Mission Notes at St. Lucie (July 30-Aug. 2)

THE FLYING TIGERS ... Lakeland was rained out in its last scheduled game against Palm Beach on Wednesday, leaving the Flying Tigers 15-16 on the season and 44-52 overall. The game was actually called due to lightning in the area and the possibility of an approaching storm and is “lost to the schedule” as the two teams do not meet again this season. It is the 19th game this season that has been postponed or cancelled due to rain and is the sixth game lost to the schedule. The Flying Tigers enter the St. Lucie series with a .248 team batting average and a 3.72 earned run average.

ST. LUCIE ... The Mets are coming off a 4-3 loss at Clearwater on Wednesday, their fourth loss in a row and their 11th in their last 15 games. However, seven of those losses were by one run and the last three games - all losses for the Mets - have all been decided by 4-3 scores. St. Lucie is 10-19 and in last place in the South Division and 44-53 overall. The Mets have a .252 team batting average and a 3.63 team earned run average.

THE SERIES ... The Mets took three of four games played earlier this season in Lakeland with the two clubs splitting a doubleheader after rain postponed game one. The Flying Tigers took game two, 6-5, after leading 5-1 in the second inning. Game three was tied 3-3 in the sixth before St. Lucie rallied for a 5-3 win. In game four, Lakeland again led 5-1 in the second, but gave up six runs in the third en route to a 7-5 loss.

FABULOUS FURBUSH ... Charlie Furbush was untouchable on Tuesday against Palm Beach, tossing a no-hitter until Charles Cutler lined a single to left field with two outs in the sixth. Furbush finished the frame and left after allowing the one hit with 10 strikeouts and no walks on the night.

SPEAKING OF K’s ... Lester Oliveros came on in relief of Furbush on Tuesday working the 7th and 8th innings against the Cardinals and recorded five more strikeouts of his own as Lakeland finished with 15 K’s. It marked the second time this season the Flying Tigers staff has struck out 15 or more batters joining Mauricio Robles (10), Robbie Weinhardt (4) and Scott Green (2) who combined for 16 punch-outs on June 27 at Sarasota.

UNLUCKY 13 ... Jordan Newton homered on the first pitch he saw in the opening game of Monday’s doubleheader against the Carinals to extend his hit streak to 13 games. Unfortunately, he did not get a hit in the second game and the streak came to a halt. He batted 18x46 (.391) with four doubles, a triple, a homer and five runs batted in during the streak. It was the longest hitting streak for any Lakeland batter this season and is the longest since Ovandy Suero had a 14-game streak in 2006.

ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END ... Domnit Bolivar connected on a 2-0 pitch off Maurcio Robles with two outs in the fourth inning in the first game of Monday’s doubleheader with Palm Beach and banged it off the Marchant Stadium scoreboard for a three-run homer. The shot snapped a streak of 25.0 consecutive innings pitched by Robles without allowing an earned run.

ROSTER MOVE ... Catcher Billy Alvino, who had batted .333 in eight games with Lakeland, was reassigned to the GCL Tigers on Wednesday, leaving the club with 24 active players.

SUNDAY TIME CHANGE ... Sunday’s game at St. Lucie, originally scheduled for 2 p.m. has been moved up to a noon starting time.

TWO EX-LAKELANDERS, TWO FUTURE (?) PLAYERS EARN LEAGUE HONORS ... Two former Lakeland players – Jeff Frazier and Brennan Boesch were named their respective league’s Player of the Week while two possible future Flying Tigers, Casey Crosby and Adam Wilk, picked up Pitcher of the Week honors in their respective leagues for the week of July 20-26. Frazier, who played in Lakeland in 2006, took home the International League’s honor after batting .545 for the week with five homers and 12 RBI for Toledo. Boesch, who played for the Flying Tigers last season, hit .407 for Erie with four home runs and 10 runs batted in to pick up the Eastern League honors. Crosby totalled 10.0 innings pitched, picked up one win, allowed two hits while striking out 15 and walking just three for West Michigan to garner Midwest League honors while Wilk tossed seven scoreless innings and struck out eight while walking none in Oneonta’s win over Tri-City to earn Pitcher of the Week honors for the New York-Penn League.

FLYING HIGH ... Chris Carlson is 5x16 (.313) his last five games with a double, a home run and three runs batted in ... Audy Ciriaco is 14x47 (.298) over the last 12 games with two doubles, two triples, a home run and 11 runs batted in ... Trevor Feeney has allowed one earned run his last 9.1 innings over his last five outings ... Scott Green has not allowed an earned run his last 9.0 innings over his last nine outings with five saves.

DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE ... The Flying Tigers’ doubleheader on Monday against Palm Beach (forced due to a Sunday rain out) was Lakeland’s 11th of the season. The team has swept a pair of twin bills, been swept in three, and split six other doubleheaders.

ONLY 18 LEFT ... Lakeland has just 18 scheduled dates left at home in 2009, including 12 scheduled dates in August. The season winds down with a rare six-game homestand in September.

LAST AGAINST THE SOUTH ... The St. Lucie series marks the final four games that Lakeland will play outside their division in 2009. The final 32 games after facing the Mets will all be back in the North Division. The Flying Tigers enter the St. Lucie series with a 17-25 mark against South Division teams and a 27-27 mark against their own Division.

THE COMMANDER … Andy Barkett is in his second season with Lakeland with a 111-122 record (67-70 in year one). In his rookie season as manager, he led Oneonta to a 44-32 record in the New York-Penn League in 2007.

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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.

Mission Notes vs. Palm Beach (July 26-29)

THE FLYING TIGERS ... Lakeland has now dropped three straight games and stands at 13-15 in the second half and in last place in the North Division. Overall, Lakeland is 42-51. The Flying Tigers have moved up to eighth in the FSL with a .251 team batting average and are ninth with a 3.75 team ERA.

