Monday, September 5, 2011

Mission Notes: End of the Year Wrap

THE RECORD ... Lakeland finished the 2011 season with a 64-74 overall record - a 14-game turnaround from last season when the club completed the campaign with a 71-67 record. The 64 wins was the third most in the last five seasons. The Flying Tigers finished in fifth place (11.0 games back) in the first half with a 36-34 record and dropped to sixth place (also 11.0 games back) in the second half with a 28-40 record.

AT THE PLATE ... The Flying Tigers posted a .258 batting average, which ranked ninth in the league. The 587 runs was eighth most of the 12 Florida State League teams while the 57 stolen bases was the fewest in the league. The squad struck out 997 times this season which was the fifth most in the league.

ON THE MOUND ... The pitching staff recorded a 3.91 earned run average which was the fourth highest in the league. Only St. Lucie, with seven, had more complete games than Lakeland’s five.

DOWN THE STRETCH ... The Flying Tigers did not close out the season the way the players would like remember, going 6-13 over the last 19 games.

LEAGUE-LEADER ... Tony Plagman led the Florida State League with 97 runs batted in, becoming just the fourth Lakeland player to lead the league in RBI. The last to do so was Ryan Strieby who knocked in 94 runs in 2008. The first Lakeland hitter to lead the league was Terry Bartholome who had 84 runs batted in during 1963 while Brent Clevlen set a franchise record with a FSL-best 102 RBI in 2005. Plagman also played in more games (137 of Lakeland’s 138 games played) than any other player and posted 526 at bats which tied for third-most in the league. His 220 total bases ranked fourth most in the Florida State League.

15-GAME WINNER ... Jared Wesson picked up his 15th win of the season on the last day of the year to finish 15-10 on the year. The 15 wins is tied for the second most by a Lakeland pitcher in modern history joining Darren Harris who was 15-8 in 1988. Mike Chris holds the Lakeland Tiger record with an 18-5 record in 1977. The 15 victories was just one shy of the league lead set by Julio Rodriguez of Clearwater who finished 16-7.

THE BAT
... No other player in the Florida State League put a better cap on the season than Lakeland’s Jordan Lennerton. From Aug. 5 until the last game on Sept. 4, the first baseman/DH was the Florida State League’s hottest hitter, going 48-for-111 at the plate for a .432 average with 20 runs scored, 13 doubles, a triple, seven homers and 24 runs batted in.

THE IDEA ... The main goal of any hitter is to get on base, whether by a hit, walk, or get hit. No Flying Tiger did it better in 2011 than Brent Wyatt. Despite being promoted to Erie on July 31, Wyatt had enough plate appearances in his stay in Lakeland to finish third overall in the FSL with a .417 on base percentage.

I’M WALKING ... Jordan Lennerton drew 92 walks on the season, finishing second in the league.

OFFENSIVE LEADERS ... Tony Plagman led Lakeland with 137 games played, 526 at bats, 18 home runs and 97 runs batted in ... Jordan Lennerton led with 138 hits, 33 doubles and 92 walks ... Brent Wyatt hit .290 to lead those players with 280 or more at bats ... Gustavo Nunez hit a team-leading seven triples and tied Avisail Garcia for the team-lead with 14 stolen bases.

THE ARMS ... Jared Wesson led the Flying Tigers with 15 wins. Wesson also led the club with 147.2 innings pitched ... Kenny Faulk recorded 20 saves in 22 opportunities ... Wesson and Trevor Feeney tied for the team-lead with 96 strikeouts while Feeney, Wesson, Luke Putkonen, and Mark Sorensen each tossed one complete game.

THE ROSTER ... Twenty-one players took the field defensively for Lakeland while 25 others took the mound for the Flying Tigers. The 46 players is 19 fewer than the 65 players that played for Lakeland a year ago. It is also the second fewest players used since the 2005 team used 41 players.

THE CROWDS ... While Lakeland finished with the second lowest attendance in the league, the 62,324 fans that witnessed the 2011 season was topped only by last year’s record season attendance of 64,010.

POSITION LEADERS ... 1B-Jordan Lennerton (74 games); 2B-Corey Jones (121); 3B-Wade Gaynor (128); SS-Gustavo Nunez (61); OF-Avisail Garcia (129) and C-Julio Rodriguez (66).

ALL-STARS ... Lakeland sent four players to the Florida State League All-Star game in reliever Kenny Faulk, shortstop Gustavo Nunez, first baseman Tony Plagman and catcher Julio Rodriguez.

TWICE AS NICE ... Jordan Lennerton was the only Flying Tiger to hit a grand slam in 2011 and did it not once, but twice. Lennerton clubbed his first bases-loaded homer on May 10 at St. Lucie in a 10-2 win and duplicated the feat on July 2 at Clearwater in a 8-4 victory.

MULTI-HIT GAMES ... Jordan Lennerton had 36 games with two or more hits including 25 games with two hits, 10 with three hits and one four-hit game. Avisail Garcia was second with 33 multi-hit games including three games with four hits.

SOLID AT THE HOT CORNER ... Wade Gaynor led all Florida State League third baseman in fielding percentage (.953), games played (128), total chances (379), putouts (104), assists (257), and double plays (25). Lakeland finished the season with a .978 fielding percentage which was the second best mark in the Florida State League.

SEASON SERIES ... Lakeland posted winning series records against Daytona (11-6), Bradenton (6-2), Charlotte (5-3), Fort Myers (7-1) while splitting series with Dunedin (9-9) and St. Lucie (4-4). The Flying Tigers lost their season series with Brevard County (11-6), Clearwater (5-13); Tampa (7-13), Jupiter (2-6) and Palm Beach (3-5).

CLOSE ONES ... Thirty-six times in 2011, Lakeland found itself in a one-run ball game with the club winning 21 of those games. Last season, the Flying Tigers were 25-25 in games decided by one-run.

GOOD AND BAD DAYS ... Lakeland was 12-6 on Sundays, 13-7 on Mondays and 11-9 on Fridays, but 5-18 on Saturday and 5-12 on Wednesdays.

TOP CROWD ... The most fans attended the Fourth of July game this season as 5,349 witnessed the fireworks. Bright House Networks Night brought out 4,515 fans while the second Education Day crowd of 3,347 was third highest.

STAGE FRIGHT ... Lakeland was 0-8 when playing in front of crowds of 2,000 or more.

ROSTER SHUFFLIN’ ... The Flying Tigers made an unofficial 106 transactions in 2011. While no 2011 Flying Tiger made it to the show this season, catchers Jeff Kunkel and pitchers Trevor Feeney, Ryan Robowski, and Shawn Teufel all played at AAA Toledo. Kunkel traveled up and down the organizational roster while the three pitchers all made one appearance for the Mud Hens. Players who played both in Lakeland and AA Erie include William Bergolla, Trevor Feeney, Jared Gayhart, Matt Little, Gustavo Nunez, Luke Putkonen, Michael Rockett, Ryan Robowski, Shawn Roof, Mark Sorensen, Tyler Stohr, Jay Voss, and Brent Wyatt.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Mission Notes vs. Tampa (Sept. 1-4)

SERIES SCHEDULE ... Lakeland will close out the season with four dates and five games against Tampa. The series opens in Tampa on Sept. 1 and goes to Lakeland for a 5 p.m. doubleheader on Sept. 2. Game three in the series has the two clubs returning to Tampa for a single game before closing out the season at home on Sunday, Sept. 4 in a special 11 a.m. start at Joker Marchant Stadium.

THE FLYING TIGERS (62-71, 26-37 2nd Half, 6th, 9.5 GB) ... Lakeland took two of three games from Dunedin in the last series. The two wins came in a sweep of a doubleheader on Aug. 30. In the Flying Tigers last game, the club lost 7-2 to the Blue Jays.

THE YANKEES (71-62, 34-30 2nd Half, 3rd, 2.0 GB) ... Tampa is coming off a doubleheader split with Daytona on Wednesday losing game on 6-3 and then taking the nightcap 4-1. Abraham Almonte has scored 88 runs on the year and ranks third in the Florida State League in that category for the Yankees while his 139 hits on the season ranks fifth.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
  • Thu., Sept. 1 - Mark Sorenson (2-4, 5.22 ERA) gave up seven runs on 12 hits in just 2.2 innings in his last start on Aug. 27 at Clearwater. He has now allowed 30 hits over his last three starts for 19 runs (11 earned) and a 14.66 earned run average. Sorensen has stuck out 11 batters while walking three in those last four starts. He allowed five runs ­– one earned – on eight hits over 5.0 innings in one start against Tampa this season.
  • Fri., Sept. 2 (GM1) - Shawn Teufel (4-4, 3.77 ERA) did not factor in the decision in his last start on Aug. 28 at Clearwater despite holding the Threshers to three runs on four hits over 7.0 innings. He is 0-1 with a 4.50 earned run average in his last two starts since making a spot start for AAA Toledo where he worked 6.0 innings to get the win. This will be Teufel’s first start against Tampa, but he has made four relief appearances with a 1-0 record and a 1.80 ERA in 10.0 innings.
  • Fri., Sept. 2 (GM2) - TBA.
  • Sat., Sept. 3 - Brenny Paulino (0-1, 30.86 ERA) would like to forget his Lakeland debut as he was tagged for eight runs on just three hits. Wildness led to him walking four and hitting three others.
  • Sun., Sept. 4 - Jared Wesson (14-10, 4.38 ERA) tossed a two-hit shutout with six strikeouts in his last start in game one of a doubleheader against Dunedin. He has allowed just five hits and one unearned run in his last 13.0 innings over two starts (both wins) with 11 strikeouts and four walks. Wesson is 1-2 with a 3.97 ERA against Tampa this season. A win Sunday would make Wesson just the fifth Lakeland pitcher to register 15 victories in a single season.
THIS YEAR ... The Yankees have won 10 of the 15 meetings this season with wins in seven of the last eight, including a stretch of six consecutive wins snapped on Aug. 16. Tampa won 7-2 in a six-inning rain-shortened game in the two clubs last meeting. Jordan Lennerton has 22 hits and two homers, but just five runs batted in, against Tampa in 2011 while Tony Plagman has 18 hits and has also hit two homers, but has driven in 15 runs. Cory Jones has collected 16 hits, including seven doubles, in 12 of the 15 games.

STAYING ALIVE ... The Yankees are still mathematically in the hunt for the second half pennant but would almost have to sweep the five games from Lakeland and hope Clearwater and Dunedin split their four game series. Tampa would then take the second half due to a better winning percentage in the second half of the season. Other scenarios exists getting into potential tiebreakers as defined by the Florida State League playoff procedures.

CLEAR THE BASES ... The grand slam by Dunedin’s Sean Ochinko on Wednesday was just the second surrendered by Lakeland pitching season. Fort Myers’ Anderson Hildago hit the first bases-loaded homer in 2011 off the Flying Tigers on Aug. 8. Lakeland has hit two grand slams this season – both by Jordan Lennerton.

BERGOLLA HEADS NORTH (AGAIN) ... William Bergolla got another plane ride north on Thursday to join the Erie SeaWolves. He was promoted to the AA club previously on Aug. 20, but rejoined Lakeland on Aug. 23.

