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.
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