PALM BEACH ... The Cardinals have lost two straight and are third place in the South Division with a 12-16 record, 4.5 games behind first-place Charlotte. Overall, Palm Beach is 41-57. Adron Chambers leads the FSL with 12 triples while Curt Smith is second with 103 hits and eighth with a .298 average. Nicholas Additon is eighth with a 3.06 ERA. while Adam Reifer is fourth with 12 saves. The Cardinals are 11th in the league with a .245 team batting average and last with a 4.15 team ERA.

THE SERIES ... Lakeland took three of four games from the Cardinals earlier this season in Palm Beach with three of the four games in the series being decided by one-run. The Flying Tigers captured the opener 7-6 in ten innings behind 10th inning singles by Jeramy Laster, Chris Carlson and Chris White. Lakeland then won the next night in their last at bat as well as Michael Bertram drove in two runs with a two-out single in the top of the ninth. Starting pitching was the story in games two and three as Charlie Furbush held Palm Beach to two hits in six innings of work in a 4-1 win and then Lakeland wasted a 10-strikeout night by L.J. Gagnier as they left the bases loaded in the ninth in a 2-1 loss.

HIT STREAK ... Jordan Newton doubled in the fifth inning of Saturday’s game to extend his hit streak to 12 games. He is batting 17x44 with four doubles, a triple and four runs batted in during the streak. It is the longest hitting streak for any Lakeland batter this season and is the longest since Brennan Boesch had a 13-game streak from May 21 to June 4 of last season. He will have a ways to go to catch a recent hit streak of 23-games established by Michael Woods during the 2003 season for Lakeland.

CARLSON KEEPS PACE ... Chris Carlson hit one of two Lakeland homers in the first inning of Saturday’s game at Jupiter to give him 13 home runs on the season, keeping him in a second-place tie in the FSL with Carlos Guzman of St. Lucie. Carlson began the season by hitting his first eight home runs at home, but four of his last five have come on the road.

LASTER MOVE UP LAKELAND HR LIST ... Jeramy Laster also homered in the first inning on Saturday for his 32nd career homer in a Lakeland uniform over the last two seasons. Laster is now tied for fourth on the Lakeland all-time home run list with Roland Rollin (1980-83). Leo Daigle (2000-02) holds the franchise record with 41 home runs in his three seasons while Garth McKinney (2005-06) and Alejandro Freire (1997-98) rank second and third, respectively with 35 and 34 round-trippers.

ALVINO MAKES THE MOST OF HIS CHANCES ... New Flying Tiger Billy Alvino has made the most of his opportunities at the plate, batting .364 in his seven games played so far for Lakeland. He had his best game to date on July 22 in the Jupiter series opener going 3x4 with a pair of doubles and a run batted in. It was his first three-hit game of his brief nine-game pro career for Alvino, who batted .400 as a senior this spring for High Point University.

TUCK AND ROLL ... Joe Tucker also got on the three-hit bandwagon for Lakeland rapping out a trio of hits including his second triple of the season in the Flying Tigers’ July 23 game at Jupiter. Tucker also drove in three runs and now has nine multi-hit game for Lakeland.

CASANOVA SEES THE WORLD FROM A DIFFERENT SIDE ... After spending 153 games behind the plate, Adrian Casanova saw the game from a different perspective in the second contest of the Jupiter series. Casanova worked the eight inning as a pitcher for Lakeland, but found life on the mound a tad rough, surrendering three runs on four hits. The fourth-year catcher did not walk anyone and did not record a strikeout in his brief career from the other side of the plate.

BERTRAM EARNS A TICKET TO ERIE ... Michael Bertram’s hot bat earned him a promotion to AA Erie. Bertram, who hit for the cycle on July 18, batted .765 (13x17) with three doubles, a triple, a homer and seven runs batted in his last five games. The third baseman was batting .283 with 19 doubles, 10 homers and 47 RBI on the season.

NEW CREW MEMBER ... The Flying Tigers welcomed Luis Grullon to take the place of Michael Bertram who was promoted to Erie. Grullon, who signed with the Detroit organization as a non-drafted free agent in 2005, comes to Lakeland from the Gulf Coast League Tigers where he batted .267 with five doubles and eight RBI in 17 games. He spent three season in the Dominican Summer League and played in the GCL last season.

KETCHNER GETS THE NOD ... Ryan Ketchner, who joined Lakeland on July 17, got his first start of his Flying Tiger career on July 24 at Jupiter. The 6’1” lefty, who had come out of the bullpen his first two appearances, worked on 2.2 innings and allowed one run on four hits and struck out three and did not walk a batter.

FLYING HIGH ... Maurico Robles has not allowed an earned run in his last 21.1 innings pitched dating back to July 4 ... Jeramy Laster has hits in eight of his last nine games for a .400 clip ... Chris White had a string of four consecutive with two hits in each games snapped Saturday and is now 8x20 (.400) his last five games ... Scott Green has five saves his last seven appearances has has not allowed an earned run since July 5.

THE COMMANDER … Andy Barkett is in his second season with Lakeland with a 109-121 record (67-70 in year one). In his rookie season as manager, he led Oneonta to a 44-32 record in the New York-Penn League in 2007.

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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.

Mission Notes vs. Jupiter (July 22-25)

THE FLYING TIGERS ... The Flying Tigers are coming off a four-game split with Charlotte and stand at 12-12 in the second half and 41-48 overall. Lakeland, which is 10-6 its last 16 games, knocked out a season-high 17 hits in a 12-3 win over the Stone Crabs and has hit .356 (62x174) in its last five games with 10 doubles, five triples and three home runs. The squad has scored 38 runs in their last five games while the pitching staff has recorded seven shutouts since June 26 and nine total blankings this season - the most for any Lakeland staff since 1996 team posted ten shutouts. The Flying Tigers are tied for fifth place in the North Division with Daytona at 12-12. With their recent success, Lakeland is now eighth in the Florida State League with a .215 team batting average and sixth with a 3.63 team ERA.

JUPITER ... Lakeland continues it swing thru the South Division with a four-game visit to Jupiter. The Hammerheads are 8-18 in the second half and are in last place. Overall, Jupiter is 42-51. Jupiter is second to last in the FSL with a .243 team batting average, but is third with a 3.31 staff earned run average.