ALL BUT ONE ... Tony Plagman has sat out just one game for Lakeland this season and now leads the FSL with 132 games played. Jordan Lennerton is tied with Bradenton’s Robbie Grossman for second with 131 games played.

19 SHY ... Tampa’s Abraham Almonte is tied with Charlotte’s Hak-Ju Lee and Daytona’s Logan Watkins for the league-lead with 11 triples – 19 three-baggers shy of the Florida State League record of 30 triples hit by Pete Rose in 1961 for the then Tampa Tarpons.

WAY TO WRAP IT UP ... One Flying Tiger that is making some nice memories to the end of his season is Jordan Lennerton who has caught fire at the plate. In his last seven games, he is 12-for-28 for a .429 average with three doubles, a triple and two homers. Lennerton is the Florida State League’s hottest hitter since Aug. 5 boasting a .432 average in 25 games with 10 doubles, a triple, seven homers and 18 runs scored with 19 runs batted in. His .432 average in that stretch of games is 34 points higher than the next hottest hitter – Elevys Gonzalez who has batted .398 for Bradenton. Lennerton’s hot streak has resulted in him having 34 games with two or more hits this season – tops on the team. He has 24 games with two hits, nine with three hits and one with four hits.

TWO FOR ONE ... Lakeland banged out a season-high seven doubles in game two of a doubleheader on Tuesday against Dunedin. Lakeland has now hit at least one double in 23 of the last 31 games and two or more two-baggers in nine of those games.

GOING ALL THE WAY ... Jared Wesson and Luke Putkonen tossed back-to-back seven-inning complete games in a doubleheader on Aug. 30 against Dunedin. The two complete games are just the second and third of the season for Lakeland. Trevor Feeney recorded Lakeland’s first complete game of the season on Aug. 8, working six innings.

A-HA AVISAIL ... Avisail Garcia has 10 hits in his last 37 at bats over nine games for a .270 average with two doubles and three home runs.

LAKELAND IN THE FSL ... Jared Wesson is second with 14 wins ... Kenny Faulk is fourth with 20 saves ... Tony Plagman leads with 94 runs batted in (third most RBI for any Lakeland player since 1974), third with 223 total bases and also third with 53 extra base hits. Plagman has also been intentionally walked a league-high six times ... Jordan Lennerton is second with 90 walks (second most in Lakeland history) ... Wade Gaynor leads all third baseman in fielding percentage (.954), games played (123), total chances (370), putouts (100), assists (253), and double plays (25).

COLEMAN LET GO BY DETROIT ... According to the Detroit Free Press, Flying Tiger pitching coach Joe Coleman has been released by the Detroit Tigers. In addition, Jon Matlack, the Tigers long-time minor pitching coordinator, was also let go last weekend. Coleman, 64, had been Lakeland’s pitching coach since 2007. He had spent 46 years in professional baseball, including six seasons as a pitcher with Detroit. Matlack had spent 16 seasons as a coach in the Detroit organization, including the last 15 years in the role as minor league pitching coordinator.

UP THE FARM ... Here’s one last look up the farm: Detroit (1st place, 5.5 game lead); Toledo (last place, 21.0 games back); Erie (5th place, 13.0 games back); West Michigan (tied for 3rd place, 10.0 games back); Connecticut (1st place, 0.5 game lead); GCL Tigers (3rd place, 8.0 games back, end of season).


Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Mission Notes vs. Dunedin (Aug. 30-31)

SERIES SCHEDULE ... Tuesday’s doubleheader begins at 5 p.m. at Joker Marchant Stadium with Wednesday’s first pitch at 7 p.m., also at home.

ONE SERIES LEFT ... Following this series with Dunedin, Lakeland will close out the season with four dates and five games against Tampa. The series opens in Tampa on Sept. 1 and goes to Lakeland for a 5 p.m. doubleheader on Sept. 2. Game three in the series has the two clubs returning to Tampa for a single game before closing out the season at home on Sunday, Sept. 4 in a special 11 a.m. start at Joker Marchant Stadium.

THE FLYING TIGERS (60-70, 24-36 2nd Half, 6th, 10.5 GB) ... Lakeland was swept in four games by Clearwater and has now lost five in a row, seven of the last eight and nine of the last 11 games. The Flying Tigers were outscored 35-17 in the four games and was outhit 50-31. Almost half of the 50 hits came in game two of the series as Clearwater collected 23 hits, the most allowed by Lakeland since allowing 24 hits to St. Lucie on June 2, 2009. The Flying Tigers rank ninth in the league with a .258 team batting average and are also ninth with a 3.91 staff ERA.

THE BLUE JAYS (75-58, 36-27 2nd Half, 1st, 0.0 GB) ... Dunedin dropped a 9-6 decision to Daytona last night and have lost two of the last three games. Prior to the mini-slump, the team had won 10 of 12 games and now sits atop the North Division by 1.5 games over Clearwater. Brian Van Kirk and A.J. Jimenez are tied for ninth in the Florida State League with identical .301 batting averages while Nestor Molina is second with a 2.58 ERA to go with his 10-3 season record. Dunedin has league-highs with 113 homers and 279 double and providing the pop is Brad Glenn who has a league-leading 24 home runs and Sean Ochinko is tied for second with 34 doubles. Brad McElroy adds speed with an FSL-best 41 stolen bases while Darin Ruf is tops with 59 extra bases hits. The Blue Jays rank seventh in the league with a .262 team batting average and are also eighth with a 3.88 staff ERA.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
  • Tue., Aug. 30 (GM 1) - Jared Wesson (13-10, 4.61 ERA) held Dunedin to one unearned run on three hits over 6.0 innings in his last start on Aug. 25 with five strikeouts. He’ll be going for his 14th win of the season tonight and if he does, will become just the fourth Lakeland hurler to record 14 or more wins a season. He is slated to start the final game of the season in a chance to tie Darren Hursey (15-8 in 1988) and Gary Christensen (15-10 in 1974) for third on Lakeland’s all-time win list.
  • Tue., Aug. 30 (GM 2) - Luke Putkonen (1-6, 5.43 ERA) dropped his last start on Aug. 25 in game two of a doubleheader at Dunedin. He allowed five runs – three earned – on five hits (two of them home runs) in 5.0 innings with five strikeouts. This will be his third start since moving back into the rotation on Aug. 19. He struck out seven in 4.1 shutout innings in that first start back. Putkonen is 0-3 with a 5.63 ERA in three previous starts versus Dunedin in 2011.
  • Wed., Aug. 31 - Victor Larez (6-3, 4.12 ERA) did not factor into the decision in his last start on Aug. 26 at Clearwater despite allowing five runs on seven hits in 5.0 innings with six strikeouts. Larez has a 1-0 record and a 5.25 ERA since rejoining Lakeland on Aug. 2 and now has a 5-3 record and a 4.12 earned run average in 13 starts for the Flying Tigers. Larez is 2-0 with a 0.00 in 13.0 innings versus Dunedin this season.
THIS YEAR
... Dunedin holds a slim 8-7 advantage in the 15 games played so far this season. Wade Gaynor has 15 hits, including two homers, and 10 runs batted in against the Blue Jays this season while Tony Plagman has 13 hits and Jordan Lennerton 12 base knocks in the series. Plagman has homered twice against Dunedin while Lennerton has one round tripper. Dunedin’s A.J. Jimenez has 16 hits, including five doubles and two homers vs. Lakeland while Sean Ochinko and Brian Van Kirk have 13 and 12 hits, respectively versus the Flying Tigers.

ERA TAKES A HIKE ... Clearwater victimized Lakeland starting pitchers for 23 earned runs in the recent four-game series for a 12.18 ERA.

NEW KIDS ON THE MOUND ... Lakeland made a couple of roster changes on Sunday as Zach Samuels earned a promotion to AA Erie. Joining the club from the Gulf Coast League club were Eric Heckaman and Brenny Paulino. Heckaman was with the Flying Tigers for one appearance on Aug. 21, working two scoreless innings with two strikeouts and one hit allowed against Clearwater. He was 1-2 with one save in 20 relief appearance with the GCL club. Paulino is making his first appearance on the Lakeland roster in 2011. He has a 4-3 record with a 2.36 ERA in 11 appearances, including eight starts and two complete games with the GCL Tigers. One of those starts was a three-hit, nine-inning shutout on Aug. 5 against the GCL Phillies. His Flying Tiger debut wasn’t as smooth as the righthander has rocked for eight runs on just three hits with four walks and three hit batsmen on Monday in Clearwater.

CLOSING IN ... Tony Plagman leads the Florida State League with 93 runs batted in on the 2011 season – the most for a Flying Tiger player since Ryan Streiby knocked in 94 runs in 2008 and the third most RBI for a Lakeland player since 1974. The Lakeland franchise record for runs batted in belongs to Brent Clevlen who had 102 ribbies 2005.

ROUNDING FIRST ... Lakeland has hit 12 doubles in the last five games as well as one triple and three homers.

WASTED ARM ... Dunedin’s A.J. Jimenez has thrown out 43.5 percent of attempted base runners this season, but that arm may not be needed as Lakeland has stolen a league-low 54 bases. The Blue Jays, on the other hand, have swiped 114 bases.

JONES - LONE BRIGHT SPOT ... Corey Jones doubled, homered and scored two runs in the Flying Tigers last game at Clearwater accounted for 2/5 of Lakeland’s hits. The second baseman has hits in seven of his last eight games and is 10x27 for a .370 average.

PLAGMAN DOUBLES AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN ... Tony Plagman has doubled in each of the last three games and now has 31 doubles on the season. The 31 two-baggers ties him with Juan Encarnacion (1996) for fifth place on Lakeland’s all-time doubles list. Next up is Jaime Lopiccolo (1998) and Bubba Trammel (1995) who are tied for fourth with 32 doubles. The Lakeland record is 40 set by Gabe Kapler in 1997 followed by Jeff Larish (2006) and Cody Ross (2001) who are tied for second with 34 while Chris Maples is in third place with his 33 doubles in 2004.

FLYING HIGH
... Michael Morrison has not allowed a run and has given up just two hits in his last 7.0 innings over four appearances with 12 strikeouts and three walks ... Avisail Garcia is 6x23 (.261) with three homers and a double in his last six games.

GROUNDED ... Mark Sorensen has surrendered 22 hits over 6.2 innings in his last two starts including 12 hits in 2.2 innings in his last outing ... William Bergolla is 3x22 (.136) his last six games ... Avisail Garcia has struck out eight times in the last four games and has taken over the league lead with 129 Ks on the season (Daniel Fields is second in the FSL with 128 strikeouts but has whiffed just twice in his last six games) ... Wade Gaynor is hitless in his last 12 at bats.

LAKELAND IN THE FSL ... Jared Wesson is second with 13 wins ... Kenny Faulk is fourth with 20 saves ... Tony Plagman leads with 93 runs batted in (third most RBI for any Lakeland player since 1974), third with 221 total bases and also third with 52 extra base hits. Plagman has also been intentionally walked a league-high six times ... Jordan Lennerton is second with 89 walks (second most in Lakeland history) ... Wade Gaynor leads all third baseman in fielding percentage (.953), games played (121), total chances (365), putouts (99), assists (249), and double plays (25).

