THE FLYING TIGERS (23-36, 52-72) ... Lakeland closed out its road portion of 2009 by dropping a three-game set at Dunedin. In their last game, the Flying Tigers fell 1-0 to the Blue Jays despite holding Dunedin to just two hits. Andrew Hess allowed both hits in his 6.0 innings of work and allowed one unearned run. Newcomer Miguel Mejia worked the last two innings and held Dunedin hitless and scoreless. The loss, Lakeland’s fourth in a row and ninth in their last 10 games, left the Flying Tigers with a 5-20 record in August.

DAYTONA (27-35, 61-68) ... The Cubs are coming off a 4-2 loss to Clearwater on Sunday. Daytona is batting .251 as a team and is second in the FSL with 145 stolen bases, 50 of them by Tony Campana, who is second in the league with 50 stolen bases. Campana has stolen just three in his last 23 games. The Cubs pitching staff ranks fourth with a 3.49 ERA.

THE SERIES ... The Cubs hold an 8-6 advantage in the series this season and took two of the three games played Aug. 25-27 in Daytona. Lakeland took the middle game of the series, 7-1, while the Cubs won game one, 6-4, and game three, 8-5.

CUBS’ FIRST ROUNDER ... Daytona third baseman Josh Vitters was the Cubs’ first round pick in the 2007 Draft out of high school. He had committed to Arizona State University prior to the draft.

TWO NO-NO’S IN 13 DAYS ... Daytona posted two no-hitters in a span of 13 days in August. The first no-no came on August 15 as four pitchers combined to shutdown Dunedin in the first game of a doubleheader. That no-hitter was the Cubs’ first in 13 years. Thirteen days later, the club tossed another no-hitter as Oswaldo Martinez, who appeared in relief in the first no-hitter, and Michael Perconte combined to hold Clearwater hitless in the second game of a twin-bill. The Cubs have been on both sides of a no-hitter as Daytona was no-hit on April 28 by Evan Anundsen of Ft. Myers in nine-inning contest.

LAKELAND NO-HITTERS ... The Flying Tigers recorded a no-hitter of their own last season as Rick Porcello, Robbie Weinhardt and Cody Satterwhite combined to no-hit St. Lucie on July 19. That was the first no-hitter for Lakeland since Rob Haas tossed a nine-inning no-no on April 14, 1989. Lakeland was last no-hit on July 22, 2007 by Tampa in a seven-inning game. The club was no-hit in a nine-inning game twice in 1998.

GOOD RIDDANCE TO AUGUST ... The Flying Tigers should be thankful the dog days of August are officially over. The club managed just five wins in the month, experiencing losing streaks of six and five games as well as their current string of four straight losses. The club batted .250 for the month while pitching staff posted a 4.74 ERA.

BIRTHDAY BOYS ... Lakeland catcher Billy Alvino will celebrate his 22nd birthday on Wednesday in game two of this series. Fellow catcher Jordan Newton celebrated his 24th birthday back on Aug. 29.

WHAT YOU TALKING ABOUT, WILLIS? ... Two Flying Tiger players did have a productive August as both Josh Workman and Audy Ciriaco hit over .300 for the month. Workman led the team with a .324 mark while Ciriaco batted .317 with 10 runs batted in. Hernan Perez did his part since joining the club turning in a .288 mark at the plate in August.

MOVIN’ ON UP ... With over 20 transactions in August, fans may wish the Flying Tigers went back to the days of having the surnames on the back of their jerseys. The latest moves happened over the weekend as LHP pitcher Ryan Ketchner earned a ride to Toledo while RHP L.J. Gagnier and RHP Nolan Cain hopped on the next plane to Erie. Ketchner was 1-4 with a 4.66 ERA for Lakeland. Gagnier was 9-10 with a 3.83 ERA and was second in the FSL with 123 strikeouts while Cain, 0-1 with a 3.38, had not allowed a run in his last five outings.

JOURNEY ACROSS THE STREET ... Meanwhile, RHP Miguel Mejia, who was on the Lakeland roster on Aug. 22-24, was recalled from the Gulf Coast League, along with teammates Nolan Moody and Rayni Guichardo who will be making their first appearances with the Flying Tigers. Mejia had appeared in just one game in the GCL working 1.2 innings while Moody was 2-1 with a 2.76 ERA in 10 games (all in relief) with 18 strikeouts and five walks in 16.1 innings. Guichardo was 4-4 with a 1.73 ERA in 11 starts.

SIR CIRIACO ... Audy Ciriaco has hit safely in his last eight games, 17 of his last 18, and 20 of his last 22 games. The Flying Tiger shortstop who has played in 121 of Lakeland’s 124 games, is batting .348 (32x92) since Aug. 4. Ciriaco is tied with Jeramy Laster for the active leader on the team with 11 homers and is the overall leader with 59 runs batted in. He is currently one of just two Lakeland players in triple digits in hits (116) while leading the team in triples. He is also second in runs scored (55), doubles (17) and stolen bases (15).