THE SERIES ... Jupiter took three of four games played in Lakeland earlier this season. Lakeland won the first game, 9-3 as Audy Ciriaco hit one of his two grand slams on the season while Jeramy Laster and Chris Carlson also went deep. That apparently angered the Hammerheads as Jupiter outscored Lakeland 22-4 the next three games. The third game saw Jupiter’s Brandon Tripp hit for the cycle in a 10-1 Hammerhead win.

RIDE THE CYCLE ... Michael Bertram hit for the cycle in the opening game of the Charlotte series becoming the first Lakeland player to accomplish the feat since Jacques Landry on May 8, 1998 against the then St. Petersburg Devil Rays. As rare as hitting for a single, double, triple and a home run in the same game, it was the second time a player has done so at Joker Marchant Stadium this season. Earlier, Jupiter’s Brandon Tripp hit for the cycle on May 28.

HAVE A SERIES ... In addition to aforementioned cycle, Michael Bertram went 11x17 (.647) for the four games against Charlotte and with two games with four hits. He now has a six-game hit streak in which he is 13x26 (.500).

TEN-GAME HIT STREAK ... Matching Bertram for hitting prowess is Jordan Newton who has collected hits in each of his last ten games in which he is 15x35 (.428) with three doubles, a triple and four runs batted in.

LASTER HITS THE TOP FIVE ... Jeramy Laster homered on Monday evening giving him seven for the season and 31 for his Lakeland career spanning the last two seasons. Laster now ranks fifth on the Lakeland all-time home run list, just one behind Roland Rollin (1980-83) who ranks fourth with 32 homers. Leo Daigle (2000-02) holds the franchise record with 41 home runs in his three seasons while Garth McKinney (2005-06) and Alejandro Freire (1997-98) rank second and third, respectively with 35 and 34 round-trippers.

WHO NEEDS DEFENSE? ... Lakeland committed a season-high five errors on Tuesday, but still came out on top in a 12-3 win over Charlotte.

STARTERS SOLID ... The Lakeland starting pitching staff has not allowed an earned run in the last two games as Andrew Hess (6.1) and Mauricio Robles (6.0) posted back-to-back solid outings. Hess now ranks eighth in the FSL with a 3.18 ERA. Robles has not allowed an earned run in his last 21.1 innings pitched. Against Charlotte he tossed 6.0 innings allowed a pair of unearned runs while striking out a season-high 11 batters, topping the mark of 10 he recorded in his second outing for Lakeland on June 27.

PICKET FENCES ... The Flying Tigers recorded 11 runs in back-to-back games on July 17 and 18 marking the first time the team has reached double digits scored in consecutive games July 23 and 24 of last season when the team reached the 11-run plateau in games against Vero Beach and Sarasota.

HOME-RUN BATTLE ... Lakeland’s Chris Carlson and Jupiter’s Mike Stanton are tied for second in the Florida State League with 12 home runs. Both players trail Chris Parmelee who leads the league with 14 dingers.

THE COMMANDER … Andy Barkett is in his second season with Lakeland with a 108-118 record (67-70 in year one). In his rookie season as manager, he led Oneonta to a 44-32 record in the New York-Penn League in 2007.

EX-LAKELANDERS GETTIN’ IT DONE ... Toledo’s Wilkin Ramirez is hitting .375 (24x64) with three doubles, a triple, four home runs and 13 runs batted in over his last 17 games while Brent Dlugach has hit safely in each of his last nine games, batting .412 (14x34) with four doubles and two RBI ... Erie’s Brennan Boesch is second in the Eastern League with 18 home runs while Ryan Strieby is third with 17 home runs. Strieby has hit safely in eight of his last nine games batting .412 (14x34) while Casper Wells has hit safely in each of his last nine games, batting .382 (13x34) with four doubles, a triple, two home runs and 10 RBI. Santo De Leon is hitting .347 (17x49) with six doubles, a triple, three home runs and 13 RBI over his last 14 games. De Leon was named the Eastern League Player of the Week for July 13-19.

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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.

Mission Notes vs. Charlotte (July 18-21)

THE FLYING TIGERS ... Lakeland enters the series on their hottest streak of the season winning eight of their last 12 games to improve to 10-10 in the second half. Five of those eight wins have come via the shutout. On the other hand, the Flying Tigers have been shutout three of their four losses in the stretch. Overall, Lakeland is 39-46 on the year. The Flying Tigers are ninth in the FSL with a .246 team batting average and have scored the third fewest runs in the league. The staff ERA of 3.63 ranks seventh in the league

CHARLOTTE ... The Florida State League’s newest team is an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. The Stone Crabs are leading the South Division with a 12-9 mark and lead Palm Beach by one game. Darrin Downs leads the FSL with 91 strikeouts, second with a 2.23 ERA and is 9-4 on the season. Jeremy Hall leads the FSL with 11 wins while Downs is third with nine victories. Matthew Gorgen is second in the FSL with 15 saves while Shawn O’Malley is tied for second with 33 stolen bases. Charlotte ranks eighth with a .247 team batting average and sixth with a 3.61 team ERA.

THE SERIES ... The Stone Crabs won three of the four games played in Charlotte on June 15-18. Lakeland took the series finale, 7-2, despite striking out a season-high 17 times.

OLD AND NEW ... While Charlotte is the Florida State League’s newest franchise, Lakeland was a charter member of the FSL when it was founded in 1919.

REHABBERS ... For the second straight series, both teams will feature major leaguers on rehab assignment. Detroit outfielder Carlos Guillen (right shoulder inflammation) has played the last four games for Lakeland while Charlotte features Tampa Bay catcher Shawn Riggans (right should tendinitis) and pitched Brian Shouse (left should strain)

CARLSON STILL LEADING FSL ... Chris Carlson continues to hold on to a first-place tie in the Florida State League with 12 homers and is tied with Jupiter’s Mike Stanton and Ft. Myers’ Chris Parmelee. There are four other players tied with 11 dingers.

ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERS ... Mauricio Robles leads all of Detroit minor leagues with 93 combined strikeouts in stints at Lakeland and West Michigan. L.J. Gagnier is third with 85 strikeouts which also ranks third in the FSL.

DON’T I KNOW YOU? ... Maiko Loyola played the 2007 season at Hudson Valley in the New York-Penn League for the Tampa Bay Rays along with several of the current Charlotte Stone Crabs.

A GOOD TWO MONTHS ... Lester Oliveros is 3-1 with one save and a 2.45 ERA with 25 strikeouts in June and July.

NEWTON’S COMET ... Jordan Newton has an eight-game hit streak entering the series in which he is batting .264 (8x22).

FABULOUS FURBUSH ... Charlie Furbush is 1-0 with a 0.54 ERA his last three starts for Lakeland allowing just one earned runs over 16.2 innings pitched.

NEW CREW MEMBER ... Lakeland’s latest recruit is left-handed pitcher Ryan Ketchner who spent last season with AA West Tennessee (Mariners) where he was named to the Southern League midseason All-Star team. Ketchner was born partially deaf and has roughly ten percent hearing. He is a talented lip reader.

EVERYONE CAME TO THE PARTY ... Lakeland banged out 14 hits in its 11-8 win over Dunedin on July 17 as ten players each collected at least one hit. Joe Tucker, Devin Thomas, Audy Ciriaco and Jeramy Laster each had a pair of hits for the Flying Tigers.

G-MAN ... Jared Gayhart has allowed just one earned run in six appearances so far with Lakeland with seven strikeouts. Gayhart has not walked a batter with Lakeland.

G-MAN 2 ... Scott Green leads Lakeland with nine saves and has recorded three saves in his last four appearances out of the bullpen. He has a 1.50 ERA in the month of July.

ROLLIN’ UP THE ZEROS ... Maurcio Robles has not allowed a run in his last 15.1 innings pitched over his last three starts for Lakeland.

ROLLING UP THE ZEROS - PT. II ... Lakeland has eight total shutouts this season matching the number posted by last year’s squad and is the most since the 2005 squad recorded 11 shutouts.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS ... The Flying Tigers are 10-15 in games decided by one run this season and are 2-2 in extra inning games. The team is 26-8 when scoring first and is 35-1 when leading after seven innings, but is 1-44 when trailing after seven.

THE COMMANDER … Andy Barkett is in his second season with Lakeland with a 106-116 record (67-70 in year one). In his rookie season as manager, he led Oneonta to a 44-32 record in the New York-Penn League in 2007.

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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.

Mission Notes vs. Dunedin (July 15-17)

THE FLYING TIGERS ... Lakeland enters the Dunedin series with an 8-9 record and are tied for last place along with Daytona. Both clubs are just 2-1/2 games out of first, trailing Brevard County. Overall, the Flying Tigers sport a 37-45 record. Lakeland dropped its last game, 7-0, on Monday at Brevard County, but has won six of its last nine games. Lakeland’s team batting average of .245 is second to last in the FSL while the team ERA of 3.56 ranks fifth. Lakeland has the third-best ranked defense in the FSL with a .975 fielding percentage.

DUNEDIN ... The Blue Jays are 10-7 on the season and are in a second place tie with Tampa with both clubs trailing Brevard County by one-half game. Overall, Dunedin is 43-41 on the year. Darin Mastroianni, who was leading the Florida State League in hitting with a .325 average has been promoted to AA New Hampshire, but teammate Moises Sierra is still at Dunedin and he is now the active leader with a .323 mark. The Blue Jays are third in the league with a .263 team batting average but third from last with a 3.81 team earned run average.

THE SERIES ... Lakeland has a 6-2 mark against Dunedin this season and won two of the three last played in Dunedin on July 9-10.

REHABBERS ... Both clubs have major leaguers on rehab assignments. Lakeland welcomes Detroit outfielder Carlos Guillen who is working his way back from a right shoulder inflammation that has sidelined him since May 5. Dunedin features Toronto starting pitcher Shaun Marcum who is recovering from 2008 Tommy John elbow reconstructive surgery on his right arm.

EX-LAKELANDERS AT THE MLB ALL-STAR GAME ... Lakeland had a pair of former players at the Major League All-Star game on Tuesday as Justin Verlander and Curtis Granderson represented Detroit in the midseason classic. Verlander was 9-2 with a 1.67 ERA in 13 games for then 2005 Lakeland Tigers while Granderson batted .286 with 11 homers and 51 RBI as a member of the 2003 Lakeland club.

STREAKY BOMBS ... Lakeland went four games without hitting a home from June 29 to July 3 and then erupted for eight dingers in a three-game set on July 4-6 including four round-trippers against Clearwater on July 5. However, the club as not gone deep in their last six games.

CARLSON STILL LEADING FSL ... Chris Carlson continues to hold on to a first-place tie in the Florida State League with 12 homers and is tied with Jupiter’s Mike Stanton.

GAGNIER STILL IN THE HUNT ... L.J. Gagnier is tied for third in the FSL with 83 strikeouts along with Brevard’s Evan Anundsen. Both hurlers trail Charlotte’s Darin Downs who leads with 91 and Dunedin’s Andrew Liebel who is second with 84 strikeouts.

ROLLIN’ ROBLES ... Mauricio Robles has not been scored upon in his last two starts working 12.1 innings and scattering eight hits with nine strikeouts and five walks.

WALK THIS WAY ... Jeramy Laster drew three base-on-balls on July 13 at Brevard County. That’s as many walks as Laster has drawn in his 35 previous games combined! Laster had walked just once in the 21 previous games prior to the three-walk night.

LIKE-O MAIKO ... Newcomer Maiko Loyola is 8x25 (.320) with four doubles and six runs batted in since July 2.

NICE NEWTON ... Jordan Newton has a modest five-game hit streak in which he is 6x18 (.333) with a pair of doubles and a triple. He has hits in 14 of his last 20 games.

CRISP CHRIS ... Chris White had one of the two Lakeland hits on Monday and is 3x6 the last two games.

