THE FLYING TIGERS (22-17) - Lakeland is coming off a four-game sweep of the Jupiter Hammerheads. The sweep gives the Flying Tigers a 7-1 mark in the South Division and has thrust the team back into the first-half pennant race, just 3.5 games out of first place. The Flying Tigers continue to lead the FSL with a 2.70 team ERA (second lowest team ERA in all of minor league baseball) and have walked the fewest batters in the league. Lakeland is hitting .258 as a team and leads the Florida State League with a .979 fielding percentage. First baseman Rawley Bishop, second baseman Alden Carrithers and shortstop Gustavo Nunez all lead the league at the respective positions in fielding percentage.
ST LUCIE (19-20) ... The Mets split their four-game series at Daytona winning the first two and losing the last two. The two loses come on the heels of a six-game win streak by the Mets. Like Lakeland St. Lucie played in the morning on Wednesday. Eric Campbell leads the Mets with a .346 average (4th in the FSL) with a team-leading 12 doubles to go with his four homers and 19 RBI. Joshua Satin is second with a .336 average (8th in the FSL) and 10 doubles. His 23 RBI tops the team. St. Lucie is batting .268 as a team and has a 4.47 team ERA.
LAKELAND’S PROBABLE STARTERS ... Thu: Charlie Furbush (2-3, 3.05) ... Fri: Luke Putkonen (3-2, 2.53) ... Sat: Mark Sorensen (4-3, 3.59) ... Sun: Brayan Villarreal (4-3, 3.45)
NOTES FROM TUESDAY’S BIG WIN ... Lakeland beat Jupiter 15-2 on Tuesday. The 15 runs were the most scored by Lakeland this season while the 19 hits were the most for the Flying Tigers since May 11, 2007 when the club equaled that total in a 6-5, 17-inning win over Daytona. It was the most hits in a nine-inning game since July 28, 2005 when the club had 21 in a 13-7 win over Vero Beach in a game that featured six Lakeland home runs and a 5x5 night by Russ Cleveland. Alden Carrithers and Kody Kaiser each had four hits for Lakeland which marked season-highs for each player. It was the third time in Carrithers’ career that he has had four hits in one game. He accomplished the feat on Aug. 12, 2008 against the Blue Jays in a Gulf Coast League Game and on Aug. 6, 2009 against South Bend in a Midwest League game. For Kaiser, it was his first four-hit game. He has come close collecting three hits in a game 16 times in his career.
BATS COME ALIVE ... In the last three games vs. Jupiter, Lakeland hit .359 (47x131) with six doubles, three triples and two home runs. The team scored 31 runs in those three games and could have a bunch more as the Flying Tigers also stranded 39 runners during the trio of contests. Lakeland has reached double figures in hits in five of the last six games for a .315 clip.
CARRITHERS LEADS THE FSL ... Thanks to a move into the lead-off spot, Alden Carrithers is now leading the league with a .367 average - nine points better than the next batter. Since the move to the #1 slot seven games ago, Carrithers is batting 16x33 (.485) with nine runs scored and a .553 on-base percentage. He enters the St. Lucie series with an 11-game hit streak in which he is 22x45 (.489) with 14 runs scored and 10 walks. He has had two or more hits in three straight games and six of his last seven contests. His season on-base percentage of .461 also leads the league while his .367 batting average is best for any Detroit minor league player.
KOSY KODY ... Kody Kaiser has had two or more hits in four of his last five games and is 13x24 (.542) during that span with eight runs batted in. He now has a five-game hit streak and has had at least one hit in 13 of his last 14 games.
BISHOP FALLS TO THIRD ... An 0x5 night on Wednesday has dropped Rawley Bishop to .348 on the season and third place in the FSL batting race. Bishop was 8x19 (.421) prior to yesterday’s game and has hits in nine of his last 11 games.
NOWLIN KNOW HOW ... Billy Nowlin has also jumped on the multi-hit bandwagon with two or more hits in four of last six games and is 10x26 (.385) in that span.
THE MAGIC OF JULIO ... The Flying Tigers are a perfect 9-0 in games in which Julio Rodriguez starts behind the plate.
CLOSER BY COMMITTEE ... With save leader Lester Oliveros on the disabled list, the closer role has been by committee. Lakeland has had eight saves since April 29 with six different pitchers taking the honors including Cory Hamilton who picked up the save in Monday night’s 3-0 win over the Hammerheads.
FEW PINCH-HITTERS ... Lakeland has only pinch-hit six times this season and no player has pinch-hit more than once. Bryan Pounds and Brent Wyatt each singled in their respective appearances while Andy Bouchie (now at AA) walked in his one shot at the plate. Three other pinch-hitters have struck out.
BULLISH BULLPEN ... The Lakeland bullpen has allowed just three runs in the last 13 games for a 0.69 ERA and 29 strikeouts and six walks.
FURBUSH STAYS IN K RACE ... Charlie Furbush stuck out nine in his last outing with no walks. That effort came on the heels of a 13-K effort on May 10 and gives Furbush 58 strikeouts on the year, just one behind Clearwater’s Austin Hyatt who leads the FSL with 59.
HUFF AND A PUFF FROM HOFFMAN ... Reliever Matt Hoffman has picked up three saves since April 20 and has not walked a batter in his last 10 outings and has issued only two free bases all season.
STRONG START TO THE WEEK ... The Flying Tigers are 5-1 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and .500 on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, but a combined 4-7 on Saturdays and Sundays.
LATEST LAKELAND ALUMS TO MAKE BIG CLUB ... Former Flying Tigers Danny Worth and Casper Wells were called up the big club last week while Clete Thomas was placed on the disabled list and Scott Sizemore was sent back to Toledo.
22’s WILD .. Four of Detroit organization teams have each won 22 games. Detroit, Toledo and Erie all has 22 victories and stand at second place while the Flying Tigers are in third place with 22 wins. Only West Michigan, at 14-24, is out of the first half races.
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