Friday, August 26, 2011

Mission Notes vs. Clearwater (Aug. 26-29)

SERIES SCHEDULE ... All four games of this series will be played at Bright House Networks Field in Clearwater. First pitch on Friday and Saturday is at 6:30 p.m. while Sunday’s game moves to 1:00 p.m. The series finale on Monday is at 7:00 p.m.

THE FLYING TIGERS (60-66, 24-32 2nd Half, 8.5 GB) ... Lakeland is coming off a split of a doubleheader with Dunedin taking game one, 2-1 and falling 5-3 in game two. The Flying Tigers have lost three of their last four and five of the last seven.

THE TRESHERS (69-58, 30-28 2nd Half, 3.5 GB) ... Clearwater blanked Brevard County 2-0 on Thursday and have won three of the last five and five of the last seven. Three Clearwater pitchers rank in the top ten in the Florida State League in Julio Rodriguez (16-7, 2.84), Jonathan Pettibone (9-10, 3.00) and Trevor May (10-7, 3.45). The 16 wins by Rodriguez is the most for a Florida State League pitcher since Andrew Carpenter won 17 games for Clearwater in 2007. May leads the league with 197 strikeouts. It’s therefore no surprise that the Threshers lead the FSL with a 3.52 staff ERA and 1037 strikeouts. Clearwater also leads the league with a .981 fielding percentage. Darin Ruf leads the FSL with 54 extra bases hits and 38 doubles and is second with 224 total bases, fourth with a .310 batting average and fifth with 75 runs batted in.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
  • Fri., Aug. 26 - Victor Larez (6-3, 3.83 ERA) picked up the win in his last start on Aug. 20 in Lakeland against Clearwater, holding the Threshers to two earned runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts over 7.0 innings. He is 2-3 with a 4.39 ERA on the road this season while posting a perfect 4-0 mark at home with a 3.30 earned run average. Larez is 5-3 with a 3.76 in 12 starts for Lakeland and 1-0 with a 4.11 ERA as a reliever.
  • Sat., Aug. 27 - Mark Sorensen (2-3, 3.89 ERA) took the loss in his last start on Aug. 21 in Lakeland against Clearwater giving up seven runs (three earned) on ten hits over 4.0 innings. He has allowed 12 runs, though just four earned, in his last two starts after tossing six shutout innings on Aug. 11 against Daytona. Sorensen is 1-0 with a 3.79 ERA in three road starts with a 1-3 record and a 4.00 earned run average at home.
  • Sun., Aug. 28 - Shawn Teufel (4-4, 3.76 ERA) was tagged with the loss on Aug. 23 in his last start on the road at Dunedin. He allowed three runs on nine hits in five innings. That start was his first since returning to Lakeland after a spot start at AAA Toledo where he got the win with six shutout innings. He is 2-4 with a 4.95 ERA in eight starts with a 2-0 mark and a 2.00 ERA in 12 relief appearances for Lakeland. Away from Joker Marchant Stadium, Teufel has a 3-2 record and a 4.62 ERA while he is 1-2 with a 4.00 earned run average at home.
  • Mon., Aug. 29 - Jared Wesson (13-10, 4.61 ERA) took the win in his last start on Aug. 25 at Dunedin allowing one unearned run on three hits with five strikeouts over 6.0 innings pitched. The win was his 13th on the season and with his next victory would become just the fourth Lakeland pitcher in franchise history to win 14 or more games in a single season. He is 7-4 on the road with a 4.79 ERA and has a 6-6 record at home with a 4.46 earned run average.
THIS YEAR ... The Threshers have won nine of the 14 games played between these two clubs this season. Wade Gaynor leads Lakeland with 15 hits in the series while Avisail Garcia and Jordan Lennerton have 14 and 13 hits, respectively. Jiwan James and Darin Ruf each have 19 hits in the season for Clearwater.

HANGING IN THERE ... Lakeland still has a mathematical chance, albeit slim, to make the Florida State League playoffs. However, with any combination of three Lakeland losses and three Dunedin wins, the Flying Tigers will be eliminated from the pennant race. Fort Myers and Jupiter have already been mathematically bounced from the race for the South Division pennant.

FSL HONORS LENNERTON ... Congratulations to Jordan Lennerton on being named the Florida State League Player of the Week for Aug. 15-21. The Flying Tiger first baseman/DH batted .550 on the week with four runs scored, three doubles, a home run and three runs batted in. Lennerton is the first Lakeland player to be so honored this year and the second Flying Tiger member to be recognized joining Drew Smyly who was the FSL Pitcher of the Week for June 6-12.

LUCKY 13 ... Jared Wesson picked up his 13th win of the season on Thursday holding Dunedin to one unearned run on three hits over 6.0 innings with six strikeouts. The 13 victories is the most for a Lakeland pitcher since Jordan Tata finished the 2005 season with a 13-2 record. The two hurlers are the only two Lakeland pitchers to have recorded 13 wins since 1997 when Brian Powell posted a 13-9 mark.

CLOSING IN ... Tony Plagman leads the Florida State League with 90 runs batted in on the 2011 season – the most for a Flying Tiger player since Ryan Streiby knocked in 94 runs in 2008 and the fourth most RBI for a Lakeland player since 1974. With 12 games left, Plagman would need to average one RBI per game to tie Brent Clevlen for the franchise record of 102 set in 2005. Next up for Plagman is Alejandro Freire’s third place total of 92 set in 1997.

STEADY GAYNOR ... Wade Gaynor has hits in each of his last five games and is 7-for-18 (.389) in those five outings.

SAME FOR JONES ... Corey Jones also has a five game hit streak going with seven hits in those games and is 7-for-17 (.412) in the five games. He also had hits in 10 of his last 12 games with 14 hits for a .318 mark.

FOUR HOME DATES - SIX GAMES ... Lakeland has just four home dates remaining in the 2011 season, but fans will be treated to six games over those four days. Following this four-game road trip at Clearwater, the Flying Tigers return home on Aug. 30 to host the Dunedin Blue Jays in a 5:00 p.m. doubleheader. Game two on Aug. 30 is the make-up game from a July 7 rain out. The two teams play a third game on Aug. 31. Lakeland and Tampa then play an alternating home and home four-game series with the Sept. 2 date in Lakeland another twin-bill. Game two on that date is make-up of the Aug. 18 rain out.

IT’S EZero ... Based on league statistics, the Clearwater official scorer could probably tuck his error stamp in his back pocket as Clearwater and Lakeland are two of the top fielding teams in the Florida State League. The two clubs feature four of the top fielding players in the FSL with the Flying Tigers’ Wade Gaynor (3B, .953) and the Threshers’ Cesar Hernandez (2B, .975), Tony Hanzawa (SS, .970) and Sebastian Valle (C, .997) all leading their respective positions.

LAKELAND IN THE FSL ... As mentioned, Tony Plagman leads with 90 runs batted in, third with 214 total bases and fourth with 49 extra base hits. Plagman has also been intentionally walked a league-high six times ... Jordan Lennerton is second with 89 walks (second most in Lakeland history) ... Jared Wesson is second with 13 wins ... Kenny Faulk is fourth with 20 saves ... Lakeland is tied for third with Dunedin with a .978 fielding percentage ... Wade Gaynor leads all third baseman in games played (118), total chances (362), putouts (99), assists (246), and double plays (25).

Monday, August 22, 2011

Mission Notes vs. Dunedin (Aug. 23-25)

SERIES SCHEDULE ... All three games in this road series are 7 pm starts and can be heard on the internet via the Blue Jays website.

THE FLYING TIGERS (59-64 all, 23-30 2nd half, 6th, 7.5 GB) ... Lakeland dropped two of three in their series against Clearwater including a 7-1 loss on Sunday. The Flying Tigers had reached double digits in hits in three of their last seven games for a .310 batting average and have hit 12 doubles and eight homers in the seven games. The team has also struck out 53 times while walking 16 times in those seven games.

THE BLUE JAYS (71-55, 32-24 2nd half, 1st, 0.0 GB) ... Dunedin is coming off a three-game sweep of Daytona and has won six of the last seven and nine of the last 11 games. The streak has allowed the Blue Jays to take a 1.5 game lead in the North Division over Tampa. Brad Glenn leads the Florida State League with 23 home runs and is fourth with a .516 slugging percentage while Brian Van Kirk is fifth with a .508 slugging mark. Brad McElroy is fifth with 29 stolen bases. Sean Ochinko has 31 doubles to rank third in the league

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
  • Tue., Aug. 23 - Jared Wesson (12-10, 4.83 ERA) has dropped his last two starts and has a 6.62 earned run average over his last three outings. Wesson is 6-6 with a 4.46 ERA at home and 6-4 with a 5.30 ERA on the road. Righthanded batters are hitting almost .100 points higher than lefties against Wesson posting a .313 average vs. a .215 mark from the other side of the plate. This will be his first time facing Dunedin in 2011.
  • Wed., Aug. 24 - Shawn Teufel (4-3, 3.63 ERA at Lakeland) made his last start at AAA Toledo, picking up the win with six innings of shutout ball against the Buffalo Bison, a team managed by his father, Tim Teufel. Shawn struck out seven and issued three free passes while holding the Bison to three hits. Teufel is 3-1 with a 3.34 ERA in 10 games on the road with a 1-2 record and a 4.00 ERA in nine home appearances. He has two relief outings against the Blue Jays with a 1.69 ERA.
  • Thu., Aug. 25 - Luke Putkonen (1-5, 5.43 ERA) took the mound on Aug. 18 in this first Lakeland start since July 4. Against Clearwater on the 18th, he worked 4.1 shutout innings with seven strikeouts while allowing four hits, but did not factor into the decision. Putkonen is 0-4 with a 5.77 ERA in six starts this season and 1-1 with a 4.82 earned run average in 10 relief appearances. He is 0-2 against Dunedin this season.
THIS SEASON
... The two clubs have faced each other 12 times this season with each club emerging victorious in six games. Wade Gaynor has 12 hits in the series with two homers and 10 runs batted in while Tony Plagman has 11 hits, two homers and nine RBI. Victor Larez has 13.0 shutout innings against the Blue Jays in one start and two relief appearances.

EVEN DOZEN FOR WESSON ... With 12 wins, Jared Wesson is trying to become the first Lakeland pitcher since Jordan Tata in 1997 (13-2) to record 13 wins in a single season. Prior to that, you’d have to go back to 1997 to find a Lakeland pitcher with 13 wins as Brian Powell turned in a 13-9 record that season. The Lakeland franchise record is held by Mike Chris who went 18-5 in 1977.

NOT THAT KIND ... Four Flying Tigers rank in the top five in strikeouts in the Florida State League. Unfortunately, they are all batters, not pitchers. Daniel Fields has struck out the most of any player in the FSL with 124 whiffs (one more than Bradenton’s Evan Chambers). Avisail Garcia is third with 120 strikeouts while Wade Gaynor is fourth at 119 and Jordan Lennerton ranks fifth with 115 Ks.

