Saturday, July 31, 2010

Mission Notes vs. St. Lucie (July 31-Aug. 2)

THE FLYING TIGERS (14-19, 51-52) - Lakeland is coming off a four-game split with Bradenton. In the opener, Bradenton scored three late runs for a 3-1 win. Game two went to Lakeland as Bryan Holaday’s first career grand slam highlighted a six-run seventh as the Flying Tigers rallied from a 6-0 deficit for a 7-6 win. Game three was a wild one as Bradenton busted open a 7-5 game with 11 runs over the final two frames for a 18-5 win. On Friday, Lakeland plated three runs in the fifth and held on for a 4-3 win. The split with the Marauders gives Lakeland a 6-2 record in its last eight games. The Flying Tigers are fifth in the FSL with a .260 average and fourth with a 3.54 ERA.

THE METS (17-18, 50-53) ... St. Lucie will be looking to snap a ten-game losing streak. The Mets have been shutout three times during the streak and held to just one run in three other contests while being outscored 58-14 in the ten games. Despite the ten-game slide, St. Lucie is tied for second place in the South with a 17-18 record, two games behind Bradenton. The Mets are third in the FSL with a .262 average and second with 68 home runs. Pitching has been the main downfall of the Mets as the staff has the highest ERA (4.20) of any FSL team and has allowed the most runs (501) of any team.

PROBABLE STARTERS ...
Sat: Luke Putkonen (7-5, 3.48 ERA, 62 K, 35 BB, 106.0 IP)
Sun: Mark Sorensen (5-11, 4.85 ERA, 78 K, 21 BB, 104.0 IP)
Mon: Adam Wilk (7-4, 3.29 ERA, 81 K, 16 BB, 120.1 IP)
Tue: Jon Kibler (2-4. 3.91 ERA, 34 K, 15 BB, 46.0 IP)

THE SERIES ... The Flying Tigers took three of four from the Mets when the two clubs first met in St. Lucie back on May 20-23. In game one, Brent Wyatt doubled with two outs in the 11th to lift Lakeland to a 5-4 win in 11 innings. Lakeland won game two, 5-4, behind a four-RBI night by Kody Kaiser. In game three, St. Lucie prevailed 5-2 for its only win in the series while in game four, the Flying Tigers put up six runs in the third for a 10-4 win.

NO FREE PASSES ... Lakeland pitchers have issued the fewest walks of any team in the league while St. Lucie batters have walked the second fewest times of any Florida State League squad.

CLOSE ONES ... Lakeland has been involved in the most one-run games (39) of any Florida State League team and has a 18-21 mark in those games. St. Lucie has had 31 games decided by one-run and has a 19-12 mark in those contests.

WHITE STEPS UP ... Chris White, who began the 2010 campaign with the Flying Tigers, was promoted to Toledo on Thursday. White was batting .177 in Lakeland, earned a trip to Erie on July 21. With the Whitecaps, White hit .211 in 27 games. He now joins two other 2010 Lakeland alums, Charlie Furbush and Ben Guez, with the Mud Hens.

DOUGLAS MOVES ON UP ... Brandon Douglas, who was hitting .394 since June 23 for Lakeland, earned a trip north on Thursday to join the Erie ball club. For the season, Douglas was batting .331 at Lakeland.

HOT BATS ... Jordan Lennerton is batting 7x17 (.412) his last five games while Gustavo Nunez (.294) in his last four games.

ADAM’S IN CONTROL ... Adam Wilk leads the FSL in fewest walks allowed with just 1.20 free passes per nine innings. On the season, Wilk has walked just 18 batters over his league-leading 120.1 innings pitched. In addition, he has struck out 81 batters and ranks sixth in the FSL with a 3.29 ERA.

TAKIN’ A HOLADAY ... Bryan Holaday is 7x19 (.368) over his last five games and has hits in 14 of his 17 games played since signing with Detroit on June 7. On Wednesday, he hit his first career grand slam (and Lakeland’s first this season) to spark a six-run seventh in a 7-6 come-from-behind victory.

SPEED DEMONS ... Lakeland took off on the base paths on Friday, swiping six bases against Bradenton. Brent Wyatt led the way with three steals, while Pat McKenna, Matt Mansilla and Francisco Martinez each swiped one bag. The six steals were the most in a game for Lakeland since 2008.

FIELD OF SCREAMS ... Thursday night’s 18-5 loss to Bradenton was not a night to look back on fondly. The 18 runs scored by the Marauders were the most allowed by Lakeland since dropping a 20-2 loss to Sarasota on April 26, 2006. The 13-run loss was the largest margin of defeat since falling 13-0 to St. Lucie on June 23, 2007. The 19 hits by Bradenton was the most allowed by a Lakeland team since Sarasota collected 19 hits in 17-11 loss on July 24, 2008. The four errors committed by Lakeland were the most in one game since booting four plays in a 11-6 loss to Tampa on August 5, 2009. Finally, the eight walks issued were the most since walking 12 in a 9-3 loss to Clearwater on August 30, 2008.

METS’ FIRST ROUNDER ... St. Lucie hurler Bradley Holt was the Mets’ first round pick (33rd selection overall) in the 2008 draft out of high school.

DON’T WE KNOW YOU? ... St. Lucie pitcher Rhiner Cruz was originally signed by Detroit as a non-drafted free agent in 2003. He went on to play two seasons in the Gulf Coast League before sitting out one season and joining the Mets organization.

CARRITHERS, RHYMES OUT OF THE RUNNING ... Former Flying Tigers Alden Carrithers and Will Rhymes were in the running for the player with the best name in the minors in Minor League Baseball’s Minors Moniker Madness online poll, but both lost in the first round. Carrithers lost to Stolmy Pimental, who takes on C.J. Riefenhauser in the second round, while Rhymes fell to Diego Seastrunk, who now faces Mark Hamburger. Fans can vote for their favorite at www.minorleaguebaseball.com/madness.

