THE FLYING TIGERS (38-40, 1-7, 5.5 GB) - Lakeland will be looking to snap a seven-game losing streak as they open a three-game set with the first-half champion Dunedin Blue Jays. Last night, the Flying Tigers fell 4-3 at Clearwater despite a homer and double and three runs batted in by John Murrian. Brandon Douglas and Francisco Martinez each had three hits for Lakeland which out hit Clearwater 10-5 in the game. Two of Martinez’s hits were doubles while Douglas added a triple.
THE BLUE JAYS (40-37, 3-4, 2.0) ... Dunedin has been on roller coaster ride as of late going 5-5 in the last ten games alternating wins and losses. On Friday, they dropped a 3-2 decision to the Manatees in 11 innings while last night they were rained out vs. Brevard County. Run production has been down for the Blue Jays as they have not scored more than three runs in a game since June 26. Dunedin won the first half by 4.0 games with a 41-29 record, including a 23-12 road record. Henderson Alvarez, who last pitched on June 30, has struck out 12 batters in his last two games over 10.0 innings, but has allowed five earned runs. Chuck Huggins is fourth in the FSL with a 2.84 ERA while Matthew Daly is second in the league with 17 saves.
THE SERIES ... The Blue Jays took the first four meetings in the series this season, but Lakeland has won the last two games, 5-2 and 5-4, in Dunedin. Tonight is the first of 12 times Lakeland and the Blue Jays will face each other in the second half of the season.
CELEBRATING THE FOURTH? ... This is the 14th time in the last 15 seasons Lakeland has been at home on the Fourth of July, missing only the 2003 season. In the previous 12 games, Lakeland has emerged victorious in just three games, including a 4-0 win last year in front of 5,248 fans. Twice, Lakeland has been rained out on Independence Day - 2001 and 2007. Lakeland has averaged 3,878 fans in the last four July 4th games played at Joker Marchant Stadium.
FIRST ROUNDERS ... Dunedin’s Chad Jenkins was Toronto’s first-round pick (20th overall) in the 2009 draft out of Kennesaw State College while teammate Travis d’Arnaud was chosen in the first round (37th overall) in 2007 by the Philadelphia Phillies out of high school. d’Arnaud was traded to the Toronto organization as part of the Roy Hallady trade.
NOWLIN KNOWS THE ROAD ... Billy Nowlin leads the Flying Tigers with eight home runs - seven of which have come on the road including a solo shot on July 1 at Clearwater. Nowlin is batting .290 on the road with five doubles and 27 runs batted in. At home, his average dips to .231 with two doubles, a triple and one home run. Overall, Lakeland has 22 hit home runs on the road and 13 at home.
A KIBLER KO ... Jon Kibler has 11 strikeouts in his last 12.0 innings with nine hits and two earned runs for a 1-1 record.
DOUGLAS DOING IT ... Although he was held hitless in three at bats on July 2, Brandon Douglas is hitting .467 (14x30) in his last eight games to raise his batting average 137 points up to .299 on the season. In five of those games, Douglas had two or more hits including three hits on June 25 at Brevard County and last night at Clearwater.
FRANKLY FRANCISCO ... Third baseman Francisco Martinez is 10x27 (.370) in his last six games. Twice he has had three hits in a game while he added a pair of doubles in last night’s contest.
WHY PLAY NINE? ... Lakeland is 33-2 when leading after eight innings and 0-28 when trailing after eight.
CLOSE ONES ... Lakeland has been involved in 28 games this season that have been decided by one run. That’s over one-third of their games played and, unfortunately, they have a 9-19 record in those contests.
THE DOOR TAKES ANOTHER SPIN ... The revolving door that is also known as the Flying Tiger roster, keeps a’turning. The latest to walk thru are Carmelo Jaime and Pat McKenna. Jaime moves up the ladder to Erie while McKenna joins Lakeland from the GCL Tigers. McKenna, a 27th round draft pick in 2009 out of Bryant University, was hitting .222 in six games with the Gulf Coast team.
HITS IN BUNCHES ... Lakeland has had ten or more hits in four of its last six games while opponents have collected double digit hits in five of the last seven games against the Flying Tigers. For Lakeland, the hits come in bunches. After collecting 12 hits on June 26 at Brevard, Lakeland had 14 hits the next night at home against Tampa. Coming back after a rain out, the Flying Tigers managed just three hits on the 29th at home, but cranked it back up on July 1 with 10 hits in the series opener at Clearwater. But, like last time, the team followed that with a three-hit night in game two and again rebounded with 10 hits in the series finale last night.
PERRY BACK WITH THE BIG CLUB ... Detroit activated former Flying Tiger Ryan Perry (2008) off the disabled list on Saturday. Perry went on the DL on June 10 with right bicep tendinitis. While on a rehab assignment at Toledo, Perry appeared in three games allowing one unearned run on one hit with four strikeouts over 3.2 innings pitched. To make room for Perry, Detroit optioned Casey Fien to Toledo.
LAKELAND ALUM NAMED D’BACKS MANAGER ... Kirk Gibson, who played in 54 games for the 1978 Lakeland Tigers, has been named as interim manager for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
BLAST FROM THE PAST ... Nook Logan, an outfielder on the 2002 Lakeland Tigers has signed with the Grand Prairie Airhogs of the independent American Association. Logan played for two seasons in Detroit before being traded to the Washington Nationals.
ORGANIZATIONAL RECORDS
Detroit - 43-36, 1st in AL Central Division
Toledo - 41-42, 3rd in West Division
Erie - 32-50 - 6th in Western Division
Lakeland - 1-7, 6th in North Division
West Michigan - 3-6, 7th in Eastern Division
Connecticut - 9-7, 2nd in Stedler Division
Gulf Coast - 5-6, 5th in North Division
Dominican - 9-18, 5th in San Pedro Division
Venezuelan - 145-23, 7th in VSL
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