FAULK FAULT ... Kenny Faulk allowed a home run in his last outing on Aug. 19 against Clearwater. It was the first run allowed by the former closer since July 26. Faulk has struck out 14 batters and walked just one while surrendering seven hits over 10.1 innings in the eight games. He is 1-1 in his last two appearances.

FSL HONORS LENNERTON ... Congratulations to Jordan Lennerton on being named the Florida State League Player of the Week for Aug. 15-21. The Flying Tiger first baseman/DH batted .550 on the week with four runs scored, three doubles, a home run and three runs batted in. Lennerton is the first Lakeland player to be so honored this year and the second Flying Tiger to be recognized joining Drew Smyly who was the FSL Pitcher of the Week for June 6-12. This is the second time Lennerton has garnered FSL honors, having been named Player of the Week exactly one year ago for the Week of Aug. 16-22, 2010.

FLYING TIGER FLURRY ... In one of the biggest transaction days in recent Lakeland history, the Flying Tigers added five players while seeing two players get promoted to Erie and one sent to the Gulf Coast League. Rejoining Lakeland were Shawn Teufel from Toledo and Ryan Soares from West Michigan. Three 2011 draft picks were also added to the roster in Brandon Loy (5th round), Brandon Eckerle (32nd round), and Eric Heckaman (35th round). Loy was a finalist for College Shortstop of the Year while playing for the University of Texas while batting .342 with 19 stolen bases for the Longhorns. Eckerle won the Big Ten batting crown with a .379 average and set a single-season record for hits (96) while playing collegiately at Michigan State University. Heckaman had ten saves at Western Michigan University where he was a college teammate of former Flying Tiger Brian Stroud. Loy and Eckerle each had two singles in their Lakeland debuts on Saturday. (Heckaman was sent back to the GCL on Monday.)

RARE PINCH-HIT AT BAT ... Jeff Kunkel pinch-hit for Ryan Soares in the bottom of the ninth on Sunday, Aug. 21 against Clearwater. It was the first pinch-hit appearance by a Flying Tiger since June 29 and just the fifth substitute batter this season for Lakeland. Combined Lakeland’s four previous pinch-hit are a combined 1-for-5 with Brett Wyatt singling for Daniel Fields on April 28 at Clearwater for the only pinch-hit.

TOP TEN TWO-BAGGERS ... Tony Plagman is tied with eight other players for eighth spot on Lakeland’s top ten list for doubles in a single season. Plagman has 28 with Curtis Granderson (2003), Daryle Ward (1996) and Doug Strange (1986) are tied for seventh with 29 doubles. Wade Gaynor and Jordan Lennerton are tied with Brian Rios (1999) for tenth place with 27 doubles. The Lakeland record is 40 set by Gabe Kapler in 1997.

90 RIBBIES ... Tony Plagman is also in fourth place with 90 runs batted in trailing Alejandro Freire (92 in 1997) and Ryan Strieby (94 in 2008). The Lakeland record is 105 set by Brent Clevlen in 2005.

NO THIEVES IN THE HOUSE ... Three players in the Florida State League have more stolen bases individually than the Flying Tigers do as a team. Tyler Botnick of Charlotte leads the FSL with 41 while Kentrail Davis (32) of Brevard County and Pedro Zapata (31) of St. Lucie have more than Lakeland’s 30 stolen bases.

BROTHERS IN ARMS (OR BATS) ... Tony Plagman and Jordan Lennerton have split time at first base and DH all season and have played in the more games than all but one player in the league (Plagman has played one more game that Lennerton). The duo has also combined for the most home runs (28) than other two Lakeland teammates since 2008. Plagman leads the club with 17 homers while Lennerton has hit 11 dingers. In 2008, Jeremy Laster hit 24 home runs while Justin Justice and Cale Iorg each hit 10 long balls.

LAKELAND IN THE FSL ... Tony Plagman leads with 89 RBI; tied for second with 49 extra base hits; and fourth with 207 total bases ... Jared Wesson is second with 12 wins ... Kenny Faulk is fourth with 20 saves ... Jordan Lennerton is second with 89 walks.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Mission Notes vs. Clearwater (Aug. 19-21)

SERIES SCHEDULE ... The three games in this home series are all played at different times. Friday’s game is at 7 pm while Saturday is a 6 pm start. The series wraps up with a 1 pm game on Sunday.

THE FLYING TIGERS (58-62 all, 22-28 2nd half, 6th, 5.5 GB) ... Lakeland saw its three game win streak snapped with a 7-2, six-inning, loss to Tampa on Thursday in a rain-shortened game. Game two was postponed due to heavy rains and will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Sept. 2 at 5 pm. Rain has now affected 11 of the last 18 scheduled games. With the rain comes a lot of DHs resulting in the fact that Lakeland has played games of seven or fewer innings eight times in the last nine games.

THE THRESHERS (65-56, 26-26 2nd half, 3rd, 2.5 GB) ... Clearwater downed Dunedin 6-1 on Thursday to snap a five-game losing streak. Three Thresher hurlers rank in the top ten in the Florida State League in terms of earned average in Jonathan Pettibone (6th, 3.08); Julio Rodriguez (8th, 3.14); and Trevor May (9th, 3.34). Rodriguez has a league-best 15 wins (three more than Lakeland’s Jared Wesson who is second) while May has racked up a FSL-high 189 strikeouts – 56 more than Rodriguez who is second with 133. The 189 K’s is the most for a FSL pitcher since Matthew Moore retired 208 batters last season for Charlotte. Darin Ruf is fourth in the league with a .313 average while leading the FSL with 35 doubles, 52 extra base hits and 216 total bases. He ranks second with 133 hits and is fifth with a .508 slugging percentage. Clearwater is the best fielding team in the FSL with a .980 fielding percentage while Cesar Hernandez (2B), Troy Hanzawa (SS) and Sebastian Valle (C), all lead their respective positions in fielding percentage.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ... (With recent promotions, Mission Notes opts to to take a guess at probable starters for this series).

THIS SEASON ... Clearwater has won seven of the 11 meetings between these two clubs this season, but Lakeland has taken two of the last three. Avisail Garcia has 13 hits in nine games against the Threshers while Wade Gaynor has 11 base knocks.

SEVEN LEFT ... Tonight is the first of seven remaining home dates for Lakeland. Following a three-game set with Clearwater, Lakeland has a day off and then hits the road for seven games before returning home for two dates against Dunedin on Aug. 30 and 31. The Aug. 30 date will be a 5 pm doubleheader. Lakeland then does the home and home shuffle with Tampa playing home games on Sept. 2 (also a twin-bill) and then closing the season with a 11 a.m. game on Sunday, Sept. 4.

DO THE ROSTER SHUFFLE ... Lakeland lost two players on Wednesday and gained three others in a flurry of activity. Pitchers Ryan Robowski (2-1, 2.35 ERA, 20 APP) and Jared Gayhart (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 APP) were sent to AA Erie. Rejoining the Flying Tigers are pitchers Victor Larez and Nate Newman, both from West Michigan, and catcher Jeff Kunkel, from AAA Toledo. All three players are making their third stop in Lakeland in 2011. Newman was 1-0 with three saves and a 3.24 ERA at West Michigan while Larez was 3-2 with a 5.28 ERA with the Whitecaps. Kunkel has played in 19 games at Toledo, 12 games in Erie and 8 games in Lakeland.

SON VS POP ... Shawn Teufel took a flight north on Wednesday, getting a spot start in Toledo. It was a special night for Shawn, not for the fact it marked his first start at the AAA level, but for the fact that the start came against a Bisons team managed by his father, Tim Teufel, who is in his first season as the Buffalo skipper. The younger Teufel came out on top, getting the win with 6.0 shutouts innings, holding Buffalo to three hits with seven strikeouts and three walks.

HOPPING ON THE TOLEDO EXPRESS ... The roster moves keep a comin’ as Trevor Feeney was sent to Toledo on Friday. Feeney was 8-11 with a 4.39 ERA for Lakeland this season and needed four more strikeouts to become the 33rd Lakeland pitcher to reach triple digits in strikeouts.

ANYONE WANT TO PITCH? ... Since Aug. 13 six Lakeland pitchers have been moved off the roster – two sent to Toledo (Trevor Feeney and Shawn Teufel), two sent Erie (Jared Gayhart and Ryan Robowski), one sent to the GCL Tigers (Brian Stroud) and one traded (Cole Nelson to Minnesota and subsequently assigned to Fort Myers). Only two pitchers have been added to the Flying Tigers (Victor Larez and Nate Newman). That leaves the staff a few arms (and starters) shy.

HIT FEST ... Lakeland exploded for 18 hits on Tuesday in a 12-5 win at Tampa. Jordan Lennerton led the hit parade with a 4-for-6 night (including two hits in the ninth inning) while Avisail Garcia and Corey Jones each added three hits. William Bergolla and Michael Rockett had two hits a piece with Rockett driving in four runs. The 18 hits is the most Lakeland has had this season since collecting 21 hits in a 14-5 win at Brevard County on May 1.

ONCE A MONTH ... The Flying Tigers scored seven runs in the top of the ninth inning on Tuesday to down Tampa 12-5. The seven-run ninth marked the fourth time this season the squad has tallied seven scores in a single frame. Lakeland first accomplished the feat on May 17 at Charlotte and then did so again on June 10 vs. Daytona. The third time came on July 6 against Dunedin.

LEAPIN’ LENNERTON ... Jordan Lennerton brings a six-game hit streak into this series and is 12-for-22 with four doubles and a homer during that stretch. He has eight hits in 12 at bats in his last three games.

THE DINGERS KEEP RINGING ... Avisail Garcia hit the first offering he saw in the second inning over the right field fence for Lakeland’s six homer in the last four games and the 21st homer since July 27. The Flying Tigers have hit homers in 14 of the last 20 games. Garcia’s homer was his second homer in the last four games. The rightfielder is 6-for-15 (.400) with the pair of homers and a double, plus four runs scored and four RBI in those four games.

BERGOLLA BANGIN’ ... Although he was held hitless in three at bats on Thursday, William Bergolla is 7-for-16 (.438) in his last four games with a double and a homer.

ROB RIGHT ... Rob Brantly is 4-for-40 (.400) in his last three games with a double and two runs scored and two more runs driven in.

LAKELAND IN THE FSL ... Tony Plagman is first with 89 runs batted in (eight more than the second place total) and is gunning to be the first Lakeland player to lead the league in RBI since Ryan Strieby knocked in 94 runs in 2008. Plagman is tied for second with 48 extra base hits and fourth with 207 total bases ... Jordan Lennerton is second with 88 walks ... Jared Wesson is second with 12 wins ... Kenny Faulk is fourth with 20 saves ... Trevor Feeney is second with 143.2 innings pitched and is third with 1.75 walks allowed per nine innings ... Lakeland is tied with Dunedin for second with a .978 fielding percentage ... Wade Gaynor leads all third baseman in fielding percentage (.957), games played (112), total chances (350), putouts (97), assists (238) and double plays (23).

