THE FLYING TIGERS (5-5, tied for second place) ... Lakeland rallied late in Saturday's game but couldn't pull out the victory losing to Clearwater 5-4. The Flying Tigers continue to put up good numbers on the mound as the team is second in the FSL with a 2.72 ERA and is in a three-way tie for the league lead with 81 staff strikeouts. Control is evident in the fact that Lakeland has walked just 23 batters (third fewest in the FSL) and has had just one wild pitch. Conversely, the team's offensive struggles in the opening series with Tampa has the team batting average at .199 - lowest in the FSL. Lakeland is tied with Brevard County for second in the league with 12 stolen bases.
BREVARD COUNTY (4-6, 5th place) ... The Manatees are coming off a 10-1 loss to Dunedin on Saturday. Michael Fiers is expected to take the mound on Sunday. Fiers has struck out 11 and walked four while allowing just six hits with a 0.82, but has not been involved in a decision in his two starts. Brevard County is ninth in the FSL with a .228 team batting average and is the only team in the league not to have homered as of yet. The team is tied for second with Lakeland with 12 stolen bases but Manatee runners have been thrown out a league worst five times. Their staff ERA of 4.04 ranks ninth in the FSL.
HOT AND COLD MANATEES ... Brock Kjeldgaard had at least one hit in his first eight games and has now hit in nine of his 10 games played ... Sergio Miranda has hit safely in his last six games and is 8x21 (.381) during that stretch ... Anderson De La Rosa is in an 0x16 slump.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
SUNDAY - Luke Putkonen (0-1, 5.40) ... Worked 3.2 innings in first outing allowing six hits and three earned runs in loss at Tampa on opening night on 4/08 ... 4.2 innings in a no decision on 4/13 at Brevard County. Allowed just three hits but walked four ... third round pick out of North Carolina in 2007.
MONDAY - Mark Sorenson (1-0, 1.74) ... Struck out five in 5.0 IP in 2010 debut in win over Tampa on 4/9 ... Recorded seven K and two walks in second start on 4/14 against Brevard County, allowing three runs, two earned, on four hits.
TUESDAY - Brayan Villarreal (1-1, 2.89) ... Struck out eight in 4.0 IP loss vs. Tampa in 2010 debut ... Followed that with nine K in 5.1 IP in second outing against Clearwater on 4/15 retiring 13 straight before walking a batter. Allowed one hit and one earned run. His 17 strikeouts leads the FSL thru Saturday night's games.
THE SERIES ... Lakeland swept the Manatees in a three-game series on April 12-14 at Brevard County. Charlie Furbush struck out seven while holding the Manatees to four hits in 5.2 innings as the Flying Tigers took the opener 2-0. Ben Guez doubled in a pair of runs in the top of the eighth to lift Lakeland to a 3-2 in game two. Bryan Pounds snapped an 0x15 slump with five base hits while Lakeland pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts in an 8-3 win in game three to complete the series sweep.
THROWING HEAT ... Brayan Villarreal leads the FSL with 17 strikeouts while Charlie Furbush is tied for third with 14 K's ... Villarreal also ranks first with a 16.39 strikeouts per nine inning ratio. Furbush is fifth with 11.81 per nine innings ... Matt Hoffman ranks second among the league's relievers with a .053 opponents batting average.
NOW IN THE FIELD: FIELDS ... Lakeland added Daniel Fields from extended spring to take the roster spot vacated by Ben Guez's promotion to AAA Toledo. Fields was a sixth round pick last season out of the University of Detroit Jesuit High School. The son of former Tiger Bruce Fields, Dan was named the ninth best prospect, fastest baserunner and best athlete in the Tiger organization in 2009 by Baseball America. He hit .596 with 50 runs scored, 13 homers, 43 RBI and 30 stolen bases as a senior.
FLYING HIGH ... Bryan Pounds is hitting .647 (11x17) his last four games. His season mark of .344 is third best in the organization ... Rawley Bishop has had two hits in three of his last six games and is 7x16 (.438) during that span ... Kody Kaiser has had two base hits in three of his last five games has is 7x21 (.333) over that period ... Bill Nowlin is 5x15 (.333) his last four games ... Gustavo Nunez is 4x12 (.333) his last three games .... Lester Oliveros has picked up saves in each of his last three appearances and has not allowed a run in four outings this season. Ramon Garcia has not allowed a run and only four hits in his last four appearances and 7.2 innings pitched ... Matt Hoffman has allowed just one hit in 6.2 innings over his last three outings ... Anthony Shawler has also not been scored upon in his 5.2 innings over four appearances ... Tyler Stohr is another effective reliever with a 1-0 mark and a 0.00 ERA in 5.0 IP over three outings ... starter Mark Sorenson is 1-0 with a 1.74 ERA with 12 strikeouts and just two walks in 10.1 innings.
FLYING TIGERS UP ON THE FARM ... Scott Sizemore is hitting .300 in nine games for the big club ... Brennan Boesch is batting .333 with a team best 12 RBI for Toledo. Brent Dlugach leads the Mud Hens with a .395 average while Danny Worth and Will Rhymes are batting .364 and .344, respectively. Alfredo Figaro is 2-0 with a 2.61 ERA while Jay Sborz has four saves at the AAA level ... Not many highlights for Erie with a .162 team batting average and just one win ... Mike Gosse is batting .323 for West Michigan. Trevor Feeney is 1-0 with a 1.38 ERA and 10 Kís and one walk in 13.0 IP for the Whitecaps.
ORGANIZATIONAL RECORDS: Detroit (6-5, 2nd, dropped two straight) ... Toledo (3-4, 2nd, winners of three in row) ... Erie (1-8, last, beat Altoona, 6-5, last night for their first win) ... Lakeland (5-5, tied for 2nd, lost two straight) ... West Michigan (5-5, tied for 5th, winners of two straight).
INSIDE THE FSL ... Clearwater has the league's best record at 7-3 while Fort Myers is off to a 2-7 start ... Palm Beach's Jose Garcia leads the league with a .441 average while Dunedin's Travis d'Arnaud is second with a .425 mark ... Bradenton is hitting .309 as a team - tops in the FSL ... St. Lucie has hit a league best 10 homers in nine games while Brevard County is still looking for its first home run of the season ... the league is hitting .245 with a 3.62 ERA.
UPCOMING PROMOTIONS ... The Tuesday, April 20th game will be an Education Day with the first pitch scheduled for 10:30 a.m ... The ZOOperstars will entertain the crowd on Saturday, April 24 with the Walk for Wishes and Fireworks also taking place.\
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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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