Mission Notes vs. Brevard County (April 29-May 2)

SERIES SCHEDULE ... All three games are at Brevard County: Saturday, 7:05 pm; Sunday, 5:05 pm; Monday, 10:35 am.

THE FLYING TIGERS (11-11, 3rd, 4.5 GB) ... The Flying Tigers batted around in the fourth inning last night and held on to defeat Clearwater 4-2 to climb back to .500 on the season with an 11-11 record. All the runs came off of Jonathan Pettibone, who entered the game with a 3-0 record and a remarkable 0.38 ERA. The win is just the second in the last nine games for Lakeland which is 3-8 over the last 11 outings. Lakeland is seventh in the FSL with a .257 team batting average and continues to rank second in batters hit by a pitch with 18. The team has left 174 runners on base this season, the most of any FSL team. The Flying Tigers have a 4.19 staff ERA, a mark that ranks eighth in the league.

BREVARD COUNTY (9-13, 4th, 6.5 GB) ... The Manatees began the season losing their first five games and nine of their first 12. Since then, the club is 6-4. Josh Prince is tied for the league lead with eight stolen bases. Scott Krieger is seventh in the FSL with a .364 average while Khristopher Davis is tied for third with five home runs and tied for fourth with 19 RBI. Krieger is fourth in the league with a .636 slugging percentage while Davis is fifth with a .623 mark. Brevard County is ninth in the FSL with a .254 team batting average. The Manatees staff ERA of 4.09 is tied for sixth in the league and has surrendered a FSL-high 19 home runs.

LAKELAND PROBABLE PITCHERS:

• Saturday (4/30) - Cole Nelson (1-1, 4.87) ... Nelson is 1-1 with two no decision in four starts. He has allowed two or more earned runs in each start and has walked nine batters his last two outings. Ironically, in his one win on April 19 against Dunedin, he allowed a season-high four runs and walked a season-high five batters. He worked 5.0 innings in his last start on April 25 against the Manatees, holding Brevard County to four hits and three runs – two earned – while striking out two and walking four.
• Sunday (5/01) - Jared Wesson (1-2, 9.98) ... Jared Wesson is 1-3 in four starts. In his last two outings, he has been tagged for ten hits in each start while surrendering a combined 12 earned runs, including a season-high seven tallies in his last start on April 26 against the Manatees.
• Monday (4/29) - Victor Larez (2-2, 4.03) ... Victor Larez won his first two starts working a combined 13.0 innings and allowing three runs with ten hits, seven strikeouts and zero walks. He has dropped his last two starts, going 9.1 innings while surrendering 12 runs – seven earned – on 13 hits, five strikeouts and four walks. He has not faced Brevard County this season.

EARLIER THIS SEASON ... The Manatees took two of three games played earlier in Lakeland, winning the opener 9-6 in 11 innings scoring three times in the 11th on a fielder’s choice, passed ball and a single. Game three was all Manatees as four players each had three hits as Brevard County collected 18 hits including six doubles and three home runs. In between, Lakeland won 4-3, scoring twice in the bottom of the ninth with Brent Wyatt racing home on a wild pitch for the winning run. Julio Rodriguez went 5x8 (.625) with four runs batted in over two games while Jordan Lennerton hit .455 (5x11) in the three games for Lakeland. Brock Kjeldgaard was 6x15 (.429) and Scott Krieger went 6x15 (.400) for Brevard County while Ryan Gennett was 5x13 (.385) and Khristopher Davis went 4x11 (.364).

FAULK IS ALMOST FAULTLESS ... Kenny Faulk has allowed just one run in his 10 appearances out of the bullpen this season and has not been scored upon in his last five games. He has struck out 17 while walking just one batter all season.

FLYING HIGH ... Tony Plagman leads the FSL with 23 RBI ... Kenny Faulk is tied for second in the FSL with five saves.

OCHO FOR JULIO ... Catcher Julio Rodriguez went 1x3 in last night’s game to extend his hit streak to eight games. He is 12x26 (.462) in those eight games with a pair of doubles and seven runs batted in.

SIX AND COUNTING ... Avisail Garcia has hits in each of his last six games going 9x26 (.346) with six singles, a double, triple and home run. Gustavo Nunez also has a six-game hit streak going 7x24 (.293) in those games. He is 13x39 (.333) his last ten games with three doubles and a pair of triples. Since April 11, Nunez is 23x66 (.348).

GAYNOR GAININ’ ... Wade Gaynor has hits in four straight games going 6x13 (.462) with four singles and two doubles.

JONES’ TURNAROUND ... Corey Jones was 2x28 (.071) in nine games from April 9-18, but is 10x38 (.263) in 10 games since then.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN ... Lakeland is 3-6 on the road in 2011.

FOUR TO DOUBLE ... Lakeland has stolen one base in each of the last four games to double their season total on the season to eight stolen bases.

KEEP THOSE DOUBLES COMING ... The Flying Tigers have recorded at least one double in each of the last eight games (included five on April 27 at Clearwater) and in 12 of the last 13 games. Lakeland has doubles in 19 of their 22 games played this season.

EDUCATION DAY #2 ... Lakeland’s next home will be Wednesday, May 4 at 10:30 in the morning as the Flying Tigers play host to Clearwater and an expected Education Day crowd of 3,000

ON THE FARM ... Scott Sizemore leads Detroit minor leaguers with a .397 average at Toledo while Ben Guez is second with a .379 at Erie. Bryan Pounds is fourth with a .343 for the Mud Hens while Andy Dirks is sixth with a .337, also for Toledo. Gustavo Nunez is eighth in the organization with a .325 for Lakeland. On the mound, Charlie Furbush has an organization-low 1.90 ERA to go with his 2-1 mark for Toledo with 32 strikeouts and five walks in 23.2 innings. Adam Wilk is second with a 2.49 ERA for the Mud Hens while L.J. Gagnier is third at 2.63 for Erie. Jacob Turner (2.70, Erie 4th), Duane Below (3.63, Toledo, 5th), Victor Larez (4.03, Lakeland, 8th), Drew Smyly (4.08, Lakeland, 9th) and Thad Weber (4.18, Toledo, 10th) also rank in top ten. Lakeland’s Tony Plagman leads with 23 RBI and is second with four homes while Kenny Faulk is tops with five saves (three more than anyone else) ... Detroit (12-14); Toledo (11-12); Erie (9-11); Lakeland (11-11); West Michigan (7-13).