FSL RACE ... With first half winners, Daytona and St. Lucie, falling back in the second half, odds have it that two new teams will take the second halves in their respective divisions. In the North, Dunedin has a 1.5 game lead over Tampa while Clearwater is 2.5 games back. Both Brevard County and Daytona have identical records and trail by 3.0 games. Lakeland is 5.5 games out of first. In the South Division, Bradenton has a 33-19 record and a 2.5 game lead over Palm Beach. St. Lucie is in third, a distant 6.0 games back.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Mission Notes vs. Tampa (Aug. 16-18

SERIES SCHEDULE ... Lakeland plays at Tampa Tuesday night and then returns to Lakeland for games against the Yankees on Wednesday and Thursday. All three games are slated for 7 pm starts.

THE FLYING TIGERS (57-61 all, 21-27 2nd half, 6th, 5.0 GB) ... Lakeland picked up two wins over Brevard County in their recent series. The two wins snapped a three-game skid for the Flying Tigers who are now 3-6 their last nine games. Lakeland is 30-30 at home this season and 27-31 on the road.

THE YANKEES (63-56, 26-24 2nd half, 2nd, 1.0 GB) ... Tampa dropped a 7-5 game to Dunedin on Monday dropping them 1.0 game behind the Blue Jays in the second-half standings. Abraham Almonte is fourth in the Florida State League with 76 runs scored and second with 10 triples. Almonte has also swiped a team-leading 24 stolen bases.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
  • Tuesday (8/16) - Mark Sorensen (2-2, 3.86) tossed six shutout innings in his last start on Aug. 11 against Daytona. Sorensen held the Cubs to five hits with four strikeouts in winning his second straight game. He now has a 2-1 record with a 1.89 ERA in his last three starts with 10 strikeouts.
  • Wednesday (8/17) - Jared Wesson (12-9, 4.69) is 1-1 with a 2.65 ERA in three games against Tampa this season. He was tagged with the loss in his last start on Aug. 11 against Daytona despite holding the Cubs to two runs. His 12 wins is the fifth most in a single season for any Lakeland pitcher. With his next win he’ll move into a tie with five other pitchers at 13 wins, including Jordan Tata who was the last Tigers to pick up a baker’s dozen wins, doing so in 2005.
  • Thursday (8/18) - Michael Morrison (2-2, 3.86) made his first professional career start on Aug. 12 working two no-hit, shutout innings with four strikeouts against Brevard County before rains suspended the game. It was his first start since starting a game in college for Cal State Fullerton in 2008. Morrison is 2-0 with a 3.13 ERA as reliever and now has 40 strikeouts in 39.1 innings pitched.
THIS SEASON
... Tampa has won nine of the 13 meetings so far this season. Jordan Lennerton has a .356 average with 10 walks against the Yankees while Tony Plagman has homered twice and driven in 10 runs. Corey Jones has six doubles in the series.

PLAGMAN IN THE BOOKS ... With a home run to drive in three runs on Sunday at Brevard, Tony Plagman moves into fifth place on the Lakeland single season RBI list with 88, one behind Chris Wakeland who finished the 1998 season with 89. Alejandro Freiere is third with 92 RBI in 1997, while Ryan Strieby is second with 94 in 2008. The Lakeland record of 102 runs batted in was set by Brent Clevlen in 2005.

TONY TERRIFIC ... His homer on Sunday gives Tony Plagman 17 round-trippers on the season, the eighth most homers in a single season for any Lakeland player. He is currently tied with Chris Maples who had 17 homes in 2004. His next homer will move Plagman into a six-way tie for seventh place with Jeff Larish (2006), Derek Nicholson, Brent Clevlen and Kelly Hunt (all in 2005) and Chris Wakeland (1998). Kabe Kapler is in sixth place with 19 homers in 1997. The Lakeland franchise record is 28 home runs set in 2008 by Ryan Streiby.

BRAVO BERGOLLA ... William Bergolla has seven hits in his last four games and has a pair of doubles and three homers in his last eight games.

JORDAN, JORDAN ... Jordan Lennerton has three doubles in the last four games and is 6-for-14 (.429) in those four games. His 87 walks on the season is second to Bernie Anderson’s franchise record of 114 in 1987.

NEIN ON NINE ... Lakeland hasn’t played a nine-inning game since Aug. 6 with one 13-inning contest and seven consecutive seven-inning games.

E. ROOF ROLLING ... Eric Roof has hits in seven of his last eight games going 10-for-26 for a .385 clip.

S. ROOF FLIES AWAY ... While his brother, Eric, is getting his trips around the bases, Shawn Roof is getting a trip North as the infielder was assigned to Erie on Monday. Roof had played in 14 games for Lakeland with a .348 average. He opened the season in Lakeland and went to Erie after just two games. At Erie, Roof batted .302 in 49 games before being sent to back to Lakeland on July 22.

NELSON TRADED TO TWINS ... Detroit acquired outfielder Delmon Young on Monday in exchange for Flying Tiger Cole Nelson and a player to be named later. Nelson was 5-11 overall for Lakeland with a 4.87 ERA in 26 games, including 17 starts. As a reliever, he had a 1-1 mark with a 2.50 ERA. Nelson is the second Flying Tiger involved in a trade this season joining Julio Rodriguez who was sent to Kansas City on July 20 as part of the Wilson Betemit deal.

HOMERS, ROUND-TRIPPERS AND DINGERS ... Whatever you want to call them, Lakeland has had a bunch of them as of late. The Flying Tigers have clubbed 15 home runs in the last 13 games with homers in 10 of the 13 games.

MULTI-GRAIN BREAD ... With two hits against Brevard on Aug. 13, Tony Plagman now has 30 games this season with two or more hits – the most multi-hit games of any Flying Tiger. Avisail Garcia is second with 28 games with two or more base hits while Corey Jones is third with 26. Wade Gaynor, Brent Wyatt and Jordan Lennerton all have 24 multi-hit games.

RIBBIES IN BUNCHES ... With his three-run homer on Sunday at Brevard, Tony Plagman also leads the Flying Tigers with 21 games with two or more runs batted in. Jordan Lennerton is second with 15 multi-hit RBI games while Wade Gaynor is third with 13 games with two or more RBI.

LET’S GET IT STARTED ... The Lakeland starting pitchers have allowed just seven earned runs over the last six games for a 2.10 earned run average in that stretch.

LEFTIES AND RIGHTIES ... Lakeland is hitting .258 against right handed pitchers and .259 against left handers. The difference, however, is with the long ball. The Flying have hit 53 home runs against righties, but just 19 against lefties.

HEY, NOAH! ... With all the rains Lakeland has experienced in the past week, the squad ought to managed by Noah. The Aug. 6 was delayed 34 minutes while rains forced a suspension of game one of a scheduled doubleheader on Aug. 7. That game was completed in 13 innings on Aug. 8. The Aug. 9 game at home with Daytona was called due to rain forcing a doubleheader on Aug. 10 which also got washed out. The team squeezed in a couple of games before Mother Nature again stepped to the plate suspending game two of the Aug, 12 doubleheader. Rains came once again on Aug. 14 forcing the cancellation of the second game of that doubleheader.

LAKELAND IN THE FSL ... Jared Wesson is second with 12 wins ... Kenny Faulk is third with 20 saves ... Trevor Feeney leads with 143.2 innings pitched and is third with 1.75 walks allowed per nine innings ... Tony Plagman is first with 88 runs batted in (eight more than the second place total), is fourth with 47 extra base hits and 205 total bases ... Jordan Lennerton is second with 87 walks ... Lakeland is second with a .979 fielding percentage ... Wade Gaynor leads all third baseman in fielding percentage (.956), games played (110), total chances (341), putouts (93), assists (233) and double plays (22).

Friday, August 12, 2011

Mission Notes vs. Brevard County (Aug. 12-14)

SERIES SCHEDULE ... Thanks to rain outs last week in Brevard, these two teams will play five games over the weekend starting with a 5 pm doubleheader on Friday in Lakeland. Saturday has the two teams playing a single game at 6 pm at Joker Marchant Stadium while the two clubs travel to Brevard for another doubleheader Sunday at 4:05 pm. All of this, on top of a Thursday doubleheader split with Daytona, has Lakeland playing seven games in four days. (Speaking of doubleheaders, the Flying Tigers will also play a twin-bill on Aug. 30 in Lakeland against Dunedin.)

THE FLYING TIGERS (55-59 all, 19-25 2nd half, 6th, 4.5 GB) ... Lakeland split a doubleheader with Daytona on Thursday, trading shutouts with the Cubs. The Flying Tigers won game one 6-0 behind six shutout innings by Mark Sorensen and dropped game two 4-0. The loss in game two was Lakeland’s fourth in the last five games. Lakeland is hitting .248 as a team with a 3.85 earned run average.

THE MANATEES (48-66, 21-23 2nd half, 5th, 2.5 GB) ... Brevard County also played a twin-bill on Thursday, dropping two games to Dunedin, falling 7-6 in nine innings in game one and 9-3 in game two. The losses snapped a four-game win streak by the Manatees. Scooter Gennett leads the Florida State League with 141 base hits (12 more than the second place total) while Kentrail Davis is second with 30 stolen bases and fifth with 67 runs scored. Brevard County is hitting .265 as a team with a league-high 4.75 staff ERA. The Manatees have committed the second most errors in the league and have the second worst fielding percentage of any FSL squad.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
  • Friday (8/12) - Brian Stroud (0-2, 9.00) and TBA. Stroud has allowed six earned runs in each of his two starts for Lakeland and went 6.0 innings in both outings while surrendering a combined four homers. He has struck out 10 in the two games while walking just one.
  • Saturday (8/13) - Shawn Teufel (3-3, 3.99) is 0-0 in two appearances and one start versus Brevard County. In his last start on July 6 against the Manatees, he allowed four runs on seven hits in 5.1 innings in a no-decision outing. Teufel is 0-2 with a 5.06 earned run average at home this season and 3-1 with a 3.34 ERA away from Joker Machant Stadium
  • Sunday (8/14) - Trevor Feeney (7-11, 4.45) and TBA. Feeney is 0-2 with an 8.18 ERA against the Manatees this season. He dropped his last start on July 8 against Brevard County going 6.0 innings while allowing six runs on eight hits. Feeney is 2-5 in the second half after posting a 5-6 mark in the first half. He has 90 strikeouts on the year and needs 10 more to become the 33rd Lakeland pitcher to reach triple digits in punch outs.
THIS SEASON
... The Manatees have taken nine of the 13 games played so far this season between the two clubs, including four straight and six of the last seven. Tony Plagman has 16 hits, including three homers in the series while Avisail Garcia (two homers) and Jordan Lennerton each have 15 hits against Brevard County. Scooter Gennett leads the Manatees with 19 hits in the series while Evan Anundsen has two wins in relief for Brevard County against Lakeland.

WHITHER THE WOOD ... After averaging almost 12 hits (11.86) a game from July 29 to Aug. 6, Lakeland has managed just over six hits (6.25) per outing in the last four games.

LEAVING THE YARD ... With William Bergolla’s three-run homer in game one on Thursday, Lakeland has hit at least one round-tripper in seven of the last nine games.

