THE FLYING TIGERS (34-29) - Going 2-6 in their last eight games, the Flying Tigers have fallen into third place and are 3.5 games out of first place with seven to play in the first half. Lakeland has this four-game set with Brevard County and then concludes the first half at home against Daytona. Tampa is in second place, 3.0 games back. Lakeland is batting .265 as a team and is tied with Bradenton for the FSL lead. The pitching staff also leads the FSL with a 2.95 team ERA and fewest walks issued.
THE MANATEES (23-39) ... Brevard County is in last place in the North Division, 14.0 games back. They have won just nine times in 29 road games this season, and were just swept in three games at Clearwater. The Manatees are hitting .252 as a team and have scored the third fewest runs in the league. The are second in the league, however, with 73 stolen bases. Their staff ERA of 4.21 ranks second to last in the league and they have walked the most batters of any team in the FSL.
THE SERIES ... Lakeland, which plays Brevard County in seven of their next 11 games, has won all five previous meetings with the Manatees this season sweeping a three-game set at Brevard County on May 12-14 and two games in Lakeland on May 18 and 20. The game on the 19th was rained out and is being made up as part of a doubleheader tonight (Thursday). That rain out stands as the only scrubbed game this season for Lakeland. Rawley Bishop batted .538 in four games in the series while Alden Carrithers hit .357, also in four games. Lakeland has outscored Brevard County 21-10 in the series so far.
FSL LEADERS ... Alden Carrithers is tied with Bradenton’s Brock Holt for the FSL lead (and 10th in the minor leagues) with identical .351 batting averages, although Carrithers, who is fourth with 73 hits, has achieved his average in nine more games than Holt has played. Carrithers continues to top the league with a .460 on base percentage and 41 walks. Kody Kaiser leads the FSL with 79 hits, is second with 120 total bases, and is fourth with a .335 average and a .508 slugging percentage. Rawley Bishop is fourth with 18 doubles. Luke Putkonen is seventh in the FSL with a 2.95 ERA to go with his 6-3 record. Bryan Villarreal, who is now on the disabled list, is the league’s only seven-game winner so far. Charlie Furbush leads the FSL (and all of baseball) with 109 strikeouts and a 12.74 strikeouts per nine innings pitched ratio. Adam Wilk is second with just 1.14 walks per nine innings while Furbush is fourth with a 1.52 mark.
MARTINEZ AT 12 ... Francisco Martinez singled in the seventh inning last night to extend his hit streak to 12 games, the second longest active streak in the Florida State League. He is batting .396 (19-for-48) during the streak, which is the third longest hitting streak by a Flying Tiger this season behind Kody Kaiser’s FSL-best 21 games and Alden Carrithers’ 13 games.
WHITHER THE OFFENSE? ... Lakeland is batting just .178 in its last four games and has scored just 13 runs in that stretch. In addition, the Flying Tigers have struck out 53 times in the last five games and stranded 44 in those five outings. Meanwhile, the pitching staff has been victimized for ten or more hits in five of the last seven games. Opponents have combined for a .278 average in the last seven games while Lakeland pitchers have posted a 5.53 ERA in the last five games including a 8.05 by the starters.
WORKING OVERTIME ... Lakeland played in just one extra-inning game in the first month and a half of the season. The Flying Tigers have now played in six overtime affairs since in the last month, including three of the last five games. Overall, Lakeland is 3-4 in extra-inning games.
FURBUSH CLIMBS K LADDER ... Charlie Furbush now has 109 strikeouts which is tied for 12th most for any Lakeland pitcher for an entire season. He needs three more to move into the top ten.
THREE AT FIVE ... Rawley Bishop, Kody Kaiser and Billy Nowlin all have five home runs on the season to tie for the team lead. Lakeland fans who only watch the team at Joker Marchant Stadium may think Nowlin’s place in the group is a typo as he has connected for all five of his round trippers on the road.
IN AND OUT ... Pitchers Rob Waite and Jon Kibler have traded places as Waite headed to AA Erie and Kibler joins Lakeland from the Seawolves. Waite will have some company on the flight north as catcher Luis Sanz has also earned a promotion to Erie. Taking Sanz’s place on the Flying Tiger roster is Gabriel Purroy who was on the Connecticut roster. Kibler, Detroit’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2008, was 4-5 this season at Erie with a 5.65 ERA. A 30th-round pick in 2007, Kibler has a 27-21 career record in four seasons. Purroy has been in extended spring after batting .267 with seven homers and 39 RBI last season in the Venezuelan Summer League. In addition, pitcher Brayan Villarreal has been placed on the disabled list. His roster spot has not been filled as of yet.
FSL AVERAGE ... As a group, the Florida State League teams combined are hitting .254 and have a 3.71 combined ERA.
K’s DON’T EQUAL W’s ... Of the six pitchers who lead all of minor league baseball in strikeouts, including Lakeland’s Charlie Furbush who leads all of baseball (majors included) with 109 K’s, only one has a winning record - Myrtle Beach’s Julio Teheran, who is 5-3. The other five pitchers are a combined 12-27.
FLYING HIGH ... Alden Carrithers is 12x33 (.364) since June 4 ... Daniel Fields is 8x22 (.363) since June 3 ... Francisco Martinez is on a 12-game hit streak in which he is batting .396 ... Billy Nowlin is hitting .356 since May 28 with hits in 14 of his last 16 games.
GROUNDED ... Rawley Bishop is 0x16 his last five games and 3x30 (.100) since June 4 ... Kody Kaiser is 2x21 (.095) his last five games ... Gustavo Nunez is 1x18 his last four games ... Julio Rodriguez is 1x13 his last five games ... Brent Wyatt is 6x46 (.130) since May 29, but is 3x13 (.231) his last three outings.
ORGANIZATIONAL RECORDS:
AAA Toledo – 37-29, 2nd in West Division
AA Erie – 27-37, 6th in Western Division
A+ Lakeland – 34-29, 3rd in North Division
A West Michigan – 24-41, 8th in Eastern Division
R VSL Tigers – 11-11, t-4th in VSL
R DSL Tigers – 5-10, 5th in DSL
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