ORGANIZATIONAL RECORDS
Detroit - 51-50, 3rd in AL Central Division
Toledo - 53-53, 4th in West Division
Erie - 43-63 - 6th in Western Division
Lakeland - 14-19, 5th in North Division
West Michigan - 11-21, 7th in Eastern Division
Connecticut - 21-18, 2nd in Stedler Division
Gulf Coast - 15-20, 5th in North Division
Dominican - 14-295th in San Pedro Division
Venezuelan - 20-41, 7th in VSL

Monday, July 26, 2010

Mission Notes vs. Bradenton (July 27-30)

THE FLYING TIGERS (12-17, 49-50) - Lakeland is coming off a four-game sweep of the Jupiter Hammerheads in which three of the four games were decided in Lakeland’s last at bat and the fourth was a 4-2 affair. The sweep has lifted the Flying Tigers out of last place and into fourth place, 1/2 game behind Dunedin. The four straight wins marked the first time this half that Lakeland has won back-to-back games. The Flying Tigers are third in the FSL with a .261 batting average and fourth with a 3.42 staff ERA.

THE MARAUDERS (16-13, 55-44) ... Bradenton, the newest team in the Florida State League, is an affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Marauders are coming off a four-game split with Dunedin and are 3-5 in their last eight games. Bradenton is the highest-scoring team in the league averaging 4.83 runs per game and is fourth in the FSL with a .260 team batting average and sixth with a 3.65 staff ERA.

PROBABLE STARTERS ...
Tue: Mark Sorensen (5-11, 5.07 ERA, 71 K, 21 BB, 97.2 IP)
Wed: Adam Wilk (7-4, 2.91 ERA, 78 K, 14 BB, 117.1 IP)
Thu: Jon Kibler (2-4, 3.32 ERA, 28 K, 13 BB, 40.2 IP)
Fri: Jacob Turner (1-1, 5.61 ERA, 18 K, 8 BB, 25.2 IP)

THE SERIES ... The two clubs split their first four meetings on June 1-4 with Lakeland taking the bookend games and Bradenton winning the two middle games. The Flying Tigers won game one, 8-3, as five Lakeland players each had four hits. In game two, Lakeland led 6-2, but the Marauders rallied back for a 8-7 victory. Bradenton’s Jeremy Farrell clubbed a two-out homer in the bottom of the ninth of game three for a 6-5 win while in game four, Adam Wilk, Corey Hamilton and Lester Oliveros and combined for a three-hit shutout as the Flying Tigers won 3-0.

FSL LEADERS ... Bradenton’s Noah Krol leads the Florida State League with 23 saves while Quincy Latimore has driven in 71 runs - more than any other player in the league. Robbie Grossman has drawn more walks that anyone else and ranks third in the league with 58 runs scored.

WE KNOW WHO LURKS BEHIND THE MASK ... Bradenton catchers James Skelton and Jordan Newton each donned the “tools of ignorance” for Lakeland. Skelton, batting .254 for the Marauders, played in Lakeland in 2005 and 2008 while Newton, hitting .327 in 14 games, played for the Flying Tigers in 2009.

SEASON SERIES SWEEP ... The four-game sweep of Jupiter over the weekend gives Lakeland its first season series sweep of any team in at least the last 16 seasons.

TRIO EARNS TRIP TO ERIE ... Detroit promoted pitcher Ramon Garcia and infielders Billy Nowlin and Bryan Pounds to Erie on Monday and added outfielder Matt Mansilla and infielder Chris Sedon from Connecticut. Mansilla was the Tigers’ 22nd round pick in 2009 out of the College of Charleston and was hitting .130 with two homers in 17 games at Connecticut. Sedon was a 10th round selection in 2009 from the University of Pittsburgh where he was an All-American. He was hitting .333 in six games at Connecticut and also played 24 games at West Michigan this season.

SEVEN LEFT ... With the most recent promotions, only seven players that began the season on Lakeland’s 25-man roster remain with club - pitchers Erik Crichton, Luke Putkonen, Mark Sorensen and Adam Wilk, catcher John Murrian, shortstop Gustavo Nunez and outfielder Brent Wyatt.

CONSISTENCY ... Brandon Douglas has carried a hot bat for Lakeland since June 23, hitting .402 (39x97) that stretch. For the season, Douglas has 16 multi-hit games including 11 games with two hits and five with three hits.

CONSISTENCY II ... John Murrian is hitting .368 (25x68) in his last 19 games played with nine multi-hit games including seven games with two hits and two games with three hits.

SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE ... Lakeland’s pitching staff has issued the fewest walks in the Florida State League while Bradenton’s batters have drawn the most walks.

KEEP HIM IN THE LINE-UP ... In games Pat McKenna starts at second base, he is hitting .533 (8x15) with six runs scored. Coming off the bench, he is 0x3 and has scored one run as a pinch-runner.

ARM STRENGTH ... Jacob Turner has a 1.98 ERA with eight strikeouts and just three walks in his last three starts while Adam Wilk has a 1.38 ERA with 19 strikeouts and four walks in his last three starts. In addition, Jay Voss has not allowed a run or walked a batter in his last four relief appearances. The Lakeland bullpen has allowed just two runs in the last four games for a 1.38 ERA.

BATS AWAKENING ... Lakeland is hitting .258 as a team in its last nine games going 75x291 at the plate with 12 doubles, a triple and three home runs.

TWIN KILLINGS ... Lakeland has turned at least one double play in eight straight games including three in games against Fort Myers on July 20 and against Jupiter in game one of the July 24 doubleheader.

LAKELAND NORTH? ... Six former Lakeland players were in the starting line-up for the Detroit Tigers on Sunday in game one of the team’s doubleheader with Toronto. The alums included Jeff Larish (2006) at first, Ramon Santiago (2001) at second, Danny Worth (2007) at short, Scott Sizemore (2008) at third, Ryan Raburn (2002, 2004) in left and Brennan Boesch (2008) in right. In addition, Will Rhymes (2007) made a pinch-hit appearance and Robbie Weinhardt (2008, 2009) made a relief appearance.

ORGANIZATIONAL RECORDS
Detroit - 51-46, 3rd in AL Central Division
Toledo - 51-51, 4th in West Division
Erie - 41-61 - 6th in Western Division
Lakeland - 12-17, 5th in North Division
West Michigan - 9-20, 8th in Eastern Division
Connecticut - 19-16, 2nd in Stedler Division
Gulf Coast - 14-16, 4th in North Division
Dominican - 14-27, 5th in San Pedro Division
Venezuelan - 19-37, 7th in VSL

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Mission Notes vs. Jupiter (July 22-25)

THE FLYING TIGERS (8-17, 45-50) - Lakeland fell 13-4 on Thursday at Fort Myers as the Miracle had big innings of five and seven runs and out-hit the Flying Tigers, 16-5. The 13 runs and 9-run margin of defeat tied seasons highs for Lakeland. The bats may have flown away as the offense has scored 13 runs in the last seven games and the team is batting just .213 in the last four contests. Prior to last night’s disaster, the starting pitchers had a 1.08 ERA in the last five games while the bullpen had a 1.59 mark. The Flying Tigers are 4-7 in their last 11 games and 8-17 this half.