NOLAN, WE HARDLY KNEW YE ... Nolan Cain joined Lakeland for one game from the GCL Tigers and worked 1.2 innings for the Flying Tigers on July 13 and has since rejoined the Gulf Coast club.

FURBUSH ON TARGET ... Charlie Furbush has allowed just one earned run in his last 16.2 innings pitched over his last three starts for a 0.54 ERA during that stretch, but is just 1-0 with two no decisions. He has 12 K’s in those three games and has at least one strikeout in each of his 16 appearances this season and has ten games with three or more punch-outs.

GAGNIER GITTIN’ IT DONE ... L.J. Gagnier is 3-4 his last seven starts but has a 2.31 ERA in those seven games along with 49 strikeouts.

GAYHART, A HARD CASE ... Jared Gayhart has been stingy on the mound since joining Lakeland on June 26 allowing just one run in five outings for a 1.00 ERA.

GREEN MACHINE ... Scott Green is 3-for-3 in save opportunities with a 0.00 ERA in those outings allowing just one hit with two strikeouts over 3.0 innings.

BLANKINGS ABOUND ... Lakeland pitchers have combined for four shutouts in the team’s last nine games.

BACK HOME AGAIN ... Lakeland returns home following a nine-game road trip and will be playing their first game in front of the hometown fans since the July 4th contest. The Flying Tigers are 18-23 in the friendly confines of Joker Marchant Stadium where the club has hit 28 of their 48 homers this season. The club is hitting 38 points better at home (.264 to .226) but has a better ERA on the road (3.20 compared to 3.89).

THE COMMANDER … Andy Barkett is in his second season with Lakeland with a 104-115 record (67-70 in year one). In his rookie season as manager, he led Oneonta to a 44-32 record in the New York-Penn League in 2007.
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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.

Mission Notes vs. Brevard County (July 11-13)

THE FLYING TIGERS ... Lakeland enters the series at Brevard County with a 6-8 record in the second half following a doubleheader split at Dunedin on Friday. The Flying Tigers won the opener, 3-0, as Mauricio Robles worked six scoreless innings and Scott Green tossed a perfect seventh. Lakeland dropped game two, 2-1, as C.J. Ebarb connected on a walk-off homer for the Blue Jays. Overall, Lakeland is 35-44 on the season. The Flying Tigers are tied with Charlotte with a .247 batting average, which is eighth best in the Florida State League. The team ERA of 3.58 ranks fifth in the league.

BREVARD COUNTY ... Brevard County, winners of the first half of the North Division, are vying for a second half title and lead the North by 1/2 game over Dunedin. The Miracle were rained out Friday, but are 8-2 in the last ten games and winners of four straight. Brevard County is second in the league with a .264 average and has the best staff ERA in the FSL with a 2.68 mark, joining Ft. Myers as the only other club in the FSL with ERAs under 3.00 on the season. Evan Anundsen, who tossed a no-hitter earlier this season, is second in the FSL with a 1.99 ERA to go with his 7-4 record. Robert Wooten leads the league with 18 saves.

THE SERIES ... The Flying Tigers have faced the Manatees eight times this season, but have managed just two victories so far. Lakeland has batted .230 in the series with a 3.22 ERA while Brevard County has hit .380 in the eight games with a 2.35 team ERA. Lakeland has two homers in the series - both by Audy Ciriaco in the same game, including a walk-off grand slam in a 10-6 win on May 16 in Lakeland.

ROLLIN’ ROBLES ... Mauricio Robles has not been scored upon in his last two starts working 12.1 innings and scattering eight hits with nine strikeouts and five walks.

STEADY STARTERS ... The Flying Tiger starting pitching staff has a 1.61 ERA over the last ten games, allowing just nine earned runs in 50.1 innings pitched. The starters have struck out 28 and walked 10 over the 10 games. Starter L.J. Gagnier is third in the FSL with 79 strikeouts.

BULLISH PEN ... Meanwhile, the Lakeland bullpen has exhibited some nice control walking just four batters in their last 17 appearances while striking out 41 batters. Scott Green has not walked a batter in his last seven outings while Jared Gayhart has yet to walk a batter in four appearances as a Flying Tiger. Brett Jacobson has issued just one base on balls in his last eight appearances out of the bullpen.

BACK IN THE GROOVE ... Scott Green leads Lakeland with eight saves and has two saves in his last two appearances. Prior to that, Green had entered the game in a save opportunity just once in his previous 11 appearances.

CAN’T STEAL FIRST ... Lakeland did not draw a walk in the second game of the Dunedin doubleheader on Friday night, marking the eighth time this season the Flying Tigers failed to draw a free pass to first base.

THE NEW GUY ... Lakeland’s newest Flying Tiger, catcher Billy Alvino, has at least one base hit in each of his three games played so far and is 4x10 at the plate.

HENRY HIT STREAK ... Justin Henry enters the Brevard County series with an eight-game hitting streak in which he is 11x31 (.355) with three doubles and four runs batted in. Henry is batting .324 (24x74) with six doubles and nine runs batted in since June 17.

NEWTON MINI-STREAK ... Jordan Newton has collected a base hit in each of his last five games and is 6x18 (.333) in those games. He has hits in 14 of his last 20 games.

THOMAS TRIP ... Devin Thomas is hitting .328 (19x58) with four doubles, two home runs and eight runs batted in since June 24.

TUCKER TIME ... Joe Tucker is 8x14 (.571) his last four games and is batting .363 (16x44) since June 17 with three doubles and three runs batted in.

HIT STREAK SNAPPED ... Michael Bertram had his six-game hit streak snapped in game two of Friday’s doubleheader. During the streak, Bertram was 8x21 (.381) with two doubles, two home runs and seven runs batted in. He leads Lakeland with 16 doubles and 38 runs batted in. Bertram is second on the squad with nine homers and is third with 65 base hits. Lakeland is 6-3 in games in which Bertram homers.

