THE FLYING TIGERS (33-25) - With their 9-1 win on Tuesday over Fort Myers coupled with Dunedin’s 4-3 loss to St. Lucie, the Flying Tigers are back to 1.5 games out of first place in the North Division. With 12 games to play, Lakeland has two games left with Tampa (30-27), six games against Daytona (28-31) and four with Brevard County (22-25). The Blue Jays have two games with Clearwater, six games with Tampa and three with Daytona. With their 13 hits on Tuesday, Lakeland now has the highest team batting average (.270 - one point better than Bradenton) in the league as well as the lowest ERA (2.84) in the FSL. Lakeland has also walked the fewest batter (121) of any team.
THE YANKEES (30-27) ... With all the attention on Dunedin, Lakeland may need to look in their rear view mirrors as the Yankees are lurking in third place, 2.5 games behind the Flying Tigers and 4.0 games behind Dunedin. With six games against Dunedin and two against Lakeland, the Yankees could make a surge to set up a repeat FSL title, or at least play spoiler in the first half. Tampa is seventh in the FSL with a .254 average and second behind Lakeland with a 3.25 staff ERA.
LAKELAND’s PROBABLE STARTERS ... Wed @ LAK: Adam Wilk (4-3, 3.60); Thu @ TPA: Charlie Furbush (4-3, 2.62).
THE SERIES ... These two clubs have locked horns 11 times with Lakeland holding a 6-5 edge. The Yankees shutout the Flying Tigers in three of their first four meetings while Lakeland swept their last three meetings on May 24-26.
LUCKY 7 ... Brayan Villarreal held Fort Myers to one run on three hits while striking out five and walking three in seven innings on Tuesday to pick up the win and become the Florida State League’s first seven-game winner. Villarreal is 7-3 with a 3.33 ERA.
KAISER STOPPED AT 21 ... Kody Kaiser saw hit 21-game hit streak come to end on June 6 as he was held hitless against Fort Myers. The 21 games is longest streak in FSL this season. Kaiser batted .467 during the streak that started on May 15.
KAISER TAKES OVER FSL LEAD ... With three hits in Tuesday’s game (including a double and home run), Kody Kaiser easily held on to his lead in the FSL batting race. The Flying Tiger outfielder now leads the league with a .358 mark - seven points higher than Bradenton’s Brock Holt. Kaiser leads the FSL with 77 hits, is second with six triples and third with 115 total bases as well as fourth with 39 RBI and a .535 slugging percentage.
OTHERS FLYING HIGH IN THE FSL STATS ... Alden Carrithers leads the FSL with a .452 on base percentage, second with 36 walks and is third with a .346 average. Rawley Bishop is tied for the league lead with 37 runs scored and is tied for second with 68 hits and 18 doubles as well as fifth with a .332 average.
ARMED AS WELL ... Luke Putkonen is third in the FSL with a 2.58 ERA. Charlie Furbush leads the league with 98 strikeouts, 12.84 strikeouts per nine innings pitched and a 0.92 WHIP (walks + hits per inning pitched) and is fourth in the league with a 2.62 ERA. His .198 opponents’ batting average is second best in the league. Brayan Villarreal leads the FSL with seven wins. Adam Wilk leads the FSL with 1.01 walks per nine innings pitched.
MARTINEZ AT EIGHT AND COUNTING ... Francisco Martinez enters the Tampa series with an eight-game hit streak in which he is hitting 14-for-32 (.438). He had three hits on Tuesday and has driven in six runs in his last six games. He has now a 10-game hit streak at home.
NOWLIN KNOW HOW ... Billy Nowlin has had hits in 11 of his last 12 games played and is 17-for-43 (.395) during that span. Nowlin has reached base in 21 consecutive games - the longest active streak in the Florida State League.
FLYING HIGH ... Daniel Fields has hits in four straight games and is 6-for-14 (429) in those games with five runs batted in. Julio Rodriguez is 5-for-15 (.333) his last four games with two doubles and three runs batted in.
ANOTHER THREE-FER ... Kody Kaiser collected three hits in Tuesday’s game, marking the fifth time in the last 13 games and eighth time this season in which he has had three or more hits.
FABULOUS FURBUSH ... Charlie Furbush, who is slated to take the mound on Thursday at Tampa, leads all of baseball (majors and minors) with 98 strikeouts. Last season, Furbush struck out 93 in 24 games. This season, he has punched out 98 in 68.2 innings. The 6’5” lefty needs just two more strikeouts to become the 31st Lakeland pitcher since 1978 to reach the century mark. Only 10 Lakeland pitchers have done so in the 2000’s with the last being L.J. Gagnier who had 123 in 23 games last season. The team record (since 1978) is 134, set by Rich Lacke in 1978 and matched by Jordan Tata in 2005.
SIGHTS ON FIRST ... With the first half pennant race approaching the finish line, Lakeland will be looking for its first first-half title since the 2005 team captured both halves of the season. The 2005 team went on the league championship where it fell to Palm Beach in five games. Should Lakeland take the first half, it would be their fifth first-half championship since the league went to split seasons in 1988.
FOUR FLYING TIGERS NAMED TO ALL-STAR TEAM ... Pitchers Charlie Furbush and Brayan Villarreal along with first baseman Rawley Bishop and outfielder Kody Kaiser have been named to the 2010 FSL Mid-Season All-Star Game and will represent Lakeland in the 49th Annual event on June 12 in Viera.
FIVE YANKEES NAMED ALL-STARS ... Catcher Mitch Albeita, outfielder Jack Rye, second baseman Corban Joseph and pitchers Hector Noesi and Adam Warren were selected to the Florida State League All-Star team. Noesi has since been promoted to AA Trenton.
WEDNESDAY: ALL-YOU-CAN-WIN NIGHT ... One of Lakeland’s fan favorite promotions is All-You-Can-Eat Wednesdays with a game ticket and various AYCE concessions for $10. The Flying Tigers like the event so well, the team is 6-2 on Wednesday nights. It is not as popular however as Tear-Em-Up Tuesdays in which Lakeland is an amazing 8-1 with six-straight wins.
No comments:
Post a Comment