THE HAMMERHEADS (9-16, 31-62) ... Jupiter pulled out a 2-1 win in 17 innings over Dunedin on Wednesday, scoring the winning run on a balk. The Hammerheads are 9-16 in the second half, one game ahead of Charlotte for the worst record in the South Division. Jupiter’s Kevin Mattison is hitting just .213 but he is tied for the league lead with 33 stolen bases. Pitcher Brad Hand leads the FSL with two complete games, both of the them shutouts (which is also tops in the league). The Hammerheads are an affiliate of the Florida Marlins.

PROBABLE STARTERS ...
Thu: Adam Wilk (7-4, 2.94 ERA, 76 K, 12 BB, 110.1 IP)
Fri: Jon Kibler (2-4, 3.06 ERA, 24 K, 9 BB, 35.1 IP)
Sat: Jacob Turner (1-1, 5.32 ERA, 15 K, 7 BB, 22.0 IP)
Sun: Luke Putkonen (6-5, 3.48 ERA, 62 K, 32 BB, 101.0 IP)

THE SERIES ... Lakeland swept the four games played between these two clubs back on May 16-19 at Jupiter, outscoring the Hammerheads 34-14 in the series. Luke Putkonen tossed 7.2 shutout innings in game one as Lakeland blanked Jupiter 3-0. In game two, Alden Carrithers and Kody Kaiser each had four hits in a 19-hit attack leading the Flying Tigers to a 15-3 win. The hits and runs in that game are season-highs for Lakeland. Brent Wyatt was the hero in game three hitting a three-run homer in the fifth inning and then singling in the go-ahead run in the 10th in a 5-4 extra inning affair. The bats were alive and well again in game four as Kaiser and Bryan Pounds each had three hits in a 16-hit surge for a 11-7 win.

YOU LOOK FAMILIAR ... Lakeland pitcher Jay Voss pitched in 10 games for Jupiter last season going 0-1 with a 2.03 in 13.1 innings pitched. He came to the Detroit organization in the Nate Robertson trade with the Florida Marlins.

ELUSIVE BACK-TO-BACK W’S ... Lakeland has not won back-to-back games since ending the first half with two wins over Daytona on June 22 and 23.

CENTURY MARK ... With his seven innings pitched in his last start against Fort Myers, Luke Putkonen joined Adam Wilk as the only two Lakeland pitchers with over 100 innings pitched. Wilk is tied for the FSL lead with 110.1 innings of work while Putkonen has worked 101.0 stanzas. They are just two of the 11 starters in the league that have reached triple digits in innings pitched.

FURBUSH CLIMBS ANOTHER RUNG ... Former Flying Tiger Charlie Furbush has moved up another notch on the organization ladder getting a call to Toledo on Wednesday. Furbush, who was 4-5 with a 3.39 ERA and 109 strikeouts at Lakeland this season, was 1-0 with a 3.24 ERA and 37 K’s for the Whitecaps.

TWO PINCH HITTERS ... Lakeland used two pinch hitters in its game on Wednesday at Fort Myers, marking the first time this season two players have pinch hit in the same game. Chris White drove in a pair of runs in his pinch-hit appearance. For White, it was his third hit in four substitute batter appearances. Patrick McKenna, who pinch ran on Tuesday, lined out in his first time in a pinch-hit role.

LATEST ROSTER MOVES ... On Wednesday, Brayan Villarreal was promoted to Erie (no replacement announced at press time). Earlier in the week, Pat McKenna rejoined Lakeland from the Gulf Coast League along with pitcher Michael Torrealba who was with Connecticut. McKenna was hitting .326 in 15 games in the GCL and was 4x7 during an earlier three-game stint in Lakeland. Torrealba was 0-2 with two saves and a 1.83 ERA at Connecticut with 24 strikeouts in 19.2 innings pitched. The roster spots were vacated when Jose Ortega earned a promotion to Erie and Carmelo Jaime was sent to the GCL club. In addition, Ben Guez was sent back to Toledo where he spent some time earlier this year and Bryan Pounds was activated from the disabled list.

COMINGS AND GOINGS ... Toledo’s Max St. Pierre (2001, 2002) and Erie’s Shawn Roof (2007, 2008 2009) were activated off the disabled list. The St. Pierre activation forced a move that sent Jeff Kunkel (2007, 2008 2009) back to Erie. Josh Rainwater (2006, 2007) was promoted to Toledo and Miguel Mejia (2009, 2010) was sent from West Michigan to Connecticut. In addition, Tyler Conn (2010) has announced his retirement and Angel Flores (2010) was released.

LARISH NAMED IL PLAYER OF THE WEEK ... Former Lakeland Tiger Jeff Larish (2006) has been named the International League Player of the Week for the week ending July 18. Frazier, now playing at Toledo, was 8x15 for the week for a .571 average with three homers and six runs batted in.

FORMER FLYING TIGERS UP FOR MiLB AWARD ... Alden Carrithers (2010) and Will Rhymes (2007), two former Flying Tigers, are up for the “Wonderful Terrific Monds III Award” in the Minors Moniker Madness. The award, in its fourth year, is given to the Minor Leaguer with the best name, as voted on by the fans. Fans can go to www.minorleaguebaseball.com/madness to vote for their favorite name. MiLB.com choose 64 players with unique or funny names and the players are pitted against each other in a tournament format. Rhymes goes against Diego Seastrunk while Carrithers takes on Stolmy Pimentel.

