THE FLYING TIGERS ... Lakeland enters the series with a 22-26 after losing three of four at home to St. Lucie. The two teams split a doubleheader on Wednesday after rain postponed game one. The Mets then took the next two including a 7-5 decision on Saturday coming back from a 4-1 deficit with a 6-run third as Brahaim Maldonado highlighted the frame with a grand slam. The Flying Tigers, who have now lost four of their last five and seven of their last 11, fall to 11.5 games behind North Division-leading Brevard County and are now 5-7 against the South Division. Lakeland has the third lowest team batting average at .239 and has scored the second fewest runs in the league at 184. Lakeland batters have struck out 23 times the last two games. The Flying Tigers are 10-10 on the road in 2009; 5-7 in one-run games; 2-3 on Sundays; 3-2 on Mondays; 2-3 on Tuesdays; and 3-3 on Wednesdays.
THE MIRACLE ... Ft. Myers leads the South Division with a 35-19 record, 6.5 games ahead of Charlotte and sports a 19-7 record at home. The Miracle sport the league’s second best team batting average at .267 and have scored the second most runs with 241. The squad also has the second best team ERA at 2.88.
THE SERIES ... This is the first meeting between the two clubs in 2009. Last season, playing in the same division, the two clubs battled 18 times with the Miracle taking 10 games.
LAKELAND PROBABLES …
June 7: L.J. Gagnier (3-3, 4.62) leads the staff with 46 strikeouts but has allowed a team-high six home runs. He has a 2-1 record in his last three starts. In his last outing on June 2, he worked 6.0 innings and took the loss despite holding Palm Beach to two runs and striking out 10.
June 8: Andrew Hess (2-4, 3.47) is one of two Lakeland pitchers to be named to the FSL All-Star team. He has won just once since May 27, with a 1-4 record in six starts since then. In his one no-decision he tossed 6.0 scoreless innings and struck out seven against Brevard County on May 7. Hess is sixth in the Detroit minor league system with a 3.47 ERA.
June 9: Matt Hoffman (2-1, 4.50) joined the Flying Tigers on May 20 and tossed a 7-inning complete game shutout in his first start on May 21 at Tampa. In his two wins he has allowed just two runs while being tagged for nine runs, six earned, in his lone loss. Prior to joining Lakeland he was 5-0 with a 1.12 ERA at West Michigan (lower A) and now leads Detroit minor leaguers with a combined 7-1 mark and a 2.08 ERA.
June 10: Thad Weber (3-3, 2.44) is the Flying Tigers’ second All-Star selection. He is seventh in the FSL with a 2.44 ERA (seventh among all of Detroit’s minor league pitchers). Each of his six decisions came in his first six starts as he has not been involved in a decision since May 9. Two of his last four starts were stopped short by rain on May 15 and May 26.
LAKELAND MANAGER ANDY BARKETT … Andy Barkett is in his second season with Lakeland with an 89-96 record (67-70 in year one). In his first year with the organization, he led Oneonta to a 44-32 record in the New York-Penn League in 2007.
TOP DOG ... Lakeland’s hottest bat belongs to Michael Bertram who is 11 for his last 27 (.407) in his last seven games and 17x44 (.386) over his last 13 games. He leads Lakeland with 42 hits and 10 doubles and is second with a .266 average and 21 RBI.
CLOSE BEHIND ... Another hot bat belongs to Chris Carlson who is 10x27 (.370) with an eight-game hit streak entering the series and is 14x36 (.389) over his last 11 games. He leads Lakeland with six home runs with all six coming at home.
DON’T CALL HIM FIG ... Jordan Newton was on a tear when he first joined the Flying Tigers going 12x28 (.429) in his first 7 games with the club, but is just 3x28 (.107) his last 7 games.
IT AIN’T EASY BEING GREEN ... The role of closer goes to Scott Green who leads Lakeland with six saves. He also has three wins out of the pen. He has worked more than 1.0 inning just four times with a season-high two frames on April 27 vs. Tampa. He has at least one strikeout in 14 of his 16 appearances.
ROBBIE MEISTER ... Reliever Robbie Weinhardt has been scored upon in just two of his 16 appearances this season allowing two runs on May 6 to Dunedin and one run to Jupiter on May 26.
NOT THE ONLY ALL-STAR ... Andrew Hess and Thad Weber are headed to the FSL All-Star while former Flying Tiger Ronnie Borquin (2007) has been selected to the Midwest League All-Star squad as a first baseman for the West Michigan Whitecaps, the Tiger’s lower A affiliate.
SPEAKING OF FORMER TIGERS ... Don Kelly, a third baseman on the 2003 Lakeland Tigers team, was named the International League Player of the Week for May 25-31. Kelly batted .556 with 15 hits was riding a 12-game hitting streak. He leads the Detroit minor league organization with a .341 average.
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 ... Lakeland’s last nine-inning no-hitter was tossed by Dave Haas on April 14, 1989 against Clearwater. Haas went on to post a 7-5 record for Detroit over three seasons from 1991-93. Three Lakeland hurlers, Rick Porcello (now at Detroit), Robbie Weinhardt and Cody Satterwhite, combined to limit St. Lucie to no-hits in a seven-inning contest on 7/19/08.
FSL FUN FACT … The league record for triples in a season is an amazing 30 and belongs to a former second baseman on the 1961 Tampa Tarpons, an affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. The second baseman? Pete Rose. The future Major Leaguer all-time hits leader also had 20 doubles and batted .331 that season.
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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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