DUNEDIN (29-30, 62-64) ... The Blue Jays are struggling themselves with five wins in their last 15 outings. Bradley McElroy is not struggling with nine hits in his last six games while Jesus Gonzalez is almost as strong with eight hits in those same seven games. Tyler Pastornicky has hit safely in each of his eight games since joining the club on Aug. 18. Moises Sierra is fifth in the FSL with a .289 average while pitcher Andrew Liebel ranks fourth with 118 strikeouts.
THE SERIES ... Lakeland has won eight of the 12 contests played in the series in 2009 including two of the last three and four of the last seven.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
- SAT., AUG. 29 - Trevor Feeney (2-5, 4.18 ERA, 3 SV) ... Has allowed 12 earned runs in last five appearances (7.36 ERA) but is 2-1 during that stint ... active team leader with three saves, but has not entered a game in a save opportunity in the month of August.
- SUN., AUG. 30 - L.J. Gagnier (9-10, 3.83 ERA) ... Returns from a weekend stint on the temporary inactive list ... took loss at Daytona on Aug. 25, working 5.0 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K ... has 123 strikeouts and just 36 walks in 134.0 innings ... the 123 strikeouts this season is second in the FSL (10 behind the leader, David Bromberg of Ft. Myers) ... fifth highest total for any Lakeland pitcher since 1978 ... is 11 strikeouts shy of the team record of 134 held jointly by Jordan Tata (2005) and Rich Lacko (1987).
FLYING HIGH ... Audy Ciriaco is 23x62 (.371) his last 15 games and 30x84 (.357) his last 20 games ... Jeramy Laster has homered in back-to-back gamess and is 11x32 (.344) his last nine games but has struck out 15 times ... Maiko Loyola is now 14x45 (.311) his last 12 games with three doubles and a triple ... Jordan Newton has eight multi-hit games since July 17 ... Hernan Perez is 13x45 (.289) since rejoining Lakeland on Aug. 11 ... Devin Thomas has hit safely in 14 of his last 18 games with a 17x64 (.266) effort with 15 RBI ... Joe Tucker is 11x37 (.297) his last 13 games with five RBI ... Josh Workman is 13x42 (.310) with five multi-hit games and six RBI his last 12 games ... Luis Grullon struggled early, but has allowed four hits in the last five games.
THE ARMS ... Nolan Cain has not allowed a run or a walk in his last five outings and 7.1 innings. Four of his seven earned runs allowed in 13 games this season came in one outing. Toss out that game and he has a 1.62 ERA ... Trevor Feeney has allowed 12 earned runs in last five appearances (7.36 ERA) but is 2-1 during that stint ... Charlie Furbush has 29 strikeouts and nine walks his last five games ... Drew Graham has not allowed a run in his last two appearances (4.0 IP) and has eight strikeouts in last three games (7.0 IP) ... Andrew Hess has allowed 13 earned runs last five starts for a 5.40 ERA ... Matt Hoffman has recorded just two strikeouts in last four appearances - all out the bullpen ... Ryan Ketchner has allowed 15 earned runs on 38 hits in last six starts and saw his ERA drop from 10.38 to 4.66. He has 24 strikeouts with just two walks ovr his last 24.1 IP over last four starts ... Chad Linder has given up two earned runs his last six games (7.0 innings) ... Lester Oliveros has given up just one earned run his last 13.2 innings over eight outings and has 18 K’s and three walks his last nine appearances ... Mark Sorenson tossed 7.0 innings against Daytona on Aug. 26 holding the Cubs to three hits and one unearned run ... Austin Wood has not been scored upon in two outings.
HOMESTAND TO FINISH ... Once they’re finished in Dunedin, Lakelkand will return home to face Daytona for three games before closing out the season with a three-game set with Dunedin.
ON A MOUND NOT SO LONG AGO ... Flying Tiger newcomer Austin Woods’ college career may be best remembered for his outing in the 2009 NCAA Division I regional tournament. Woods, pitching for Texas, came on in relief in that game and then tossed an amazing 13 scoreless inning as the Longhorns battled Boston College in a 25-inning contest that took 7:03 to play. Woods struck out 14 batters and gave up just two hits while walking four on an incredible 169 pitches.
IT’S ALL RELATIVE ... Another new pitcher for Lakeland is Richard Zumaya. Richard’s brother, Joel, is a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers who also pitched for Lakeland this season in April on a rehab assignment.
CROWDED MOUND ... Lakeland has had 29 different players make an appearance on the mound this season. Six of them made just one appearance and then moved on (or in the case of Adrian Casanova, moved back behind the plate). The Flying Tigers’ 52 wins this season are spread among 18 different pitchers with L.J. Gagnier leading all hurlers with nine wins, 134.0 innings pitched and 123 strikeouts.
LASTER MOVES UP ONE NOTCH ... With home runs in back-to-back games, Jeramy Laster moves into a tie with Garth McKinney (1997-98) for second place on the all-time Lakeland home run list with 35 home runs over the last two seasons. Unless Laster goes on a Roy Hobb-type pace, he fall shy of the team record of 41 clubbed by Leo Daigle over the 2000-02 seasons.
GAGNIER REMAINS IN FIFTH PLACE ... L.J. Gagnier has 123 strikeouts this season to rank fifth on Lakeland’s single-season strikeout list. He now trails Rich Monteleone (124 in 1983); Daune Below (126 in 2008); and Jose Lima (132 in 1992). The record of 134 is held jointly by Jordan Tata (2005) and Rich Lacko (1987).
QUICK GLANCE INSIDE THE NUMBERS ... Lakeland is 34-15 when scoring first; 10-23 in one-run games; and 2-4 in extra innings.
IT’S ALL RELATIVE - JAYS STYLE ... Dunedin’s Vincent Bongiovanni is a relative of Yankee great, Joe DiMaggio.
FIRST ROUNDER ... While Lakeland had its share of first round picks on recent roster, the Blue Jays boast Toronto’s first round pick of the 2007 draft (16th pick overall) in third baseman Kevin Ahrens.
OH, CANADA ... Blue Jay outfielder Adam Loewen hails from Vancouver, British Columbia and in 2002 became just the fourth Canadian ever selected in the first round in the first round of the Draft.
NO NOTE, JUST LIKE THE NAME ... One of the all-time great baseball names belongs to Dunedin pitcher, Boomer Potts.
A GLANCE AT THE TIGERS ORGANIZATION ... Detroit, 68-59, leads the American League Central Division by 5.0 games over Chicago and are 21 games over .500 at Comerica Park ... Toledo, 68-65, is in second place in the International League West Division and trails Louisville by 9.0 games despite going 8-3 their last 11 games ... Erie, 67-63, is 12.0 behind Akron in the Eastern League Southern Division ... West Michigan, 78-53, is in second place, 9.0 games behind Fort Wayne in the Midwest League Eastern Division but have clinched a play-off berth with their first-half performance ... Oneonta, 33-31, is 4.0 games behind Lowell in the New York-Penn’s Stedler Division and have lost six straight ... The GCL Tigers, 28-29, are 7.0 games back in the North Division.
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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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