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.
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