ORGANIZATIONAL RECORDS
Detroit - 49-44, T-2nd in AL Central Division
Toledo - 48-50, 4th in West Division
Erie - 39-59 - 6th in Western Division
Lakeland - 8-17, 6th in North Division
West Michigan - 7-18, 8th in Eastern Division
Connecticut - 16-15, 2nd in Stedler Division
Gulf Coast - 13-14, T-4th in North Division
Dominican - 14-25, 5th in San Pedro Division
Venezuelan - 19-34, 7th in VSL

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Mission Notes vs. Fort Myers (July 18-21)

THE FLYING TIGERS (6-14, 44-47) - On Saturday, Lakeland jumped out to a three-run lead in the first inning and went on to defeat Palm Beach 6-2 in front of 2,725 fans. Brandon Douglas went 4x5 to lead an 11-hit attack while Gustavo Nunez, Daniel Fields and Francisco Martinez each had two hits. The Flying Tigers have struggled at the plate as of late, hitting just .219 in their last six games with 15 runs scored. Lakeland is now 6-7 in its last 13 games, but is still looking for its first back-to-back victories of the second half. Lakeland continues to rank fourth in the league with a .262 team batting average. The pitching staff ranks third with a 3.40 ERA and has walked the fewest batters (186 – just over two walks per game) of any team in the league.

THE MIRACLE (10-11, 38-53) ... Fort Myers has hit six home runs and scored 16 runs in its last two games. On Saturday, Nate Hanson hit his second three-run homer in a series against Daytona to power the Miracle to a seven-run fifth inning in a 9-4 win. The Miracle are 6-2 in their last eight games. Fort Myers has a .248 team batting average which is the third lowest average in the FSL while their staff of 4.00 is the second highest in the league.

PROBABLE STARTERS ...
Sun: Jon Kibler (2-3, 3.49 ERA, 21 K, 9 BB, 28.1 IP)
Mon: Jacob Turner (0-1, 6.88 ERA, 11 K, 5 BB, 17.0 IP)
Tue: Luke Putkonen (6-5, 3.64 ERA, 59 K, 29 BB, 94.0 IP)
Wed: Brayan Villarreal (7-4, 3.47 ERA, 90 K, 23 BB, 85.2 IP)

THE SERIES ... The two clubs split a four-game series played June 5-8 in Lakeland. The Flying Tigers took games 1 and 4 while the Miracle took the two middle games. In game one, Kody Kaiser went 3x5 with two doubles to extend his hit streak to 21 games and lead the Flying Tigers to an 8-3 win. Unfortunately, the next night Kaiser’s streak came to an end as Fort Myers won out by a 2-0 score. Liam Hendricks and Billy Bullock combined to shutout Lakeland on eight hits in that game. Game three was much of the same as Daniel Osterbrock pitched seven shutout innings in a 5-1 win. The tide turned in game four as Lakeland scored seven times in the third inning in a 9-1 victory. Kaiser, Daniel Fields and Francisco Martinez combined for eight hits and six RBI in game four.

FIRST ROUNDER ... Shooter Hunt doesn’t just have one of coolest names in the Florida State League, he has the distinction of being the Twins’ first round pick (31st overall) in the 2008 draft.

STILL HANGING IN THERE .. Although they haven’t played this half, Alden Carrithers and Kody Kaiser are still atop the league in batting average. Carrithers leads the FSL with a .359 mark while Kaiser is second with a .325 average. Rawley Bishop is also in the top ten with a .301 average - good for seventh place. Eventually, the trio will not have the minimum plate appearances (2.7 PA per game) to qualify for the rankings. Charlie Furbush is still among the leaders in ERA (3.39) and strikeouts (109).

THEY ARE HERE ... Pitchers Adam Wilk and Brayan Villarreal are with the team and they rank fourth and ninth, respectively, in the league in terms of earned run average. Wilk has a 2.94 ERA to go with his 7-4 record while Villarreal, also 7-4, has a 3.47 earned run average. Wilk continues to lead the Florida State League with 110.1 innings pitched and a 0.98 walks per nine innings. He is also second with 9.95 baserunners allowed per nine innings. Villarreal ranks fifth with a .232 opponents’ batting average.

SO CLOSE ... Francisco Martinez belted a home run in the fourth inning on Saturday for his second homer of the season. In the sixth inning it looked like he may have his second four-bagger of the game, but Jared Bogany had a different opinion leaping high to rob Martinez before crashing into the wall. Bogany held on the ball and Martinez was denied.

ACTIVE LAKELAND TEAM LEADERS ... Brandon Douglas has the highest average on the Flying Tigers with a .337 mark, but has only played in 29 of Lakeland’s 91 games. (Bryan Holaday is hitting .423, but has played in just seven games.) Jordan Lennerton is the only other player hitting .300 or better with a .304 average in his 14 games. Among those with more than 120 at bats, Francisco Martinez has the best average at .294 while John Murrian is next with a .281 average. Billy Nowlin leads with nine homers – eight on the road – and 42 runs batted in. Gustavo Nunez is tops with 16 stolen bases while Daniel Fields has a team-best 10 doubles and is tied with Nunez for the team lead with four triples. Adam Wilk and Brayan Villarreal are tied with seven wins to top the team while Wilk’s 2.94 ERA is best among the active starters for Lakeland. Villarreal has struck out 90 batters, best for any Lakeland pitcher (Charlie Furbush’s 109 strikeouts is the most for any Flying Tiger pitcher this year.)

NO STAGE FRIGHT ... With a 6-2 win over Palm Beach on Sunday in front of a home crowd of 2,725, Lakeland improves to 7-3 when playing to a crowd of 2,000 or more this season. Last season, the team was 3-1 in the same situation for a two year mark of 10-4 in front of crowds in excess of 2,000.

LOW SCORING AFFAIR? ... Fans expecting to see some scoring fireworks over the next four days may be disappointed as Lakeland is 4.19 runs per game – eighth in the league – and Fort Myers is scoring 3.63 runs per game – second fewest in the league.

UP ON THE FARM ... Here’s a look at how some of this year’s former Lakeland players are doing throughout the Detroit organization. At Erie, Rawley Bishop is hitting .264 with three homers and 16 RBI. Alden Carrithers (.192) and Kody Kaiser (.182) are still looking to recapture the magic that had them leading the FSL in hitting before they were promoted. Andy Bouchie is batting .204, but has seven homers. Charlie Furbush is 1-0 with a 2.30 ERA and 28 strikeouts while Anthony Shawler is 1-1 with a 3.61 ERA. Ramon Garcia. At Toledo, Ben Guez has a combined .269 mark with a pair of homers in his two stints in Triple-A.

