THE FLYING TIGERS (25-18) - Lakeland is back in the thick of the FSL North Division race, now trailing first place Dunedin by 1.5 games and second place Clearwater by 1.0 game. The winner of the first half earns a bid to the league players in September. The Flying Tigers have won seven of their last eight games and 13 of their last 15 contests.
THE YANKEES (24-20) ... Tampa is 3.0 games back in the North Division race and have gone 7-2 their last nine games. The Yankees took four games from Palm Beach over the weekend, outscoring the Cardinals 14-3. They have done so without two of their top hitters as Walter Ibarra (.378) went on the disabled list on May 18 and Jack Rye (.321) was placed on the temporary inactive list on May 20.
LAKELAND’s PROBABLE STARTERS ... Mon @ TPA: Adam Wilk (2-2, 4.08) ... Tue @ LAK: Charlie Furbush (2-3, 3.00) ... Wed @ TPA: Luke Putkonen (4-2, 2.72).
THE BATMEN RETURN ... A big reason for the Flying Tigers surge has been the awakening of the Lakeland offense. With double digits in hits in eight of their last ten games, Lakeland is hitting .327 (126x385) since May 14 with 19 doubles, seven triples and three homers. In addition, the team has drawn 108 walks since the 14th. With all the hits, Lakeland is now third in the FSL with a .266 team batting average.
BRIGHT HOUSE EQUALS BIG CROWDS ... Last Saturday was Bright House Networks Night at Joker Marchant Stadium and 5,514 fans turned out. It was the largest home crowd in the last six years and is the seventh home crowd this season with 2,000 or more fans in attendance. Lakeland is now 13-10 since 2005 when playing in front of crowds of 2,000 or more.
LET’S MOVE SOUTH ... After taking three of their four games against St. Lucie, the Flying Tigers own a 10-2 record against teams from the South Division. Earlier, Lakeland swept Jupiter and took three of four from Charlotte.
ALRIGHT ALDEN ... Despite seeing his 13-game hit streak (in which he hit .481) snapped over the weekend, second baseman Alden Carrithers still leads the Florida State League with a .368 average and a .466 on base percentage. He is fourth in the league with 27 runs scored and second with 25 walks. He has now reached base in 23 consecutive games (the longest streak in the FSL this season). Since moving into the lead-off role 11 games ago, Carrithers is batting .449 with 22 hits, 13 runs scored and nine walks.
RIGHT ON RAWLEY ... Rawley Bishop is third in the FSL with a .355 batting average, second with 54 hits, third with a .539 slugging percentage and 82 total bases. With two hits yesterday, he now has hits in 13 of his last 15 games.
KRAZY KODY ... Kody Kaiser enters the Tampa series with a nine-game hit streak in which he is hitting .476 (20x42) with two doubles, two triples a homer and 15 RBI. The .476 mark is the second highest total for any minor league hitter since May 18 (three others hit .500) while his 15 RBI is the second most in the minors in that same time span.
IMPRESSIVE STREAK SNAPPED .... Brent Wyatt collected two or more hits in each of his six previous games prior to Sunday in which he was held hitless. During those six previous games, Wyatt was 15x27 for a .555 clip.
WELCOME FRANCISCO ... Newcomer Francisco Martinez has hits in each of his four games since joining the Flying Tigers and sports a .385 average.
KEEP HIM BACK THERE ... Lakeland is a perfect 12-0 in games in which Julio Rodriguez is the starting catcher. Now, Julio seems to have found his groove, hitting .400 over the last four games.
THE ARMS ... A strong point of the team throughout the season has been the pitching. The staff ERA of just 2.74 leads the league and Lakeland is the only staff in the FSL with an ERA under the 3.00 mark. The ERA is the fourth lowest of any club in Minor League Baseball (through Sunday’s games).
SORRY CHARLIE ... If you look up tough luck in the dictionary, you might find a photo of Lakeland’s Charlie Furbush. The second-year Flying Tiger has struck out seven or more in each of his eight starts and has a ERA of 3.00, but is 2-3 on the year. Twice, he was struck out 10 or more batters and is 0-1 in those two games. In his last five starts, he has struck out 47 batters, walked five, and given up just seven hits (!) and has a 1.64 ERA, yet only has one win to show for his efforts. He does lead the league with 68 strikeouts (second among all minor league pitchers) and second with 12.75 strikeouts per nine innings. His 1.00 WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) is third best in the league as is his .212 opponents batting average.
THE MEN IN RELIEF ... While the starting pitching has remained steady, the boys in the pen have stepped it up a notch. The relievers have a combined 1.38 ERA since May 6 with 43 strikeouts and just 10 walks in the last 51.1 innings pitched. Here’s a quick look at the men in relief: Tyler Conn has allowed just one earned with eight strikeouts in his last six appearances; Erik Crichton has allowed two earned runs with nine K’s in his last nine games; Cory Hamilton has not allowed a run in four outings with Lakeland and has issued just one walk; Matt Hoffman has not walked a batter in his last 14.1 innings over 12 appearances with 12 punch outs; Rob Waite has 14 strikeouts in 13.2 innings over seven appearances.
WELCOME BACK LESTER ... The Flying Tigers welcomed back Lester Oliveros was was 5-for-5 in save opportunities before heading to the disabled list with a biceps problem. To make room, Lakeland sent Jimmy Gulliver back to extended spring training.
CROSBY REPORT ... According to the Detroit News, Casey Crosby is working on a “bullpen progression” that saw him for eight minutes on Friday.
PEN MEN IMPORTANT ... Lakeland is 7-8 in games decided by one-run decision. That’s a total of 15 games or over one-third of the team’s games so far this season
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