TAMED AT TEN ... With a double and a home run in game one on Thursday against Daytona, William Bergolla extended his hit streak to ten games going 14-for-36 (.388) with two doubles and two homers dating back to July 26. Unfortunately, that’s where the streak ended as the Lakeland shortstop was held hitless in two at bats in game two.

TURN LEFT AT FIRST ... Tony Plagman has eight base hits in his last eight games with half of those eight hits being doubles. The other half have been singles. With his two doubles in Thursday’s doubleheader, Plagman now has 27 doubles on the season, tying him with Brian Rios for the ninth most doubles in Lakeland single-season history.

DOG DAYS OF AUGUST ... Shawn Roof leads the Flying Tigers with a .394 average in the month of August while William Bergolla has a .353 mark this month. Eric Roof and Jordan Lennerton are also over .300 with .333 and .324 averages, respectively.

HITTIN’ AND GIVIN’ ... The Manatees have hit 92 homers as a team, the second-highest total in the FSL while the Flying Tigers have allowed the fifth most homers of any FSL pitching staff. On the other side of the field, the Lakeland has hit 67 round-trippers, fourth fewest in the league while Brevard County has given up the third most dingers of any league staff.

FILM AT 11 ... With Friday’s doubleheader, Lakeland has just 11 scheduled home dates left in the 2011 season. Following this two-game homestand, the Flying Tigers will be at home on Aug. 17-18 against Tampa and Aug. 19-21 to face Clearwater. The squad then hits the road for eight days before returning to Joker Marchant Stadium for games versus Dunedin on Aug. 30-31. Lakeland concludes the regular season with single home dates on Sept. 2 and 4 against Tampa. The final home game on Sept. 4 will be a special Sunday morning 11:00 start.

LAKELAND IN THE FSL ... Jared Wesson is second with 12 wins ... Kenny Faulk is third with 20 saves ... Tony Plagman is first with 85 runs batted in (nine more than the second place total), is tied for third with 46 extra base hits and is fourth with 199 total bases ... Trevor Feeney is second with 137.2 innings pitched and fourth with 1.83 walks allowed per nine innings ... Jordan Lennerton is second with 86 walks ... Lakeland is second with a .979 fielding percentage ... Corey Jones (2B, .975) and Wade Gaynor (3B, .955) lead their respective positions in fielding percentage. Gaynor leads all third baseman in games played (106), total chances (331), putouts (89), assists (227) and double plays (21).

CROWDED AT THE TOP ... Three teams sit atop the North Division as Clearwater, Dunedin and Tampa all sport identical 25-22 records. Daytona, the first half winner, and Brevard County are tied at 2.5 games back while the Flying Tigers are 4.5 games back.

UP ON THE FARM ... Here’s a look at how some of the former Lakeland players are doing in their advanced careers in the Detroit organization:
  • Justin Verlander has a Major League leading 17 wins and is also tops in the Majors with 196 strikeouts. He is third in the American League with a 2.35 ERA
  • Duane Below is fifth in the International League (IL) with a 3.13 ERA at Toledo and is third with a .232 opponent’s batting average.
  • Ryan Strieby is fifth in the IL with 69 runs batted in for the Mud Hens.
  • Justin Henry is eighth in the Eastern League (EL) with a .303 batting average and third with a .405 on-base percentage at Erie.
  • Jacob Turner is eighth in the EL with a 3.48 ERA for the SeaWolves.
LAKELAND IN THE ORGANIZATION ... Tony Plagman leads among Detroit minor leaguers with 85 runs batted in and second with 16 home runs ... Jordan Lennerton is fourth among the minor Tigers with 56 runs batted in ... Jared Wesson has an organization best 12 wins ... Kenny Faulk’s 20 saves leads all Detroit minor league pitchers ... Lakeland’s team batting average of .258 is third highest among the six Detroit minor league teams while the staff ERA of 3.85 ranks fourth.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Mission Notes vs. Daytona (Aug. 9-11)

SERIES SCHEDULE ... All three games in this series at Lakeland’s Joker Marchant Stadium and will all get underway at 7 pm. Each game can be heard via the Cubs’ internet broadcasts.

THE FLYING TIGERS (54-58 all, 18-24 2nd half, 6th, 5.0 GB) ... Lakeland has dropped its last three games including back-to-back one-run losses. On Sunday, the club battled Brevard County to a 4-4 tie through 10 innings of a scheduled seven inning game before the contest was suspended due to rain. Coming back on Monday, the Manatees prevailed in 13 innings posting a 5-4 win. In the game that followed, the teams swapped leads before Hunter Morris hit a solo homer in the bottom of the sixth to snap a 5-5 tie and lift Brevard County to the 6-5 win in seven innings. The Flying Tigers are now 18-13 in one-run games.

THE CUBS (68-46, 21-23 2nd half, 5th, 3.0 GB) ... Daytona is coming off a 2-1, ten-inning, loss at Clearwater on Monday. The loss is the Cubs’ fourth in their last five games and drops the club into fifth place after capturing the first half pennant with a 47-23 record. Justin Bour is tied for second in the Florida State League with 21 homers, just one behind the leader, Brad Glenn of Dunedin, while his 75 RBI is second to Lakeland’s Tony Plagman’s 85 ribbies. Evan Crawford is sixth in the FSL with a .313 batting average and is fourth with 28 stolen bases while Logan Watkins is tied for first with 11 triples.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
  • Tuesday (8/09) - Mark Sorensen (1-2, 4.91) recorded his first win in four starts for Lakeland by defeating Daytona on Aug. 4 in his last start. Sorensen held the Cubs to three runs on five hits over 7.0 innings with two strikeouts and two walks. He has a 2.77 ERA and a 1-1 record in his last two starts allowing four earned runs.
  • Wednesday (8/10) - Jared Wesson (12-8, 4.77) has won his last two starts including a win over the Cubs on Aug, 5 despite allowing six earned runs over 6.0 innings. Wesson is 3-1 versus Daytona this season. His 12 wins is tied for fifth most for a Lakeland pitcher and is the most since Jonah Nickerson finished 12-4 for the 2008 Flying Tigers..
  • Thursday (8/11) - Brian Stroud (0-2, 9.00) has lost both his starts since joining Lakeland on July 30. He has allowed six runs in each of his two starts and has surrendered 18 hits in the two outings. Stroud has racked up 10 strikeouts and walked just one in his two appearances.
THIS SEASON
... Lakeland had taken 10 of the 15 meetings between these two clubs and seven of the last nine, including the last two straight. The 10 wins is the most wins over any FSL team by Lakeland this season. Three of those victories belong to Jared Wesson who is 3-1 against the Cubs, despite a 6.04 ERA in his four starts. William Bergolla has a .424 in nine games versus Daytona with a pair of homers while Tony Plagman carries a .339 average against Daytona with six doubles and 14 RBI in the 15 games. Rob Brantly had five hits, including a home run, in the recent three game series at Daytona. The Cubs have won just once in six games in Lakeland this season.

BOMBS AWAY ... Lakeland hit homers in both games at Brevard County and has hit at least one round-tripper in six of the last seven games.

PATIENCE, MY YOUNG MAN ... The Flying Tigers have struck out 30 times over the last three games with half of those K’s coming in the first game at Brevard County on Aug. 7. On the other side of the plate, Lakeland has drawn just nine walks in those three games.

MANATEE MAKE-UPS ... The first game of Lakeland’s doubleheader at Brevard County on Sunday, Aug. 7 was suspended in the bottom of the 10th inning. The game was completed Monday (the Manatees won 5-4 in 13 innings) forcing Monday’s scheduled doubleheader games to be pushed back to the next series. One game will be made up in Lakeland on Aug. 12 as a DH while a second game will made up Aug. 14 in Brevard County as part of a twin-bill.

STARTERS STRUGGLE ... Lakeland’s starting pitchers have allowed four of more runs in each of the last four starts for a 8.49 ERA. Meanwhile, the bullpen has a 2.86 earned run average since July 27.

NADA FOR NELSON ... Cole Nelson continues his fine run in the Flying Tiger bullpen having surrendered just two runs since moving to the ‘pen on July 11. He has not given up a run in 12.0 innings over his last six outings. He now has a 1-0 record and a 1.10 ERA out of the bullpen opposed to a 4-10 record and a 5.36 mark as a starter.

TOUGH FOR TEUFEL ... While Cole Nelson has achieved success going from starter to reliever, Shawn Teufel has gone from reliever to starter and has struggled. He has a 1-3 record in his last five starts with a 6.39 earned run average. Teufel has a 5.05 ERA as a starter and was 2-0 with a 2.00 mark as a reliever.

BERGOLLA AT NINE ... William Bergolla has hits in each of his last nine games and is 12-for-33 for a .364 average with eight runs scored and seven runs batted in with a double and a homer.

JOLLY JORDAN ... Jordan Lennerton is 8-for-17 over his last four games with a .471 average with five runs scored and five more batted in with two homers and a double.

ROOF BROTHER #1 ... Eric Roof has hits in his last six games and is 9-for-21 during those games for a .429 mark. He has also scored nine runs and driven in three in those six games.

ROOF BROTHER #2 ... Shawn Roof had a seven-game hit-streak snapped on Monday. Prior to an 0-for-4 night in his last game, Roof was 13-for-28 for a .464 mark. He is now 13-for-34 (.382) since July 28.

GET YOUR FREE PASS HERE ... Jordan Lennerton has drawn a team-high 85 walks this season - that’s the second highest total in Lakeland history. The franchise record is 114 free passes earned by Bernie Anderson in 1987.

EVEN DOZEN FOR WESSON ... With his win on Friday, Jared Wesson is now 12-8 on the season. The 12 wins is the most for a Flying Tiger pitcher since Jonah Nickerson finished the 2008 season with a 12-4 record. Jordan Tata was the last Lakeland hurler to record 13 wins, completing his 2005 campaign at 13-2. Prior to that, you’d have to go back to 1997 to find a Lakeland pitcher with 13 wins as Brian Powell turned in a 13-9 record that season. The Lakeland franchise record is held by Mike Chris who went 18-5 in 1977.

TEN FOR 100 ... Trevor Feeney has a team-best 90 strikeouts this season. With 10 more punch outs, Feeney would become the 33rd Lakeland pitcher to reach triple digits in strikeouts.

THANKS FOR DROPPING BY ... Carlos De Los Santos was added to Lakeland’s roster on Aug. 5 from the Gulf Coast League Tigers, but was sent back to the club on Aug. 7.

LAKELAND IN THE FSL ... Jared Wesson is second with 12 wins ... Kenny Faulk is second with 20 saves ... Tony Plagman is first with 85 runs batted in (10 more than the second place total) and tied for fourth with 44 extra base hits and is also fourth with 195 total bases ... Trevor Feeney is fourth with 137.2 innings pitched and 1.83 walks allowed per nine innings ... Jordan Lennerton is second with 85 walks ... Lakeland is second with a .979 fielding percentage ... Corey Jones (2B, .975) and Wade Gaynor (3B, .954) lead their respective positions in fielding percentage ... Gaynor leads all third baseman in games played (104), total chances (324), putouts (86), assists (223) and double plays (21).