ORGANIZATIONAL RECORDS
Detroit - 48-40, 2nd in AL Central Division
Toledo - 45-49, 4th in West Division
Erie - 38-56 - 6th in Western Division
Lakeland - 7-14, 6th in North Division
West Michigan - 7-15, 8th in Eastern Division
Connecticut - 15-14, 2nd in Stedler Division
Gulf Coast - 12-12, T-3rd in North Division
Dominican - 12-25, 5th in San Pedro Division
Venezuelan - 18-32, 7th in VSL

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Mission Notes vs. Palm Beach (July 14-17)

THE FLYING TIGERS (5-12, 42-45) - Lakeland had taken a 2-0 lead after solo homers by Bryan Holaday and Daniel Fields, but Dunedin’s Brian Van Kirk trumped their performance with a grand slam to highlight a five-run Blue Jay sixth as Lakeland fell 5-2 on Monday. Lakeland, which is hitting .259 as a team and scoring 4.18 runs per game this half, has alternated losses and wins their last six games. Overall, the Flying Tigers are fourth in the Florida State League with a .263 team batting average and third with a 3.36 staff ERA.

THE CARDINALS (10-7, 49-38) ... Palm Beach is making its first visit to Lakeland this season. Although they lost 5-3 against Bradenton on Monday, the Cardinals are 4-2 their last six games with a pair of shutouts amongst the six wins. Alex Castellanos is 7x16 (.438) his last four games and ranks second in the league with 24 doubles. Niko Vasquez enters the series with an eight-game hit streak in which he is 12x29 (.414) with two doubles, a triple, two homers and 12 runs batted in. Xavier Scruggs is second in the FSL with 12 homers, but has just one since June 21 and that came on June 28. Matthew Frevert is 6-1 with a 2.20 ERA - all in 27 relief appearances for Palm Beach. The Cardinals are batting .253 as a team while their pitching staff is right behind Lakeland with a 3.36 combined ERA.

PROBABLE STARTERS ...
Wed: Luke Putkonen (6-5, 3.64 ERA, 54 K, 28 BB, 89.0 IP)
Thu: Brayan Villarreal (7-3, 3.50 ERA, 84 K, 23 BB, 79.2 IP)
Fri: Adam Wilk (6-4, 3.02 ERA, 70 K, 12 BB, 104.1 IP)
Sat: Jon Kibler (2-3, 3.49 ERA, 21 K, 9 BB, 28.1 IP)

THE SERIES ... The Cardinals took three of four from Lakeland on May 27-30 in Palm Beach with David Carpenter picking up a save in the three wins. Brayan Villarreal got the lone win for the Flying Tigers in the second game of the series. Billy Nowlin homered in three straight games at Palm Beach on May 27-28-29.

ON THIS DATE ... On July 14, 2004, Lakeland downed Palm Beach 15-1 helped in large part to an amazing 11-run seventh inning. Five different players had two hits each in the game for Lakeland while Chris Maples and Scott Moore each drove in four runs and Alex Trezza plated three more. Joel Zumaya started and combined with three other pitchers to hold the Cards to three hits.

THE HOLADAY SEQUEL ... What does one do for an encore after going 5-for-5 in his professional debut? Well, for Bryan Holaday you add two more hits (and another double) in a 2-for-4 effort on Saturday at Dunedin. He has hits in each of his four games played since signing with Detroit and is hitting .600 (9x15) with three doubles and six runs scored. He hit his first professional home run on Monday at Dunedin.

ALMOST A FIVE SPOT (AGAIN) ... One night after Bryan Holaday got five hits in his professional debut, Billy Nowlin had a chance to match the feat with four hits (including a homer) in his first four at bats on Saturday at Dunedin. But, in his fifth at bat, Nowlin grounded out to short. Nowlin is the sixth player to have four of more hits in a game for the Flying Tigers this season.

LAY ONE DOWN ... Gustavo Nunez is tied for the league lead with nine sacrifice bunts this season.

A NOTE ON NOWLIN ... One of Billy Nowlin’s four hits on Saturday was a solo homer - his team leading ninth of the season. Eight of those dingers have come on the road. His lone home four-bagger came back on June 17 against Brevard County.

DANDY DAN ... Daniel Fields has gotten two hits in each of his last two games including two doubles and a home run. He is hitting 45 points better in Joker Marchant Stadium than in road games.

DIRT ON DOUGLAS ... Brandon Douglas is batting .484 (15x31) his last eight games with six multi-hit efforts. He is hitting .456 (26x57) with 10 runs scored, four doubles and three triples since June 23 - the highest batting average for any Florida State League player in that time span.

MARVELOUS MURRIAN ... Although he was held hitless in Monday’s game, John Murrian is batting .470 (16x34) in his last nine games dating back to July 3. He has had six multi-hit games in that span with eight runs scored, three doubles and a pair of homers for eight runs batted in.

MINI-STREAK ... Ben Guez brings a four-game hit streak into this series in which he is 6x15 (.400) with a double, homer, three runs scored and three runs batted in.

NEW KID IN TOWN ... What’s a week without a roster change? Tyler Conn has been removed from the roster with Jay Voss coming to Lakeland. Voss, an eighth round pick of Florida in 2007, was 1-3 at Erie with a 6.41 ERA in 27 games. He came to the Tigers from the Marlins organization in trade for pitcher Nate Robertson. Voss pitched in 10 games for Jupiter in the Florida State League in 2008 before being promoted to AA Jacksonville.

HE’S BACK ... Jordan Lennerton returns to the Lakeland roster after a brief stint on the temporary inactive list. Lennerton was hitting .297 with a pair of home runs and six RBI.

GETTING THE JOB DONE - PT. I ... Jared Gayhart has two saves and has not allowed a run in his last three outings. Since joining Lakeland on June 27, Gayhart is 0-1 with two saves and a 2.16 ERA. He has struck out eight batters and walked just one in 8.1 innings.

GETTING THE JOB DONE - PT. II ... Another new pitcher earning his stripes is Jose Ortega. Also having pitched in eight games, Ortega has a 1.13 ERA with 12 strikeouts and five walks in 16.0 innings of work.