THE LASTER SHALL BE FIRST ... Jeramy Laster enters this series with a nine-game hit streak in which he is 11x35 (.314). He hit homers in consecutive games on Aug. 27 and 28 to give him 35 homers in a Flying Tigers uniform. That ties him with Garth McKinney (1997-98) for the most homers in a two-year span by a Lakeland player. The all-time Lakeland record is 41 set by Leo Daigle over three seasons in 2000-02.

STREAKS SNAPPED ... With just four hits on Sunday, a couple of hitting streaks came to end for Lakeland players. Justin Henry was 8x25 (.320) before having a seven-game hit streak snapped. Maiko Loyola had a six-game steak snapped in which he was 7x21 (.333). He now has hits in 11 of his last 13 games.

FICKLED FENNEY ... Trevor Feeney has recorded 20 strikeouts in his last 10 appearances.

THE K-MAN ... Charlie Furbush has recorded four or more strikeouts in 13 of his outings this season including his last seven consecutive appearances with a season-high 10 punch-outs on July 28 against Palm Beach.

GRAHAM CRACKER ... Andrew Graham has not allowed a run in his last three outings and 5.0 innings pitched with seven strikeouts and just two walks. He has allowed just three hits in those three games.

LES IS MORE .... 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.

A MARKED MAN ... Mark Sorenson tossed three-hit ball over seven innings in his last start on Aug. 26 against Daytona. He allowed just one unearned run in his best start in a Lakeland uniform.

A GLANCE AT THE TIGERS ORGANIZATION ... Thru games of Sunday, Detroit, 69-60, leads the American League Central Division by 4.5 games over Chicago and are 21 games over .500 at Comerica Park ... Toledo, 68-67, is in second place in the International League West Division and trails Louisville by 10.5 games ... Erie, 68-64, is 12.0 behind Akron in the Eastern League Southern Division ... West Michigan, 79-54, 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, 33-33, is 5.5 games behind Lowell in the New York-Penn’s Stedler Division and have lost eight straight ... The GCL Tigers, 29-29, are 3.5 games back in the North Division.

UPCOMING LAKELAND PROMOTIONS (please check the Lakeland Flying Tigers website for any last minutes changes):

Tuesday, September 1 vs. Daytona Cubs at 7:00 p.m. (Gates open at 6:00 p.m.)
The Flying Tigers will be hosting a Job Fair from 6:00-8:30 pm in the concourse area of Joker Marchant Stadium as part of unemployment night. Entrance to the job fair and game are free with a resume. Tuesday is also Baseball Wingo night sponsored by Natalie’s Sports Bar & Grill. Fans can play baseball bingo during the game for a chance win prizes from the Flying Tigers and Natalie’s.

Wednesday, September 2 vs. Daytona Cubs at 7:00 p.m. (Gates open at 6:00 p.m.)
Wednesday is All-You-Can-Eat Night sponsored by Miller’s Ale House of Lakeland. Tickets are just $10 and includes admission to the game and all-you-can-eat sliders, hot dogs, sausages, peanuts, popcorn, pretzels and chips as well as food from the Ale House from 6:00-9:00 p.m. or while supplies last.

Thursday, September 3 vs. Daytona Cubs at 7:00 p.m. (Gates open at 5:30 p.m.)
The Flying Tigers will be hosting Freedom Walk 2009 at Marchant Stadium. The Flying Tigers will be honoring our local heroes who stand in the gap providing a safe America for all of us. Admission is free to all military, law enforcement, firefighter and EMT heroes and their families. Registration begins at 5:00 p.m. with the walk beginning at 6:00 p.m. followed by the game at 7:00 p.m. Thursday is also Flying Tigers USO Night. Fans can enjoy $1 beers and sodas while the Flying Tigers will be celebrating USO night and the team will play in their special camo jerseys.

Friday, September 4 vs. Dunedin Blue Jays at 7:00 p.m. (Gates open at 6:00 p.m.)
The first 500 paid adult fans will receive a Lakeland Flying Tigers “Ace” pin. Ace is the Flying Tigers team mascot. Kids eat free at all Friday home games as well. All kids 14 and under will receive a free hot dog, soda and bag of chips with paid admission.

Saturday, September 5 vs. Dunedin Blue Jays at 6:00 p.m. (Gates open at 5:00 p.m.)
Following the game will be the final spectacular fireworks show of the season (weather permitting) sponsored by The Ledger.

Sunday, September 6 vs. Dunedin Blue Jays at 1:00 p.m. (Gates open at 12:00 p.m.)
Sunday is Family Fun Day. All kids 14 and under will receive free admission to the game. Kids can also play catch on the field before the game and run the bases after the game (weather permitting). All fans will receive a voucher for a free sundae compliments of Dairy Queen.
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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.