THE FLYING TIGERS (31-31, 68-64) - Lakeland dropped a 6-1 decision at Daytona on Sunday, despite collecting 10 hits, and now has a 4-2 record in the last six games. The loss drops Lakeland to 31-31 in the second half, 8.5 games behind the Division-leading Tampa Yankees and 2.0 games behind third place Brevard County. Lakeland is 14-11 at home this half and 24-28 at Joker Marchant Stadium this season. Lakeland batters have walked the most times of any FSL team (462) while the pitching staff has walked the fewest batters (293) of any squad. The Flying Tigers are hitting .256 as a team and are third in the league with a 3.38 staff ERA.
THE BLUE JAYS (27-36, 68-65) ... Dunedin downed Tampa 4-2 on Sunday to improve to 27-36 this half, but is still mired in last place, 13.0 game behind Tampa and 1.5 games behind fifth place Clearwater. The Blue Jays are 12-17 on the road this half, but are 35-29 in away games this season. Dunedin leads the Florida State League with 247 doubles and 108 home runs – 28 more than the second place team. The Blue Jays are batting .243 as a team – second lowest average in the 12-team league – and have a 3.72 staff ERA.
THE SERIES ... The Blue Jays hold a 9-6 advantage in the series, but the Flying Tigers have won three of the last five. Pat McKenna has played in only four games in the series, but is hitting .538 with seven hits in fifteen at bats. Daniel Fields has hit three of Lakeland’s 11 home runs in the series to go with his .333 batting average in 12 games. Lakeland is hitting .252 in the series with a 3.06 ERA while Dunedin is batting .226 and has a 3.07 ERA.
SEASON ATTENDANCE MARK TO FALL ... With six home games left, Lakeland needs to average just over 134 fans per game to set the all-time franchise single season attendance record. With 60,449 passing thru the gates so far, Lakeland is 806 fans away from the record of 61,255 set in 1987.
3 UP, 9 PITCHES, 3 DOWN ... Jared Gayhart accomplished a rarity on Friday night at Daytona with a nine-pitch inning. Gayhart came on in relief to start the ninth and threw nine consecutive strikes to strike out the side.
SHARP STARTING PITCHING ... The Lakeland starting pitching staff has allowed just three earned runs in the last six games with two of those runs coming in their last game on Sunday. Since Aug. 25, the starters have a 0.90 ERA in the six games.
RARE ERRS ... Lakeland was charged with three errors in Sunday’s game at Daytona. The miscues snap a streak of seven errorless games for the Flying Tigers.
NEWCOMERS MAKE SPLASH ... Catcher Gabriel Purroy, playing in just his third game in a Flying Tiger uniform, went 3-for-4 with a double on Sunday in Lakeland’s 6-1 loss at Daytona. Luis Castillo, a veteran of ten games for Lakeland, was 2-for-4 in the same game.
HOME, SWEET HOME FOR LENNERTON ... Jordan Lennerton should be glad Lakeland is closing out the season with six games at home. The FSL Player of the Week for Aug. 16-22, is hitting .275 on the road this season. At Joker Marchant Stadium, the Flying Tiger’s first baseman is hitting over .100 points better at .379. However, seven of Lennerton’s nine homers have come away from the cavernous Joker Marchant Stadium.
MOSTLY MARTINEZ ... Francisco Martinez was 8-for-20 (.400) in five games prior to being held hitless in three at bats on Sunday. On Saturday, Martinez was 3-for-3 with a double and a run scored. The third baseman is hitting .333 against lefties and .270 against righthanded pitchers with a .310 home average and a .262 away mark.
MAINLY McKENNA ... Patrick McKenna is 5-for-20 with five runs scored and three doubles in his last five games. McKenna is another Flying Tiger looking forward to six home games as the second baseman has a .316 home batting average and is hitting just .170 on the road.
THE NEW GUYS ... With all of the Lakeland transactions in the second half of the season, only four Flying Tigers have amassed over 200 at bats with the club - Gustavo Nunez (498), Daniel Fields (349), and Francisco Martinez (310). Six of the current players have 80 or less at bats. Six Lakeland pitchers have yet to reach double figures in innings pitched while only two pitchers Luke Putkonen (144.0) and Mark Sorensen (135.1) have more than 50 innings pitched.
MARVELOUS MARK ... Mark Sorensen has won his last five starts with a 2.01 ERA and 20 strikeouts and six walks in 33.1 innings.
NEW CREW MEMBER ... What would a Mission Notes be without a transaction announcement? The latest player to join the Lakeland club (as of Sunday) is first baseman Juaner Aguasvivas, who joins the Flying Tigers from the GCL club where he was hitting .226 with 14 doubles and five home runs. He played three previous seasons in the Dominican Summer League after signing with Detroit as a free agent.
FSL ATTENDANCE ... Through Sunday’s games, 1,121,004 fans have attended a Florida State League game this season.
LIGHTS, CAMERA, MUD HENS ... Fifth Third Field, home of the AAA Toledo Mud Hens, was home to Hollywood over the weekend as the ballpark was used as the backdrop for filming for the movie “Home Run Showdown”. Among actors appearing at the park included Dean Cain, Annabeth Gish, Barry Bostwick and former Detroit players Dmitri Young and Gary Sheffield. The film centers around a little league team that competes for the right to shag baseballs in the upcoming Major League Baseball home run derby.
WHITECAP SURGE ... The A West Michigan squad has gone 24-8 since July 28 and is fighting for a spot in the Eastern League playoffs. With eight games to play, the Whitecaps’ magic number to make the playoffs has been reduced to five.
CONNECTICUT BOBBLEHEAD DAY .... The Connecticut Tigers, Detroit’s new short-season affiliate in the New York-Penn League, staged a “turn back the clock day” on Sunday. The first 500 fans in attendance received a Benedict Arnold bobblehead that had two faces (one on each side of the figure). Prior to the game, fans were treated to a performance by the Thames Base Ball Club with staged a baseball game the way it would have been played in 1861.
SIX AND COUNTING ... Tuesday’s game is the first of six remaining home games for Lakeland which will be home all this week wrapping up the year on Sunday with Breakfast with the Flying Tigers at 11 am.
No comments:
Post a Comment