ORGANIZATIONAL RECORDS
Detroit - 48-38, 2nd in AL Central Division
Toledo - 44-47, 3rd in West Division
Erie - 38-53 - 6th in Western Division
Lakeland - 5-12, 6th in North Division
West Michigan - 6-12, 8th in Eastern Division
Connecticut - 13-11, 2nd in Stedler Division
Gulf Coast - 11-8, T-3rd in North Division
Dominican - 12-23, 4th in San Pedro Division
Venezuelan - 17-28, 7th in VSL


Saturday, July 10, 2010

Mission Notes vs. Dunedin (July 10-12)

THE FLYING TIGERS (41-43, 4-10, 5.5 GB) - Newly signed Bryan Holaday marked his pro debut on Friday by going 5x5 to lead a 14-hit Lakeland attack as the Flying Tigers thrashed the Threshers 12-2. The win was Lakeland’s second in the last three games and marks the second time in six games they have reached double digits in runs scored. The 14 hits on Friday marks the sixth time in the second half the Flying Tigers had reached double digits in hits. Lakeland is fourth in the Florida State League with a .264 team batting average and third with a 3.32 staff ERA.

THE BLUE JAYS (47-38, 6-9, 4.0) ... Dunedin, the North Division first-half winner, lost a 7-6, 12-inning, contest at Brevard County on Friday to drop their third straight game. Since the All-Star break, the Blue Jays are 10-14. Dunedin has the second lowest team batting average (.244) in the league and ranks seventh with a 3.75 staff ERA.

PROBABLE STARTERS ... Sat: Jon Kibler (1-3, 4.15); Sun: Jacob Turner (0-1, 9.75): Fri: Luke Putkonen (6-5, 3.64).

THE SERIES ... After Lakeland blanked Dunedin 14-0 on July 4, the Blue Jays came back to sweep a doubleheader in Lakeland on July 6, wining 5-3 and 6-1. The Blue Jays took the first four meetings, but Lakeland came back to win the next three. Overall, Dunedin leads the series 6-3. Adam Wilk owns two of Lakeland’s wins while Chuck Huggins has two wins on the mound for Dunedin.

HOW ‘BOUT THAT ... In June, Bryan Holaday was drafted in the sixth round by Detroit out of Texas Christian University. On Wednesday he signed his contract with the Tigers. On Friday he made his professional debut. By the end of the game, the college All-American collected five hits in five at bats. Singling in his first four at bats, Holaday doubled off the left field wall in his fifth and final trip to the plate. He becomes the second Flying Tiger this season to have five hits in one game joining Bryan Pounds who did so on April 14 at Brevard County. The last Lakeland player to have five hits in one game prior to this season was Russ Cleveland who was 5x5 against Vero Beach on July 28, 2005. Holaday becomes seventh player in the Florida State League this season to have five hits and the 11th Lakeland player since 1995 to accomplish the feat. Earlier this summer, Holaday helped lead Texas Christian to an appearance in the College World Series and capped off his senior season by being named the recipient of the Johnny Bench Award, given annually to the top collegiate catcher.

MORE FIVE HIT TRIVIA ... Of the seven games in which a player in the Florida State League has had five hits this season, Lakeland has been involved in four of those games. Twice a Lakeland player has hit the magic mark (Bryan Pound and Bryan Holaday) while St. Lucie’s Daniel Murphy and Bradenton’s Brock Holt accomplished the feat against Lakeland.

DOUGLAS CARRIES HOT BAT ... Brandon Douglas is 26x56 (.464) in last 14 games with four doubles and three triples. He has also scored 10 runs and driven in six more. His .464 average is the highest for any minor league player for the time span of June 23-July 9. His surge has raised his batting average to .344 for the season.

BIG BAD JOHN ... Collecting multi-hits in five of his last six games, John Murrian is 13x24 (.542) with a six-game hit streak in which he has scored eight runs and driven in eight more.

HI TIME JAIME ... Throughout his trips to and from Lakeland, Carmelo Jaime has batted 9x21 (.429) with a five-game hit streak dating back to May 28.

MAGIC MARTINEZ ... Francisco Martinez has hits in 10 of his last 12 games and is 15x50 (.300) going back to June 26 with 10 runs scored.

SECOND HALF BATS ... The trio of Alden Carrithers, Kody Kaiser and Rawley Bishop, all promoted to Erie just prior to the end of the first half, combined for 37 percent of Lakeland’s offense in the first half and still rank in the top ten in the FSL in terms of batting average. With the trio, the Flying Tigers batted .264 for the first half. Without the trio, Lakeland actually has a higher batting average, albeit a slight better mark at .266 for the second half. The second half Flying Tigers are averaging 4.64 runs per game after scoring 4.27 runs per game in the first half.

FSL LEADERS ... Adam Wilk is sixth in the FSL with a 3.02 ERA and is tied for the league lead with Clearwater’s Jesus Sanchez with 104.1 innings pitched. Wilk has the lowest walks per nine innings ratio (1.04) of any pitcher in the FSL. Dunedin’s Michael McDade leads the league with 15 home runs (but has just one homer in his last 15 games) while teammate Matthew Daly is second in the league with 18 saves.

NEW FACES WHEN THEY RETURN ... Lakeland will return to Joker Marchant Stadium on Wednesday as the Palm Beach Cardinals make their first visit to Lakeland for a four-game series. After a four-game trip to Fort Myers on July 18-21, the Flying Tigers will entertain Jupiter in a four-game set on July 22-25 as the Hammerheads will make their first appearance in Lakeland this season.

TEN IN THE BIGS ... There are currently ten players on the Detroit Tiger roster that played in Lakeland: pitchers Jeremy Bonderman (2002); Eddie Bonine (2006), Ryan Perry (2008), Justin Verlander (2005) and Robbie Weinhardt (2008, 2009), who made his Detroit debut Wednesday; infielders Ramon Santiago (2001) and Danny Worth (2007), who hit his first big league homer on Wednesday; along with outfielders Brennan Boesch (2008), Don Kelly (2003) and Ryan Raburn (2003, 2004).