HOMER HAPPY ... Chris Carlson homered in three straight games from July 4-6 and is tied for the FSL lead with 12 homers along with Mike Stanton of Jupiter. Carlson also had driven in runs in four straight games (six total) from July 4-9. His 12 homers leads Lakeland, but he is fourth on the team with 24 RBI as eight of his homers have been solo shots and the other four came with just one man on base. Lakeland is 9-3 in games in which Carlson hits a home run. He has double-digit homers in each of his four pro seasons and a total of 43 round-trippers for his career.

CIRIACO SIDETRACKED ... Audy Ciriaco was hitting .360 (31x86) with five doubles, three homers and 10 RBI entering the Dunedin series, but was held without a hit in two games played. Ciriaco has two of Lakeland’s three grand slams this season, but his other five homers have been solo homers.

ANOTHER CLOSE ONE ... The Flying Tigers lost the second game of their doubleheader on Friday at Dunedin by a 2-1 score and are now 9-15 in one-run games. The doubleheader was Lakeland’s eighth of the season and the team has one sweep, been swept three times and split four others.

THE COMMANDER … Andy Barkett is in his second season with Lakeland with a 102-114 record (67-70 in year one). In his rookie season as manager, he led Oneonta to a 44-32 record in the New York-Penn League in 2007.

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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.

Mission Notes vs. Dunedin (July 8-10)

THE FLYING TIGERS ... Lakeland enters the Dunedin series with a 4-7 record in second half. The Flying Tigers’ last outing at Clearwater on July 7 was cut short by rain in the middle of the fourth inning with Lakeland ahead 1-0. The game will resume as part of a doubleheader August 12 at 5 p.m. in Clearwater. The Flying Tigers split the first two games at Clearwater dropping the series opener, 10-6, despite four homers, and came back with a 12-0 win behind the pitching of Charlie Furbush and Lester Oliveros in game two. The club trails division leading Dunedin by 4.0 games. Overall, Lakeland is 33-43 and ranks eighth with a .247 batting average and ninth in runs scored. The staff ERA of 3.64 ranks seventh while the pitching corps is last in the league in team strikeouts.

DUNEDIN ... Dunedin is leading the North Division with an 8-3 record and has a half-game lead over Clearwater. The Blue Jays are 7-3 in their last ten games and are coming off a 5-1 win over Daytona on July 7. Moises Sierra (.336) and Darin Mastoianni (.325) are 1-2 in the league in batting average while Kenny Rodriguez is fifth with a 2.43 earned run average. Mastroianni is second in the FSL with 32 stolen bases while Andrew Liebel is fourth with 77 strikeouts. The Blue Jays are second in the league with a .264 team batting average and have scored the most runs of any FSL team. However, the team ERA of 3.82 is third worst in the FSL.

THE SERIES ... Lakeland has won four of the five meetings with Dunedin this season taking two of three in Lakeland on May 4-6 as Andy Dirks went 8x10 with six runs batted in in the three games and then sweeping two games in Dunedin. The third game of the series in Dunedin was rained out and lost to schedule as the two clubs did not meet again in the first half.

LAKELAND’S PROBABLE STARTERS:

• July 8 - Andrew Hess (3-6, 3.13 ERA) - Andrew Hess ranks 10th in the FSL with a 3.13 ERA and is 1-4 in his last six starts with a 4.14 ERA in those games with 15 strikeouts and 12 walks. However, he is 1-1 with a 0.69 ERA in his last two starts. In his last start he worked 6.2 innings scattering four hits while allowing one earned run against Tampa on the road July 3. Hess is 1-3 with a 2.83 ERA at home and 2-3 with a 3.35 ERA on the road.
• July 9 - Mauricio Robles (2-1, 5.28 ERA) - Mauricio Robles is coming off his best outing as a Flying Tiger having tossed 6.2 shutout innings on July 4 at home in front of 5,248 fans. Against Tampa that evening, he allowed just four hits while striking out five and walking three. That effort allowed him to chop 4.07 points off his ERA and dropped it to 5.28 on the season after allowing nine earned runs over 8.2 innings in his first two starts at Lakeland.
• July 10 - Matt Hoffman - (2-4, 7.09 ERA) - Matt Hoffman was tagged for five earned runs over 6.2 innings pitched against Sarasota on June 28 in his last start. He has a 1-2 mark and a 10.67 ERA at home and is also 1-2 on the road, but with a 4.34 ERA away from Joker Marchant Stadium. He is 1-4 with a 9.00 ERA since debuting at Lakeland with seven shutout innings on May 21.

BOMBS AWAY ... Four Flying Tigers went deep in Lakeland’s 10-6 loss to Clearwater on July 5. Chris Carlson, Devin Thomas, Michael Bertram and Audy Ciriaco all hit home runs marking the first time since June 22, 2008 that Lakeland has had four homers in the same game.

GRAND SALAMI ... Michael Bertram hit a grand slam in the eighth inning of the Flying Tigers’ 12-0 win at Clearwater on July 6. It was Bertram’s ninth homer of the season (all against righthanders) and Lakeland’s third grand slam of the season (the other two came off the bat of Audy Ciriaco). Bertram was 3x5 in the July 6 game with three runs scored and has collected a base hit in four straight games and six of his last seven games. Of his nine season homers, six have come in the sixth thru ninth innings.

FSL’S HR LEADER ... Chris Carlson has three hits in his last three games from July 4-6 - all home runs - to take over the league lead with 12 round trippers. Strangely enough all three came in the fourth inning of each game (he has five total in the fourth inning this season). He has seven homers against righthanded pitchers and five against lefties. He also ranks fourth in the FSL with a .476 slugging percentage. After hitting his first eight homers at Joker Marchant Stadium, Carlson has hit three of his last four on the road. Five of his last six hits have been homers.

GAGNIER STAYS IN FIRST ... L.J. Gagnier is currently tied for the league lead with Darin Downs of Charlotte with 79 strikeouts.

NEW RECEIVER ... The Flying Tigers have added a third catcher to the roster as Billy Alvino joined the club on July 5 from the Gulf Coast Tigers and is 3x8 (.375) with three runs scored in his first two games in a Lakeland uniform.

