THE FLYING TIGERS (25-25, 62-58) - With a 14-inning win last night in Clearwater, Lakeland has now won six of its last eight and 11 of its last 16 games. The surge has the team trailing first place Tampa by 7.5 games. The Flying Tigers are 62-58 on the season, the first time they have been four games over .500 since June 25 when the team was 38-34. The best the team has been is on May 28 when they were ten games over .500 at 29-19.
THE MANATEES (30-22, 57-64) ... Brevard County has found a new team in the second half. After finishing last in the North Division in the first half with a 27-42 record, the Manatees are now 30-22 in the second half and trail Tampa by 3.5 games and the second place Daytona Cubs by 1.5 games. But, as of late, the team may be having flashbacks as they have dropped five of their last eight contests, including a 7-5 loss against the Blue Jays last night in Viera.
PROBABLE STARTERS ...
Wed: Mark Sorensen (8-11, 4.50, 89 K, 23 BB, 122.0 IP)
Thu: Job Kibler (4-4, 3.44, 49 K, 18 BB, 65.1 IP)
Fri: Jacob Turner (4-2, 3.88, 32 K, 11 BB, 46.1 IP)
THE SERIES ... Lakeland enjoys a 9-6 advantage in the 15 previous meetings this season. The Flying Tigers won the first five contests this season, but Brevard County has won six of the last 10. Brock Kjeldgaard has hit four home runs for the Manatees in the series. Lakeland has batted .259 in the previous games with a 3.37 ERA while Brevard County has hit .245 with a 3.21 ERA.
LONG BALL LENNERTON ... First baseman John Lennerton hit an 0-1 pitch over the left field fence to lead off the 14th inning last night in Clearwater and lift Lakeland to a 3-2 extra-inning win. It was the second straight game the former 33rd round draft pick has gone deep and his second 14th-inning home run of the season. Lennerton also homered in the 14th inning against Tampa in a 6-5, 14-inning loss on June 27 - his only Joker Marchant Stadium homer in his six blasts this season. Lennerton enters this series with an eight-game hit streak in which he is 12x27 for a .444 average with three homers and nine runs batted in. He has now driven in at least one run in each of his last six games and has hits in 13 of last 14 games for a .431 clip.
ONE OLD, ONE NEW ... Lakeland’s latest moves on the transaction wire see Chris White coming back to Lakeland from Erie while pitcher Matt Little was promoted from West Michigan. White returns to the Flying Tigers after his second stint with the AA Seawolves. Little, the Tigers’ 31st pick in this year’s draft out of Kentucky, was 1-0 with two saves and a 4.71 ERA in 15 games with the Whitecaps. At Kentucky, the 5’10” Little was 2-2 with seven saves and a 4.93 ERA. He becomes the third 2010 draftee to play for Lakeland this season, joining sixth-round pick Bryan Holaday and #25 pick Shawn Teufel.
THAT DIDN’T TAKE LONG .... Matt Little had just been promoted to Lakeland and made his first appearance last night at Clearwater. Entering the 2-2 game in the 13th inning with a runner on second and one out, Little got the first batter he faced to ground out and then, with winning run now 90-feet away at third, struck out the next batter to end the Thresher threat. Jordan Lennerton opened the 14th with a home run, giving Little a win in his Lakeland debut.
SOARING SORENSEN ... Mark Sorensen is 3-0 with a 1.47 ERA and 18 strikeouts and just two walks in his last four starts.
KIBLER NAMED FSL PITCHER OF THE WEEK ... Congratulations to Jon Kibler on being named the Florida State League Pitcher of the Week for Aug. 9-15. Kibler was 1-0 in two games, tossing 14.0 scoreless innings while allowing 12 hits and striking out 11 and walking two. Kibler is the second straight Lakeland pitcher to earn the award joining Adam Wilk who was so honored last week.
FLYING TIGER ALUM EARNS EASTERN LEAGUE HONOR ... Kudos to former Flying Tiger Rawley Bishop who was named the Eastern League Player of the Week for Aug. 9-15. The Erie first baseman hit .565 for the week with 10 runs scored, 3 doubles, 3 homers and 13 runs batted in.
HOT TURNER ... Jacob Turner is 4-1 with a 1.83 ERA and 22 strikeouts and six walks in his last seven starts.
GUSTO AT THE PLATE ... All season long, Lakeland fans have marveled at his defensive ability at the shortstop position. Perhaps now, fans will now give Gustavo Nunez some love for his bat. In his last 17 games, Nunez is batting .338 (26x77) and has two games with three hits in the last three Lakeland contests. He has hits in 22 of his last 26 games and has 11 games in that span with two or more hits.
DID IT TO HIM, ONE MORE TIME ... Lakeland downed Clearwater, 9-2, in the first game of Monday’s doubleheader beating the Thresher’s Jesus Sanchez for the fifth time this season. He is 8-2 against the rest of the FSL.
NOTES FROM A 14-INNING AFFAIR ... Lakeland’s 14-inning win at Clearwater last night matched the longest game in terms of innings played for Lakeland this season as the club also went 14 frames on June 27 against Tampa. The game time of 4:16 was second only to the 4:27 it took to play the June 27 game. The Flying Tiger bullpen kept Clearwater scoreless in 7.2 innings pitched and allowed only four hits and struck out four. Only one Thresher batter drew a walk in the entire 14 innings. Meanwhile, Lakeland was issued 11 walks. Lakeland was 2x16 with runners in scoring position and left 18 on base.
LAKELAND ALUMS IN INDEPENDENT BALL ... Here’s a look at where some former Lakeland players are now playing in various independent baseball leagues. Pitcher Chad Linder (2009) is with the Sherveport-Bossier Captains in the American Association. Several former players are competing in the Atlantic League including: Juan Francia (2005-06) who is playing for the Camden Riversharks; Randy Leek (2000) who is pitching for the Long Island Ducks; Daryle Ward (1996) and Eric Munson (1999) who are playing with the Newark Bears; and Michael Hernandez (2007) who is an outfielder with the Somerset Patriots. In the Canadian-American League, Angel Flores (2010) is a catcher with the New Jersey Jackals, Vince Blue (2005) is an outfielder with the Sussex Skyhawks and Alex Trezza (2003-04) is a catcher with the Worcester Tornadoes. Santo DeLeon (2008-09) is a third baseman with the Chico Outlaws while Brian Rios (1999) is a player/coach with the Victoria Seals in the Golden Baseball League. Drew Graham (2009) and Justin Justice (2007-08) play for the Winnipeg Goldeneyes in the Northern League. Maiko Loyola (2009) is an outfielder with the Laredo Broncos of the United Baseball League. By the way, one of Loyola’s teammates of former major leagues Jose Canseco.
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