ORGANIZATIONAL RECORDS
Detroit - 47-37, 1st in AL Central Division (1/2 game lead)
Toledo - 44-45, 3rd in West Division
Erie - 36-52 - 6th in Western Division
Lakeland - 4-10, 6th in North Division
West Michigan - 4-11, 8th in Eastern Division
Connecticut - 12-8, 2nd in Stedler Division
Gulf Coast - 9-7, T-3rd in North Division
Dominican - 12-21, 4th in San Pedro Division
Venezuelan - 16-25, 7th in VSL

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Mission Notes vs. Clearwater (July 6-9)

THE FLYING TIGERS (39-42, 2-9, 6.5 GB) - Lakeland dropped its first doubleheader of the season, falling 5-3 and 6-1 to Dunedin on Tuesday to drop to 39-42 overall and 2-9 in the second half. The Flying Tigers collected 17 hits in the two games, but stranded 19 runners. The lone bright spot was the bat of Brandon Douglas who was a combined 6x8 in the twin-bill with a double and triple thrown in. Lakeland is batting .263, good for fourth in the FSL, and has a team ERA of 3.32 which is the third best in the league. The Flying Tigers played error-less ball in the two games and continue to lead the FSL (along with Clearwater) with a .977 fielding percentage

THE THRESHERS (43-40, 6-7, 3.5) ... Clearwater comes to Joker Marchant Stadium after dropping a three-game set at Daytona with the Threshers being outscored 19-4 in the three games. Jesus Sanchez, who should open the series, is second in the FSL with a 2.67 ERA to go with his 7-4 record while closer Justin De Fratus, is third in the league with 15 saves (three in the series vs. Lakeland). Anthony Gose tops the FSL with 28 stolen bases and 10 triples, and is second with 55 runs scored and third with 91 hits. Clearwater is tied with Lakeland for the FSL lead with a .977 fielding percentage.

PROBABLE STARTERS ... Wed: LAK-Luke Putkonen (6-5, 3.80)vs. CLR-Jesus Sanchez (7-4, 2.67); Thu: LAK-Brayan Villarreal (7-3, 3.25) vs. CLR-Jon Velasquez (2-6, 2.61); Fri: LAK-Adam Wilk (5-4, 3.11) vs. CLR-Heitor Correa (5-8, 5.27).

THE SERIES ... Lakeland will be looking to snap a five-game losing streak to the Threshers including a three-game sweep last weekend in Clearwater. Christopher Kissock, a college teammate of Lakeland’s Brent Wyatt, recorded two of the three wins last weekend while Justin De Fratus has recorded three saves in the series. Brayan Villarreal has Lakeland’s two wins back in April as Clearwater holds a 2-7 advantage this season.

MOTHER OF ALL STREAKS ... Clearwater’s Harold Garcia singled in his first at bat on July 4 against Daytona to extend his hit-streak to a Florida State League record 37 games, eclipsing the old mark of 36 set by Joe Altobelli of the Daytona Beach Islanders in 1951 (Altobelli went on to manage the Baltimore Orioles to the 1982 World Series championship). Unfortunately, Garcia’s streak stopped at 37 as he went hitless in his next game. In the 37 games, Garcia batted .354 with 12 doubles, two triples and three homers with 20 runs scored and 30 runs batted in.

DOUGLAS ON FIRE ... Brandon Douglas collected six hits in yesterday’s doubleheader and now is 22-for-44 in his last 11 games dating back to June 23 for a even .500 average. He has three doubles and three triples with eight runs scored and four driven in during the 11-game span. He has had multiple hits in each of his last four games and is 11x18 (.611). For the season Douglas has nine games with two or more hits including four with three hits.

THE LAKELAND SHUFFLE ... Detroit made a couple of moves involving the Flying Tigers in the last two days as Samir Rijo and Pat McKenna were sent to the Gulf Coast League team and Ben Guez and Carmelo Jaime returned after stints in Erie. Guez was hitting .357 for the Seawolves while Jaime played in just one game and was hitless in two at bats.

EXPLOSIVE FOURTH ... Lakeland jumped the fun on the postgame fireworks by scoring 14 runs on 17 hits (15 of them singles) on the Fourth of July in its 14-0 win over Dunedin. The Flying Tigers batted around in the second and fifth innings and just missed the feat again in the seventh sending seven men to the plate, scoring four times in each of those frames. The 14 runs was the second most scored this season by the Flying Tigers, topped only by a 15-3 win over Jupiter on May 17. The 17 hits was second to the 19 collected in the same Jupiter game. The 14-run margin of victory was the largest since beating Sarasota 17-3 on April 15, 2008. By the way, the largest margin of victory in recent times for Lakeland came in 21-0 thrashing of Kissimmee in 1996.

INDIVIDUAL FIREWORKS ... Jordan Lennerton, playing in just his eighth game for Lakeland, led the 17-hit attack on July 4th with four hits. He becomes just the fourth Flying Tiger to have four or more hits in a game this season joining Alden Carrithers, Kody Kaiser and Bryan Pounds. Pounds collected five hits on April 14 at Brevard County to become the first of six players in the FSL this season to have five hits in a game. Alexander Moreno and Patrick McKenna, both making their first starts for Lakeland, each had three hits while Brandon Douglas and John Murrian each had two hits as eight of the nine starters had at least one hit. Murrian drove in three runs with his second homer in as many games while Brent Wyatt also plated a trio of Flying Tigers. Douglas, Moreno and Lennerton each drove in a pair of runs for Lakeland.

LOST IN THE SHUFFLE ... With all the offense in the July 4th game, it may be easy to overlook the fine pitching performances by Adam Wilk and Tyler Conn. Wilk, the FSL leader in innings pitched, tossed seven shutout innings, holding the first-half champion Blue Jays to four hits with nine strikeouts. Conn worked the last two innings, retiring all six batters he faced on five ground outs and a pop fly.

FURBUSH PICKS UP FIRST WIN ... Charlie Furbush picked up his first win at Erie on Tuesday working 7.0 innings allowing two runs on four hits while striking out 11 against Bowie. Furbush got some offensive support from his ex-Lakeland teammates as Deik Scram hit a grand slam, Bryan Pounds hit two solo homers and Rawley Bishop added two hits.

SANZ & SANZ ... It may sound a law firm, but the battery for West Michigan on Monday was Sanz and Sanz. Former Flying Tiger Luis Alberto Sanz started behind the plate while his brother, Luis Angel Sanz, got the starting nod on the mound for the Whitecaps.

