker Marchant Stadium. He has drive in 10 of his 12 runs in home games as well ... Audy Ciriaco has hit each of his five homers at home including a pair of grand slams which has helped him amass 22 RBI at home versus driving in five runs on the road ... Kody Kaiser also has five homers at Joker Marchant and none on the road with 16 RBI at home and five on the road ... Pitcher L.J. Gagnier is 3-0 at home and 1-4 on the road.
EITHER PLACE IS FINE ... Both Jeramy Laster and Jordan Newton have hit two homers at home and two on the road ... pitcher Thad Weber has a 3-2 record at home, but a 2.51 ERA. On the road he is 1-1, but has a 1.53 ERA.
THREE TIMES THE FUN ... Lakeland posted a 9-1 over Sarasota on June 12 thanks in part to a five-run third as Jordan Newton, Michael Bertram and Jeramy Laster each homered in the inning. It marked the first time since June 18, 2007 when Cameron Maybin, Will Rhymes and Wilkin Ramirez each went deep in the 6th inning providing all offense in a 3-2 win over Dunedin.
NEW CREW MEMBERS ... Two new players joined the Flying Tigers for the Sarasota series. Devin Thomas was activated off the reserve list while Joshua Workman joined the club from extended spring. To make room on the roster, Kyle Peter was placed on the DL while Mike Gosse was sent to West Michigan.
WRAPS UP THE SOUTH ... With the Charlotte series, Lakeland has now faced all of the league’s 11 other teams. The Flying Tigers are 9-11 against the South and 17-19 within their own division.
LAKELAND MANAGER ANDY BARKETT … Andy Barkett is in his second season and enters this series with an 92-91 record (67-70 in year one). In his rookie season as manager with Detroit, he led Oneonta to a 44-32 record League in 2007.
FORMER FLYING TIGER PITCHER AT THE PLATE ... Rick Porcello, a member of the 2008 Flying Tigers, drove in a pair of runs with a pair of hits while picking up a win for Detroit on Friday the 12th. He became the first Tiger pitcher with multiple RBIs since Joe Coleman (Porcello’s pitching coach at Lakeland) plated three runs at Boston on Sept. 21, 1972.
IT’S ALL RELATIVE ... The Detroit Tigers dipped into the family gene pool with a few of the recent draft picks. With their 14th pick, the Tigers tabbed West Michigan University’s Kevan Hess, brother of current Flying Tiger Andrew Hess while the 18th pick was used on Michigan State’s Eric Roof, brother of former Lakeland Flying Tiger Shawn Roof. With their 48th pick, Detroit picked up Jake Porcello out of Seton Hall Prep. Jake’s older brother is Rick Porcello, former Lakelander, now with the big club.
READY FOR PRIME TIME ... Lakeland’s July 11 game at Brevard County is set to be broadcast live on Bright House Sports Network (Channel 47 on Bright House in Polk County).
FLYING TIGER SHORT HOP ... While most players come through Lakeland for one season or less, Ralph Truell played parts of six different seasons in Lakeland (1974-75-76-77-81-82). Truell compiled a 22-20 record over his six seasons with 432.0 innings pitched in his 81 career outings.
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Views expressed in “Mission Notes” are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Lakeland Flying Tigers.
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