AUDY GOOD ... Audy Ciriaco is hitting .360 (31x86) with five doubles, three homers and ten runs batted in since June 9 to raise his batting average 54 points. He has ten multi-hit games during that stretch and has now played 74 of the Flying Tigers 76 games at shortstop.

HOT HENRY ... Justin Henry is hitting .364 (12x33) his last eight games with four doubles and eight runs batted in and is hitting .323 (27x83) since June 10 with eight multi-hit games.

THE RIVER JORDAN ... Jordan Newton is hitting .343 (8x23) with five doubles and a triple his last seven games with 11 multi-hit games this season.

DEVIOUS DEVIN ... Devin Thomas is hitting .333 (17x51) his last 13 games with six multi-hit games with seven runs batted in.

JOLLY JOE ... Joe Tucker is hitting .357 (10x28) his last nine games to raise his batting average 75 points.

FABULOUS FURBUSH ... Charlie Furbush has not allowed an earned run in his last 11.2 innings pitched over two starts.

100 AND COUNTING … Andy Barkett is in his second season with Lakeland with an even 100 wins in a Flying Tigers uniform. Barkett enters the Dunedin series with a 100-113 record (67-70 in year one). In his rookie season as manager, he led Oneonta to a 44-32 record in the New York-Penn League in 2007.

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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.

Mission Notes vs. Clearwater (July 5-7)

THE FLYING TIGERS ... Lakeland enters the Clearwater series with a 3-6 record in second half after shutting out Tampa, 4-0, on the Fourth of July in front of 5,248 fans - the largest crowd of the season for Lakeland. The Flying Tigers are in last place in the North Division and trail a trio of teams tied for first place - Dunedin (6-2), Tampa (6-2) and Clearwater (7-3). Overall, Lakeland is 33-42 on the season. Lakeland is ninth in the FSL with a .244 average, 10th in runs scored and seventh with a 3.59 team ERA.

CLEARWATER ... The Threshers are in a three-way tie for first with Dunedin and Tampa. Clearwater is 7-3 while Dunedin and Tampa are 6-2. Overall, the Threshers are 39-37. Batting .255 as a team, Clearwater ranks fifth in the league in hitting and are second in the FSL in runs scored. Their team ERA of 3.80 ranks ninth. Tim Kennelly ranks third in the FSL with a .310 average and third with 44 runs batted in. Kyle Drabek (4-1) and Yohan Flande (7-1) and rank sixth and seventh with 2.48 and 2.52 ERAs, respectively.

THE SERIES ... The two clubs have met seven times this season with the Threshers winning five of the match-ups.

TONIGHT’S PROBABLE STARTER:
July 5 - Matt Hoffman (2-4, 7.09 ERA) - tossed a complete-game, seven-inning shutout in his first appearance on May 21 for Lakeland ... has a 9.00 ERA since ... has allowed four or more earned runs in four of his seven starts ... tossed 6.2 innings and allowed five earned runs on seven hits in his last start on June 28 at Sarasota.
July 6 - Charlie Furbush (4-4, 4.11 ERA) - 1-3 with a 5.00 ERA in his last eight starts. allowed two or fewer runs in six of those eight starts ... last win came back on June 12 ... worked 5.2 innings allowing one unearned run on five hits and four strikeouts in his last start on June 29 at home against Ft. Myers.
July 7 - L.J. Gagnier - (5-6, 3.81 ERA) - leads the Florida State League with 79 strikeouts, yet Lakeland has the fewest team strikeouts in the league ... leads Lakeland with five wins and 80.1 innings pitched ... has lost his last two starts and is 2-4 his last sis starts ... struck out a team season-high 13 batters on June 25 at Sarasota, his second double-digit strikeout performance of the season.

SHUT ‘EM DOWN ... Mauricio Robles and Brendan Wise combined on a five-hut shutout in Lakeland’s 4-0 win over Tampa on July 4. Robles limited the Yankees to four hits with three walks and five strikeouts over his 6.2 innings pitched while Wise worked the final 2.1 innings, allowing just one hit. It was the Flying Tigers’ fourth shutout of the season.

DOUBLE DIGIT DINGERS ... Chris Carlson’s home run on Saturday against Tampa was his 10th of the season and gives him double-digit homers in each of his four pro seasons hitting 11 in his rookie season with the Gulf Coast League Tigers and 10 in each of his last three seasons. He now has 42 career homers.

SERIOUSLY CIRIACO ... Audy Ciriaco, who got just his second night off of the year on Saturday, is hitting .351 (26x74) his last 21 games. Ciriaco, who has started 72 of Lakeland’s 74 games at shortstop, leads the club with 61 hits and 33 runs batted in.

HOT HENRY ... Justin Henry is batting .436 (17x39) his last 12 games with five doubles and six runs batted in. He still leads all second baseman in the Florida State League with a .992 fielding percentage. Henry leads Lakeland with 35 runs scored and is tied for the team lead with 13 stolen bases.

TUCK AND ROLL ... Joe Tucker is hitting .344 (11x32) is his last ten games.

DON’T WALK THE LINE ... The Flying Tigers’ bullpen has issued just three walks in their last 36.0 innings over the last 12 games. Two of those walks came in the same contest.

FIVE TWO BAGGERS ... Lakeland cranked out five doubles in Saturday night’s game against Tampa as Justin Henry, Chris White, Michael Bertram, Adrian Casanova and Joe Tucker each doubled. It was the fourth time this season Lakeland has collected five doubles in one game.

PULLED A FAST ONE ... Saturday’s game time was just 1:54, the quickest nine-inning game this season eclipsing a 1:56 game against Daytona on June 23. The 1:54 was the shortest game for Lakeland since spending just 1:42 in a 2-1 win over Dunedin on June 22, 2006.

WITHER THE TRIPLE ... Lakeland collected nine triples in a nine game stretch from June 12-22, and has just one triple - that by Jordan Newton in Friday’s game - in its last 12 games.

A WISE GUY ... Brendan Wise has not allowed a run in his last five appearances of the bullpen covering 6.0 innings. He has been scored up in just two of his 14 outings this season.

ONE OR THE OTHER ... Lakeland has not homered and stolen a base in the same game since June 22 - a stretch of 12 games.

