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.