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Mission Notes vs. Brevard County (Aug. 6-8)

SERIES SCHEDULE ... These two teams will face off five times in the next three days. After a 6 p.m. game Saturday in Lakeland, the two clubs travel to Brevard for a pair of doubleheaders to make up two rains outs on June 24 and 25. Sunday’s twin-bill gets underway at 4:05 p.m. while Monday’s doubleheader is set for 5:05 p.m.

THE FLYING TIGERS (54-55 all, 18-21 2nd half, 5th, 3.0 GB)
... Lakeland took two of three at Daytona including an 11-6 victory on Friday in a game that saw Jordan Lennerton hit two home runs and drive in five runs. He is the second Lakeland player to drive in five runs in a game this season, joining Tony Plagman who accomplished the feat on July 29 on a 4-for-6 night at Fort Myers. The 15 hits marked the fifth time in the last seven games in which the Flying Tigers have had ten or more hits. Lakeland is batting .316 in those seven games with 55 run scored.

THE MANATEES (44-64, 18-21 2nd half, T-3rd, 2.0 GB) ... Brevard County lost to Dunedin by a 9-3 score on Friday. It was the Manatee’s second straight loss and the team’s seventh in the last eight contests. Prior to the last eight games, the squad had won five in a row. Brevard County has been outscored 50-14 in the last six games with eight of those runs coming in one outing. Two big reasons for the collapse is the departure of Brock Kjeldgaard, who was fourth in the FSL with 18 homers, and Khris Davis, who was 10th in the league with a .309 average. The offense still features Scooter Gennett, who leads the league with 129 base hits, and Kentrall Davis, who is second in the FSL with 30 stolen bases.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
  • Friday (8/06) - Brian Stroud (0-1, 9.00 ERA, 1 GS) struck out six and walked one in 6.0 innings, but gave up six runs on ten hits in taking the loss on July 30 against Fort Myers in his Lakeland debut. .
  • Saturday (8/07 - Gm. 1) - Shawn Teufel (3-3, 3.71 ERA) had his best and longest outing in his last start on July 31 against Fort Myers. The former reliever struck out four and walked two in holding the Miracle to two runs on four hits. The win was his first as a starter and snapped a three-game losing streak for Teufel.
  • Saturday (8/07 - Gm. 2) - Zach Samuels (1-1, 1.41 ERA) last made a spot start on Aug. 1 against Fort Myers working 4.0 innings with three strikeouts in holding the Miracle to a pair of unearned runs on six hits.
  • Sunday (8/08 - Gm. 1) - Trevor Feeney (7-10, 4.24 ERA) struck out seven and walked three in limiting Daytona to two runs on five hits in his last start on Aug. 3. He is looking for his first win since beating Bradenton on July 11.
  • Sunday (8/08 - Gm. 2) - Luke Putkonen (1-5, 6.48 ERA) will be starting his first game since beating Bradenton on July 9. He was 0-4 with a 6.60 ERA in five games as a starter and has a 1-1 mark with a 6.17 earned run average in eight games as a reliever.
THIS SEASON
... These two clubs have met ten times prior to this series with the Manatees holding a 6-4 edge in games won. Wade Gaynor sports a hefty .351 average in the ten games while Avisail Garcia is close behind with a .341 mark and a pair of home runs. Tony Plagman has clubbed three round-trippers in the series.

DUAL ROUND TRIPPERS ... Jordan Lennerton slammed two home runs against Daytona on Friday to drive in five runs. He is the first Flying Tiger to have two homers in once game since Jordan Newton hit a pair against Saint Lucie on July 30, 2009.

NOT THE ONLY ONE ... Jordan Lennerton’s two homers on Friday capped a four-game spurt that has seen Lakeland club seven homers.

DOUBLE DOWN ... With doubles by Sean Roof and Ron Brantly on Friday, the Flying Tigers have had at least one double in seven straight games including five games with two or more two baggers.

GOING DOWN IN STYLE ... William Bergolla suffered an injury on a home run swing on Thursday at Daytona. He was replaced at shortstop by Shawn Roof. The homer gave Bergolla a hit in eight straight games. He was 11-for-28 (.393) with six runs scored and five runs batted in.

MARKING HIS PRESENCE WITH AUTHORITY ... New Flying Tiger catcher Rob Brantly has adjusted nicely to the jump from West Michigan to Lakeland. The former Whitecap has hit safely in his last seven games (9-for-30, .300) with five runs scored and nine more batted in. He has also had a pair of homers and a pair of doubles in those seven games.

ONE AT A TIME ... Daniel Fields has one hit in five straight games and one base hit in 11 of his last 12 games.

SNAP! ... Avisail Garcia was held hitless in two at bats on Friday, snapping a nine-game hit streak in which he was 15-for-36 (.417) with a home run and three doubles. Tony Plagman took a nine-game hit streak into Friday’s game, but was also held without a hit to see a stretch in which he was 14-for-37 (.378) with seven runs scored and 13 RBI with a pair of homers and a double come to a close.

NO ROUGH GOING FOR THE ROOFS ... The Brothers Roof, Eric and Shawn, have carried hot bats in the last few games. Eric, the catching Roof brother, has seven hits in 14 at bats in his last four games while Shawn, who has moved to shortstop, has 11 hits in 20 at bats in his last five games, including seven hits in the last two games.

EVEN DOZEN FOR WESSON ... With his win on Friday, Jared Wesson is now 12-8 on the season. The 12 wins is the most for a Flying Tiger pitcher since Jonah Nickerson finished the 2008 season with a 12-4 record. Jordan Tata was the last Lakeland hurler to record 13 wins, completing his 2005 campaign at 13-2. Prior to that, you’d have to go back to 1997 to find a Lakeand pitcher with 13 wins as Brian Powell turned in a 13-9 record that season. The Lakeland franchise record is held by Mike Chris who went 18-5 in 1977.

WELCOME IN AND WELCOME BACK ... Lakeland welcomed a new infielder on Friday as Carlos De Los Santos joined the club from the Gulf Coast League Tigers. De Los Santos, a non-drafted free agent signed by Detroit in 2010, was batting .199 in 36 games in the GCL after hitting .261 in the 2010 Dominican Summer League. Another new face is a familiar one as Ryan Robowski rejoins the club after a short stint in AAA Toledo where he appeared in one game, striking out one and walking one in one inning of work. Robowski was 2-1 with a 2.28 ERA and two saves in 27 appearances for the Flying Tigers before lending an arm to the Mud Hens on July 26.

LAKELAND IN THE FSL ... With his win on Friday, Jared Wesson is second with 12 wins ... Kenny Faulk is second with 20 saves and first among relievers with 11.34 strikeouts per nine innings ... Tony Plagman is first with 84 runs batted in (nine more than the second place total) and fourth with 191 total bases ... Trevor Feeney is fourth with 131.2 innings pitched ... Jordan Lennerton is second with 82 walks ... Wade Gaynor is tied for fourth with 26 doubles ... Lakeland is tied for first with a .979 fielding percentage ... Corey Jones (2B, .975) and Wade Gaynor (3B, .952) lead their respective positions in fielding percentage ... Gaynor leads all third baseman in games played (101), total chances (315), putouts (83), assists (217) and double plays (21).

COUNTDOWN TO 3800 ... The Lakeland franchise entered the 2011 season with 3,744 overall wins dating back to 1963. With 54 wins this season, Lakeland now has 3,798 wins, needing two more for 3,800.

Friday, July 29, 2011

Mission Notes vs. Fort Myers (July 29-Aug. 1)

SERIES SCHEDULE ... All four games will be played in Fort Myers beginning with 7:05 p.m. start times on Friday and Saturday. Sunday’s game gets underway at 1:05 p.m. while Monday’s game moves back to 7:05 p.m. All games will be carried live on internet radio. Check the Miracle’s website for details.

THE FLYING TIGERS (49-53 all, 13-19 2nd half, 6th, 6.0 GB) ... Lakeland dropped a doubleheader last night to Palm Beach losing 6-5 and 3-1 in a twin bill delayed 1:19 due rain. Both games were over 2:18 long with game two ending at 11:40 p.m. The pair of losses gives Lakeland a 2-9 record over the last 11 games. An obvious big part of the problem is a rack of run production as the Flying Tigers have been shut out three times and held to one run four times in that skid. A key hit here or there could’ve changed the fate of some games as Lakeland has averaged 8.0 runners left on base in the last 11 games. The Flying Tigers are batting .255 as a team with a 3.80 ERA.

THE MIRACLE (48-56, 14-20 2nd half, 6th, 5.5 GB) ... Fort Myers will be looking to snap an eight game losing streak dating back to July 21. The Miracle have been outscored 51-13 in the last eight games, including a 12-1 loss to Tampa on Thursday. Aaron Hicks is third in the league with 25 doubles, but hasn’t hit a two-bagger since July 19. Fort Myers is hitting .253 as a team (second lowest in the Florida State League) and has a 4.61 ERA (the highest in the FSL).

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
  • Friday (7/29) - Jared Wesson (10-8, 4.81 ERA) took the loss in his last start on July 24 against Jupiter despite holding the Hammerheads to three runs on nine hits. It was his second loss in a row and third in his last four starts. Wesson has allowed seven earned runs in nine innings over his last two starts after tossing five scoreless innings on July 14. Righthanders are batting a robust .310 against Wesson while he is holding lefties to a .232 mark.
  • Saturday (7/30) - Brian Stroud (1-4, 2.76 ERA for Gulf Coast Tigers) will be making his Lakeland debut after going 1-4 with the GCL club. A 31st round pick out of Western Michigan University, he is the first 2011 Detroit draft pick to play for the Flying Tigers. Stroud has dropped his last three starts despite allowing a total of five earned runs and striking out 16 and walking just one batter. He went 1-3 in July but posted a 1.80 ERA with 22 K’s in 25.0 innings.
  • Sunday (7/31) - Shawn Teufel (2-3, 3.89 ERA) will be looking for his first win as a starter since moving into the rotation on July 16. As a starter he has allowed 12 earned runs in 13.0 innings for a 6.88 ERA in three starts. In his last start on July 28, he gave up five runs – four earned – on five hits and four walks in 3.0 innings. Teufel, son of former major leaguer Tim Teufel, is holding lefties to .171 while righthanders are batting .273 against him.
  • Monday (8/01) - Trevor Feeney (7-10, 4.27 ERA) has lost his last two starts allowing 10 runs on 18 hits in 9.0 innings. In his last start on July 28 against Palm Beach he allowed six runs on eight hits, but struck out five batters. Prior to the last two outings, he had not been touched for a earned run in 11.2 innings over two previous starts. Lefties are hitting .289 against Feeney while righthanders are batting .277 against him.
THIS SEASON ... Lakeland swept Fort Myers in four games in Lakeland back on May 31-June 3 by a combined score of 31-13 including a 13-2 victory in the opener (despite leaving 13 men on base) behind four hits each by Avisail Garcia and Corey Jones. Lakeland batted .329 in the series with 10 doubles, two triples and three homers. Fort Myers batted .239 in the four games. Should Lakeland go on to sweep these four games, it would be the first season series sweep since claiming eight wins over Jupiter last season.

