THE FLYING TIGERS (1-4) ... Lakeland may have to revive the old Bat Signal from the 1960s TV show as the bats have been missing through the first four games of the season. Hitting just .129 against the Tampa Yankees in a four-game set to open the season, the Flying Tigers find themselves off to a 1-4 start.
BREVARD COUNTY (2-2) ... The Manatees got off to a great start shutting out Daytona in back-to-back games to start the season (including tossing a one-hitter in the season opener), but the Cubs came back to take a 7-4 win in 12 innings and then doubled up Brevard County 10-5 on Sunday to drop the Manatees to 2-2 on the season. Brock Kjeldgaard is off to a hot start, going 6-for-17 in the first four games for a .353 average. The Canadian born first baseman has hit safely in each of the first four games this season. Kentral Davis is also above .300 at .333 after picking up five singles in 15 at bats.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS:
MONDAY - Charlie Furbush (2009: 6-7, 3.96 at Lakeland) ... This will mark Furbush’s first start of the season, although he did start an exhibition game against Southeastern University on April 7. In that game Furbush retired the first 12 batters in order and struck out eight while allowing only one hit and walking none against the NAIA Fire. Last season in Lakeland, Furbush was 4-4 with a 4.64 ERA at the all-star break, but was just 2-3 in the second half while lowering his ERA to 3.32. He was 0-0 with a 2.45 ERA in three starts against Brevard County last season. Originally a fourth round by the Tigers out of LSU in 2007, Furbush sat out the 2008 season with a left elbow strain.
TUESDAY - Luke Putkonen (2009: 7-8, 3.13 ERA at West Michigan) ... Putkonen will be making his second start for Lakeland having taken the mound in the season opener. In that game, the Tigers’ third-round pick in 2007 out of UNC, gave up three runs in 3.2 innings on six hits, but struck out three and walked one in taking the loss.
WEDNESDAY - Mark Sorenson (2009: 9-4, 3.63 with West Michigan and Lakeland) ... The Tigers’ 32nd-round pick in the 2008 draft out of Michigan State, Sorenson owns Lakeland’s lone win this season working five shutout innings against Tampa on April 9 in Lakeland’s homer opener. Sorenson, the son of former major leaguer and Tiger broadcaster Lary Sorenson, struck out fibe, walked none and allowed five hits in his five frames. Last season, Sorenson made one start against the Manatees and was tagged for four runs on seven hits in just 2.1 innings, but Lakeland rallied back to take an 8-5 win with a six-run seventh inning.
THE SERIES ... The two clubs met 14 times last season with the Manatees holding a 8-6 edge. The May 16 game brings back grand memories for Lakeland fans as Audy Ciriaco hit a walk-off grand slam to lift Lakeland to a 10-6 win in front of 4,718 fans on Bright House Networks night. For Ciriaco it was the first of three grand slams he hit in 2009 as he also went yard with the bases full on May 26 at home against Jupiter and on July 7 on the road at Clearwater. The Manatees will be glad to see Ciriaco has moved up to AA as the shortstop had 10 RBI in the 2009 series.
LAKELAND’S LAST GAME ... The Flying Tigers were shutout 3-0 at home on Sunday in the final game of a four-game series with Tampa. It was the second straight game Lakeland has been shutout and third time in four games so far this season.
NO “O” EQUALS LOTS OF “O’S” ... Lakeland has now played in 35 innings over the four games and scored in just two of those innings, posting three runs in each of the first and third innings against Tampa on Friday night.
NO “E’s” ... On the plus side, Lakeland’s defense has been perfect so far with no errors in the four games so far in 2009.
ARM STRENGTH ... The Lakeland pitching staff has looked strong so far posting a 2.38 ERA to rank fifth in the Florida State League. The staff has recorded 29 strikeouts and walked just seven in 34 innings pitched. The pitching corps also has one of seven shutouts posted by FSL teams so far in 2009. Lakeland’s 2.38 ERA is the best among the four Detroit minor league clubs in 2009.
FIRST ROUNDER ... Brevard County’s Kentrail Davis was the Brewers’ number one pick in the 2009 draft out of the University of Tennessee.
SEMINOLE OR BREWER? ... Manatee shortstop Brent Brewer, who may seemed destined to play for Milwaukee with the matching last name, originally signed a national letter of intent to play football at Florida State. He choose baseball instead when he was drafted in the second round of the 2006 draft by Milwaukee.
DIRTBAGS UNITE! ... Lakeland’s Adam Wilk and Brevard County’s Matt Cline were teammates in 2007 at Cal State Long Beach, whose baseball team is known as the “Dirtbags”.
WHILE WE’RE ON NICKNAMES ... The Manatees’ Erik Miller played junior college baseball for Scottsdale Community College in Arizona. The team nickname? The Fighting Artichokes.
LOOKING FOR WORK? ... Bring your resume to the Flying Tigers’ game at Brevard County on Monday and you’ll receive $1 admission to the game. Local companies will be set up around the concourse to discuss employment opportunities. Tuesday is Kraft Singles Night with buy one admission, get one free with Kraft Singles package wrapper. Wednesday is Education Day with the game getting underway at 10:35 a.m.
FLYING TIGERS UP ON THE FARM ... Detroit is off to a 5-1 start with ex-Lakeland hurlers Jeremy Bonderman, Eddie Bonine, Rick Porcello and Joel Zumaya each picking up wins ... Toledo is 1-3 but former Flying Tiger Ryan Strieby is hitting .357 to lead the Mud Hens. Fellow Lakeland alums Brennan Boesch, Brent Dlugach, Max Leon and Danny Worth are all hitting over .300 for Toledo ... Erie is winless so far and is hitting just .126 as a team. Thad Weber pitched five solid innings giving up two runs (one earned) while striking out three in his debut on April 11 ... West Michigan is also 1-3 on the season. Ex-Lakelander Mike Gosse has five hits in 10 at bats so far to lead the Tigers’ organizaion with a .500 mark while Eric Roof, brother of former Flying Tiger Shawn Roof, is hitting .400 so far. Avisail Garcia, who made a very brief stop in Lakeland last season, is hitting .333. One of Garcia’s three games played was as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the ninth against Brevard County on May 7. With Michael Bertram on third, the Manatees’ John Axford uncorked a wild pitch to Garcia and Bertram scooted home for the winning run.
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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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