OVER 10,000 FANS ... Lakeland’s Fourth of July crowd of 5,248 was the team’s largest in at least the five years. Coupled with Tampa’s fireworks crowd of 4,760 means the Flying Tigers played in front of over 10,000 fans their last two games.

ONE MORE FOR THE CENTURY … Andy Barkett is in his second season with Lakeland with a 99-111 record (67-70 in year one). In his rookie season as manager, he led Oneonta to a 44-32 record in the New York-Penn League in 2007.
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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.

Mission Notes vs. Tampa (July 3-4)

THE FLYING TIGERS ... Lakeland enters the split series against Tampa with a 2-4 record in second half after dropping a doubleheader to Ft. Myers on July 2. The Flying Tigers are now in last place in the North Division and trail division-leading Clearwater, which is off to a 7-1 second half start, by 4-1/2 games. Overall, Lakeland is 31-41 on the season having dropped four straight. Lakeland is ninth in the FSL with a .245 average, 10th in runs scored and seventh with a 3.68 team ERA. The Flying Tigers are also third in the FSL with a .973 fielding percentage thanks in part to Justin Henry who leads all league second baseman with a .991 mark and just two errors in 224 total chances.

TAMPA ... The Yankees are 5-1 in the second half, just one game behind Clearwater. Overall, Tampa is 30-37 on the season after sweeping Sarasota in a doubleheader on July 2. Austin Romine is second in the FSL with 11 homers, trailing the leader, Mike Stanton of Jupiter, by just one round-tripper. Romine, however, does lead the league with 46 runs batted in. Tampa is hitting .257 as a team and is second to last with 48 stolen bases. The Yankees’ team ERA of 3.68 ranks ninth in the Florida State League.

THE SERIES ... The Flying Tigers have won six of the ten games played between these two teams in 2009 and have won the last four meetings. Lakeland is hitting .236 in the series and has a remarkable 1.61 ERA in the ten games. Tampa is hitting .221 in the series with a 2.92 staff ERA. This two game set, with one game in each team’s home park, is just one of two two-game series this season for Lakeland. The other came back on May 20-21, also against the Yankees.

PROBABLE STARTERS:
July 3 - Andrew Hess (3-5, 0 SV, 3.29) ... tossed 7.0 scoreless innings in a win on June 26 at Sarasota (allowed six hits, two walks and struck out six) ... had lost three of his last four starts prior to his last game ... had an 1.93 ERA in first six appearances and has a 4.37 ERA in his last six starts ... is 1-3 with a 2.83 ERA at home and 2-2 with a 3.67 ERA on the road ... has a 3-5 record and a 3.16 ERA as a starter ... has a 6.30 ERA in the first inning, but a 2.55 in other innings combined.
July 4 - Mauricio Robles (1-1, 0 SV, 9.35) ... 1-1 since joining Lakeland on June 21 ... allowed five earned runs in 2.2 innings pitched in first start ... struck out 10 in 6.0 innings in second start on June 27 at Sarasota.

RIGHT ON ... Michael Bertram has hit seven homers for Lakeland this season - all coming off righthanded pitchers.

DOUBLE DIGIT DINGERS ... Chris Carlson leads Lakeland with nine home runs and needs just one more round-tripper to give him double-digit homers in each of his four pro seasons. He has 41 career homers entering Friday’s game with a career-high 11 for the 2006 Gulf Coast League Tigers.

LOOKIN’ GOOD ... Jared Gayhart made his Lakeland debut on June 26 with two scoreless innings and two strikeouts at Sarasota. He followed that with 3.1 scoreless innings and two more strikeouts in game one of a doubleheader against Ft. Myers on July 2.

SERIOUSLY CIRIACO ... Audy Ciriaco is hitting .366 (26x71) his last 20 games. Ciriaco, who has started 71 of Lakeland’s 72 games at shortstop, leads the club with 61 hits and 33 runs batted in.

GAG ORDER ... L.J. Gagnier leads the Florida State League with 79 strikeouts, yet Lakeland has the fewest team strikeouts in the league. Gagnier leads Lakeland with five wins and 80.1 innings pitched.

OH, HENRY ... Justin Henry is batting .452 (14x31) his last 11 games with three doubles and six runs batted in. He still leads all second baseman in the Florida State League with a .992 fielding percentage. Henry leads Lakeland with 34 runs scored and is tied for the team lead with 13 stolen bases.

DOUBLES DOWN ... Jordan Newton is hitting .368 (7x19) in his last six games with five doubles and two runs batted in. Despite playing in just half of Lakeland’s game this season, Newton leads the club with 15 doubles. Ten of his 15 doubles have come at Joker Marchant Stadium.

NO DOUBTIN’ THOMAS ... Devin Thomas has raised his batting average 50 points in his last eight games. Lakeland’s first baseman is hitting .419 (13x31) in that stretch with a pair of doubles and six runs batted in.

TUCK AND ROLL ... Joe Tucker is hitting .370 (10x27) is his last nine games. He is hitting .281 vs. righthanded pitchers.

PEN CONTROL ... The Flying Tigers’ bullpen has issued just two walks in their last 31.2 innings over the last 11 games. Both of those walks came in the same contest.

ALL SAFE AND SOUND ... No thieves spotted in Lakeland lately as the Flying Tigers have not stolen a base in their last six games and only one in their last eight games. As mentioned before, Lakeland has not homered and stolen a base in the same game since June 22 - a stretch of ten games.

WITHER THE TRIPLE ... Lakeland collected nine triples in a nine game stretch from June 12-22, but has not had a triple in its last 10 games.

ANYONE SEE AND CROOKED NUMBERS? ... The Flying Tigers were limited to just one run in each of their three games against Ft. Myers. They had scored 24 runs in the three games against Sarasota prior to the Miracle series.

CLOSING ON 100 WINS … Andy Barkett is in his second season with Lakeland with an 98-111 record (67-70 in year one). In his rookie season as manager, he led Oneonta to a 44-32 record in the New York-Penn League in 2007.
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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.