CLOSE ONES ... The 6-5 loss to Palm Beach in the opening game of Thursday’s doubleheader was the 28th one-run game for Lakeland this season. The Flying Tigers are 18-10 in one-run games, the best record in the FSL.

SMYLY SMILING WITH PROMOTION ... With a 3-0 record and a string of 17 scoreless innings over his last three games, Drew Smyly earned a promotion to AA Erie on Friday. Smyly had allowed a run in the first inning against St. Lucie on July 15 and then tossed four shutout innings before holding Charlotte scoreless thru six innings on July 20 and blanking Palm Beach thru seven innings in his last start on July 25. Overall, the 2010 second round draft was 7-3 with a 2.58 ERA with 77 strikeouts and 21 walks in 80.1 innings for Lakeland. He’ll join fellow 2011 Flying Tigers Gustavo Nunez, Tyler Stohr and Jay Voss in Erie.

ROBUST ROBOWSKI MAKES MUD HEN RUN ... Drew Smyly wasn’t the only Flying Tiger pitcher taking a flight out of town. Earlier in the week Ryan Robowski was promoted to AAA Toledo on July 26. The former Flying Tiger made his Mud Hen debut on July 28 tossing one shutout inning against Norfolk, limiting the Tides to one hit with one strikeout.

FIRST DRAFTEE ... Brian Stroud becomes the first 2011 Detroit Tiger draft pick to play for the Flying Tigers this season. A 31st round pick out of Western Michigan University, Stroud made his professional debut on June 24 for the Gulf Coast League Tigers and joined Lakeland on July 29 after posting a 1-4 mark with a 2.76 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 32.2 innings for the GCL club.

A LITTLE BIT HERE AND THERE ... The run allowed by Matt Little in his last appearance on July 28 against Palm Beach was his first allowed in eight outings dating back to July 1 and just his second tally surrendered since May 5.

MORE ISN’T ALWAYS BETTER ... Reliable Michael Morrison was tagged for four runs in his last outing on July 26 matching the amount of runs he had allowed in his previous 33.1 innings over 27 appearances.

WHAT A RELIEF ... Cole Nelson seems to be adjusting quite well to his new role as a relief pitcher. Opening the season as a starter, Nelson struggled to a 4-10 mark and a 5.36 ERA. However, since moving into the Flying Tiger bullpen on July 11, he has a 1.74 ERA with 11 strikeouts in 10.1 innings pitched.

ZILCH FOR ZACH ... Reliever Zach Samuels has been untouchable as of late, tossing 10.1 scoreless innings in his last five appearances.

FIRED UP FIELDS ... Daniel Fields carries a mini five-game hit streak into the series with one hit in each game including a triple on July 26 and a three-run homer on July 28.

DH DEUCES ... Avisail Garcia had two hits in each game of the doubleheader against Palm Beach on Thursday and is 5-for-10 his last three games.

ONE IN 11 ... Lakeland will play just one home game (Aug. 4) in the next 11 days with one off day (Aug. 2).

LAKELAND IN THE FSL ... Trevor Feeney is first with 126.1 innings pitched and fourth with 1.78 walks per nine innings ... Jared Wesson remains tied for second with 10 wins ... Kenny Faulk is second with 20 saves ... Tony Plagman is tied for first with 73 runs batted in ... Brent Wyatt is third with a .416 on-base percentage ... Jordan Lennerton is second with 73 walks ... with six errors in the Palm Beach series, Lakeland has dropped to second with a .979 fielding percentage ... Corey Jones (2B, .976) and Wade Gaynor (3B, .953) lead their respective positions in fielding percentage. Gaynor leads all third baseman in games played (95), total chances (295), putouts (80), assists (201) and double plays (20) while Wyatt is tied for the lead with 17 outfield assists.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Mission Notes vs. Palm Beach (July 25-28)

SERIES SCHEDULE ... All four games will be played at Joker Marchant Stadium and the first pitch for each contest will be 7:00 p.m. Lakeland brings a 22-18 record against South Division teams into this series.

THE FLYING TIGERS (48-50 all, 12-16 2nd half, 6th, 3.0 GB) ... Lakeland is coming off a series in Jupiter where it was swept in four games. The Flying Tigers have now lost six of their last seven games. Sunday’s game was a 4-0 shutout by the Hammerheads, the second blanking of the series and the third time in the last six games in which the Flying Tigers have been held scoreless. Overall, the Flying Tigers have been shutout ten times this season. Lakeland has scored 17 runs in the last seven games with 11 of those coming in one contest. The Flying Tigers have a .255 team batting average and a 3.77 staff ERA.

THE CARDINALS (45-55, 16-15 2nd half, 4th, 2.0 GB) ... Palm Beach has lost five of its last eight games. Palm Beach is led by Kyle Conley who has hit .282 in 34 games while Raniel Rosario has a .277 mark in 89 games. Both players have hit seven homers. Xavier Scruggs leads the club with nine homers and Edgar Lara is next with eight round-trippers. The Cardinals have a .252 team batting average (second lowest in the FSL) and a 3.81 staff ERA.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
  • Monday (7/25) - Drew Smyly (6-3, 2.82 ERA) tossed 6.0 shutout innings in his last start on July 20, scattering five hits against Charlotte with six strikeouts and three walks. In his last three games, he has allowed just two earned runs for a 1.20 ERA and has 13 strikeouts his last two games. Smyly allowed two runs on six hits with three strikeouts in 5.0 innings in a loss against Palm Beach back on May 28.
  • Tuesday (7/26) - Shawn Teufel (2-2, 3.29 ERA) was tagged for five runs on eight hits in 5.0 innings in his last start on July 21 against Jupiter. He is 0-2 with a 5.79 ERA since moving into the starting rotation on July 10 after going 2-0 with a 2.00 in 12 relief appearances. Teufel worked 2.1 innings of relief on May 26 against the Cardinals allowing one run on a homer by Kyle Conley.
  • Wednesday (7/27) - Trevor Feeney (7-9, 3.97 ERA) surrendered four runs on seven hits in 5.0 innings in his last start on July 22 against Charlotte. In his two previous starts he had not allowed an earned run in 11.2 innings. Feeney worked 7.0 innings on May 29 in a win against Palm Beach giving up three runs on eight hits with six strikeouts.
  • Thursday (7/28) - Mark Sorensen (0-1, 8.00 ERA) has allowed four runs of each of his two starts since joining Lakeland. In his last start, he allowed six hits in 7.0 innings with one strikeout and two walks. Sorensen was not with Lakeland in May to face the Cardinals.
THIS SEASON ... The two clubs split their four-game series on May 26-29 with the Cardinals taking games one (8-2) and three (2-0) while the Flying Tigers took games two (3-2) and four (5-3). Jordan Lennerton and Gustavo Nunez each had six hits in the series while Brent Wyatt and Tony Plagman both had four hits. Trevor Feeney and Jared Wesson each got wins in the series while Kenny Faulk saved both games.

THE IN CROWD ... Rostered catcher Eric Roof started at third base on Sunday for Lakeland. It was his first carer start a the hot corner in three seasons for Roof. Wade Gaynor, who is Lakeland’s regular third baseman, was the designated hitter on Sunday. On Friday, outfielder Brent Wyatt started at second base for the second time this season

TREYS AND DEUCES ... Corey Jones went 6-for-12 over the weekend with three hits in both games on Saturday and Sunday. He also doubled in both games. Third baseman Wade Gaynor has had two hits in each of the last three games and is 6-for-16 (.375) in that trio of games.

FIELDS BREAKS THROUGH ... Daniel Fields has singled in each of his last two games. Saturday’s single snapped an 0-for-30 slump for the Flying Tiger centerfielder.

PEAKED ROOF ... Eric Roof brings a mini five-game hit streak into the series and is 6-for-18 (.333) in those five games with a home run.

PLAGMAN PLUGGING ALONG ... Tony Plagman has had two hits each in four of his last six games with a double and a home run and is 10-for-25 for a .400 batting average in his last seven games.

GETTING OFF TO A BAD START ... Lakeland starting pitchers were victimized for 16 runs in the four games at Jupiter for a 6.55 earned run average. In the last six games, the starters have surrendered 24 earned runs for a 6.35 ERA.

CLOSING STRONG ... Meanwhile, the Lakeland relief corps has allowed just two runs in the last five games for a 1.38 ERA. Michael Morrison been scored upon just once in his last 15 appearances while Matt Little has given up just one run in his last 12 outings.

ROSTER RUMBLIN’ .... Scott Green was activated Thursday, July 21, from a lengthy stay on the disabled list and was sent to the Connecticut team.

NEW CREW MEMBER ... With the trade last week of Julio Rodriguez, Wes Thigpen was brought over from the Gulf Coast League club to serve as a back-up for the game. He was sent back to the GCL team the next day. To fill the full-time roster spot, Rob Brantly joined the club from West Michigan where he was batting .303 with seven homers and 44 RBI in 75 games. Brantly was a third-round pick by Detroit in 2010 out of the University of California-Riverside. He was a non-rostered invitee to this year’s Spring Training camp after batting .300 last year for West Michigan with hit streaks of 16 games (22-for-62, .355) and 12 games (12-for-40, .300) during the season.

GOOD TO SEE YA, BRO ... The Roof brothers are reunited as Shawn Roof joined his brother, Eric, on the Lakeland club on Friday from AA Erie. A roster spot was made available as Alexander Moreno was assigned to Connecticut. Shawn, who also played partial seasons in Lakeland in 2007, 2008, and 2009, began the 2011 campaign with the Flying Tigers playing in just two games before being promoted to Erie on April 11. He was hitting .358 for the SeaWolves back on June 20, but saw his average drop to .302 in the past month.

Y’ALL COME BACK NOW ... In the first two games at Jupiter, Lakeland faced pitchers that entered the series with a combined 3-24 record. In game one, the Flying Tigers were shutout over six innings by Chad James who lost his first 13 decisions and has now won two in a row. Up next was Edgar Olmos who was 2-11 entering the contest and left 3-11 after posting five scoreless innings. Both pitchers held Lakeland to four hits.

COUNTDOWN TO 3800 ... Lakeland entered the 2011 season with 3,744 overall franchise wins dating back to 1963. With 45 wins so far this season, the Flying Tigers now have 3,792 needing eight more victories to reach 3,800 all-time.

LAKELAND IN THE FSL ... Jared Wesson remains tied for second with 10 wins, two behind the leader Clearwater’s Julio Rodriguez ... Trevor Feeney is first with 122.1 innings pitched and third with 1.77 walks per nine innings ... Kenny Faulk is second with 20 saves ... Tony Plagman is tied for first with 71 runs batted in and is fifth with 170 total bases ... Brent Wyatt is second with a .416 on-base percentage ... Jordan Lennerton is second with 73 walks ... Lakeland has jumped back into a tie for the league lead with a .980 fielding percentage ... Wade Gaynor (3B, .954) and Brent Wyatt (OF, .994) lead their respective positions in fielding percentage. Gaynor leads all third baseman in games played (91), total chances (285), putouts (76), assists (196) and double plays (20). Wyatt is tied for the lead with 16 outfield assists.