ORGANIZATIONAL RECORDS
Detroit - 43-36, 1st in AL Central Division
Toledo - 42-44, 3rd in West Division
Erie - 34-51 - 6th in Western Division
Lakeland - 2-9, 6th in North Division
West Michigan - 3-9, T-7th in Eastern Division
Connecticut - 11-8, 2nd in Stedler Division
Gulf Coast - 6-7, 4th in North Division
Dominican - 11-19, 4th in San Pedro Division
Venezuelan - 15-25, 7th in VSL

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Mission Notes vs. Dunedin (July 4-6)

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

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Mission Notes vs. Clearwater (July 1-3)

THE FLYING TIGERS (38-37, 1-4, 3.0 GB) - Lakeland will be looking to snap a four-game losing streak that has included three extra-inning defeats. After knocking out 35 hits in the three overtime affairs, Lakeland was shutout by Tampa in the last outing on three hits. The Flying Tigers rank fourth in the Florida State League with a .261 average and third with a 3.15 staff ERA.

THE THRESHERS (40-37, 3-4, 2.0) ... Clearwater finished tied with Tampa and Lakeland for third place in the first half with a 37-33 record, 4.0 games behind Dunedin. The Threshers are 3-5 in their last eight games and are coming off a 4-0 win over the Blue Jays on Wednesday. The Threshers rank third in the Florida State League with a .265 average and eighth with a 3.86 staff ERA. Jesus Sanchez is third in the FSL with a 2.88 ERA. Riding a 10-game hit streak, Anthony Gose is the league’s top base stealer with 20, but has swiped just one base in his last nine games. Gose is second with 52 runs scored, 87 hits and 131 total bases and has a league-best 10 triples. Cody Overbeck tops the league with a .553 slugging percentage, second with 31 extra base hits and is third in the FSL with 11 home runs.

THE SERIES ... Clearwater holds a 4-2 edge in the series this season and has taken four of the last five meetings. Brayan Villarreal picked up the win in both of Lakeland’s victories in the series - both times defeating Jesus Sanchez. Gustavo Nunez is hitting .348 (8x23) with seven run scored in the six games while Brent Wyatt is batting .318 (7x22) with three runs scored.

RAIN, RAIN ... After suffering just one rainout in the first half, the Flying Tigers have been washed out twice in the last three games. Lakeland’s game at Tampa on June 28 was rained out and was to be made up as part of doubleheader last night. Unfortunately, the rains came once again washing out the twin bill. One game is to be made up on Sunday, August 22 at 1 p.m., the second in Lakeland on August 23 at 5 p.m. Both dates will be doubleheaders.

JUNE SWOON ... The Flying Tigers are glad to see the month of June finally come to a close. After going 18-11 in May with a team batting average of .281 of and a staff ERA of 2.75, Lakeland fell to 9-16 in June. The Flying Tigers batted .250 this past month while the staff ERA ballooned to 3.79 during June. Billy Nowlin had the hot bat for Lakeland in June collecting a .352 average while 31 hits, including four homers and 16 runs batted in. Alden Carrithers, now at Erie, batted .345 for the month with 20 hits and 11 walks.

THE DOOR KEEPS REVOLVING ... Lakeland added one more transaction to a busy week as Bryan Pounds earned a promotion to AA Erie. Taking his spot on the roster is Alexander Moreno who comes up from the Gulf Coast League Tigers. Signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2008, Moreno played the two previous seasons in the Venezuelan Summer League. The Flying Tigers have added seven players to the roster in the last two weeks.

BRAVO BRANDON ... Brandon Douglas has 10 hits in his last 18 at bats for Lakeland for a .556 margin over the last five games.

HELLO CARMELO ... In his last four games, Carmelo Jaime has seven base hits in 18 at bats for a .389 average.

HOT START ... After being held hitless in two at bats his first game, Samir Rijo has four hits in his last nine at bats for a .364 mark.

FOR REAL VILLARREAL ... Brayan Villarreal has not allowed an earned run over 12.0 innings pitched in his last two starts with 12 strikeouts and just four walks. Villarreal, who ranks seventh in the FSL with a 3.10 ERA, has not lost a game since May 2 and has a 5-0 record with three no-decisions in that span. He is tied for second with a 1.11 WHIP and third with a .222 opponents batting average. Villarreal also ranks fifth with 10.65 baserunners allowed per nine innings.

ATTA BOY ADAM ... Leading the FSL in innings pitched with 91.1 and a 1.08 walks per nine innings mark, Adam Wilk ranks 10th in the FSL with a 3.35 ERA.

COLLEGE TEAMMATES ... Lakeland’s Brent Wyatt and Clearwater pitcher Chris Kissock were teammates at Lewis-Clark State College in 2007. The duo helped the Warriors capture the school’s 15th (of 16) NAIA National Championships.

FIRST ROUNDER ... Clearwater pitcher Phillippe Aumont, a native of Gatineau Quebec, was the Seattle Mariners first-round selection in 2007.

CATS AND DOGS? ... Clearwater outfielder Derrick Mitchell hails from Paw Paw, Michigan. In the last census in 2000, Paw Paw was home to 3,363 citizens.

SON OF A GUN ... Patrick Leyland, son of Detroit Tiger manager Jim Leyland, and Bo McClendon, son of former major leaguer Lloyd McClendon are both on the GCL Tigers roster. Should the younger Leyland earn a promotion to Lakeland, he would join his father on the Tigers’ alumni list as his dad played in Lakeland in 1964 and 1969. The elder Leyland came back to manage Lakeland to Florida State League championships in 1976 and 1977.

DIRKS NAMED TO EASTERN LEAGUE ALL-STAR TEAM ... Former Lakeland Flying Tiger Andy Dirks has been named to the Eastern League All-Star team along with Erie teammates Brooks Brown and Zach Zimons - both pitchers. Dirks is batting .279 on the season and is third in the Eastern League with 84 hits and fifth with 134 total bases. The outfielder hit .330 in 27 games for the Flying Tigers last season.

TIGER ALUM MAKES THE SHOW ... Former Lakeland Tiger Tarrik Brock (1994 & 1995) has been named interim first base coach for the Florida Marlins. Brock, who has been a roving instructor in the Marlins’ organization, batted .227 in 114 games over his two seasons at Lakeland.

FIREWORKS APLENTY ... Lakeland fans can get their fill of Independence Day fireworks shows this weekend. The Clearwater Threshers are staging fireworks after both the Friday and Saturday home games with Lakeland. Then, of course, Lakeland will hold it’s annual Fourth of July Celebration on Sunday with dual firework shows following the game.