DAYTONA CUBS (6-1) ... Overnight, Lakeland from facing a winless club to one that leads the league in the form of Daytona. The Cubs had won their first six games before suffering their first defeat last night, a 2-1 affair in Clearwater. Nelson Perez leads Daytona with a hefty .474 average to rank fourth in the FSL, while Michael Burgess had already hit a league-leading four homers. Daytona is third in the FSL with a .278 team batting average and has hit a league-best nine homers. The Cubs’ pitching staff has a 2.29 ERA, second best in the league to St. Lucie’s impressive 1.57 staff ERA.
LAKELAND PROBABLE PITCHERS:
- Thursday - Cole Nelson (0-1, 3.00) ... took the loss on April 9 against Tampa despite striking out six and allowing two runs on seven hits in 6.0 innings ... 10th round pick by Detroit in 2010 out of Auburn ... had a 0.75 ERA in two starts in Lakeland in 2010 ... tossed 7.0 innings of no-hit ball on Sept. 1, 2010 against Dunedin. Lakeland went on to hold the Blue Jays hitless thru 13.1 innings.
- Friday - Jared Wesson (0-0, 6.00) ... worked 3.0 innings in first start on April 10 at Tampa ... struck out two and walked four, but gave up just one hit ... signed as non-drafted free agent by Detroit in 2009 out of Itawama Community College in Mississippi .. was 7-2 with a 3.44 ERA and 85 strikeouts in 81.0 innings last season at West Michigan ... father played basketball at Mississippi State from 1971-73.
- Saturday - Victor Larez (1-0, 0.00) ... Picked up win in first start on April 11 at Dunedin ... tossed seven shutout innings while striking out four and walking none while holding the Blue Jays to just four hits ... signed as non-drafted free agent by Detroit in 2005 ... played in the Venezuelan Summer League from 2006-08, the Gulf Coast League in 2009 and at West Michigan in 2010 ... has an 8-11 career record with a 4.27 ERA in 33 appearances entering the 2011 season.
LAST SEASON ... Lakeland took the series last season winning 10 of the 18 games played ... One of Daytona’s wins came against Brayan Villarreal, now with the big club in Detroit ... Lakeland’s Brent Wyatt had 10 hits in his 10 games played in the series last season for a .263 average against the Cubs.
POWER ‘EM UP ... The Flying Tigers have homered in five straight contest and in six of their seven games this season.
NOT KENNY’S FAULK ... Reliever Kenny Faulk has two saves in three outings far this season and has allowed just two hits and struck out five in 3.1 scoreless innings.
THE RIVER JORDAN ... Newcomer Jordan Pratt may stick around for a while if he keeps up his perfect outings he has displayed so far on the mound for the Flying Tigers. In his 4.2 innings over two appearances, he has not allowed a hit, a run, or a walk while posting four strikeouts.
TEUFEL’S TUFF ON OPPONENTS ... Reliever Shawn Teufel picked up the win in four shutout innings of relief work on April 11 in Dunedin. The son of former Major Leaguer, Tim Teufel, Shawn has held opponents scoreless on three hits, walked none, and struck out four.
MULTI-HITS ... Both Tony Plagman and Gustavo Nunez have had three games with two or more hits in the early going. Plagman has two two-hit games and had three hits against Tampa on April 8 and also has two homers this season. All of Nunez’s multi-hit games have come in the last three outings where he hit 7x12 (.583) in the series. He came up triple shy of the cycle on April 12, but picked up the triple the next night.
SNAPPED ... Jordan Lennerton collected one base hit in each of his first six games, but saw his hit streak come to a halt last night with an 0x3 night at Dunedin.
HE’S GAININ’ ... Wade Gaynor has had hits in five of his six games played including a home run on April 11 at Dunedin.
TAKING A LOT OF PITCHES ... Lakeland has walked 26 times in seven games this season, but has struck out 53 times, including racking up nine strikeouts in four different games.
BULLPEN SETTLING IN ... After allowing 10 earned runs in their first two outings, the Lakeland bullpen has been touched for just three earned runs over the last five outings for a 1.65 ERA in those five games. On the flip side, the starters had allowed six earned runs in the first five games, but have given up seven in the last two outings.
ALL IN THE FAMILY … Daytona’s Brett Wallach is the son of former Major Leaguer, Tim Wallach, who spent 17 seasons in the majors, including 13 years with the Montreal Expos … Cubs’ catcher, Michael Brenly, is the son of former Major Leaguer, Bob Brenly, a veteran of nine seasons in the big, almost all of them with the San Francisco Giants.
NO NOTE, JUST A GREAT NAME … Nomination for “Name of the Game” – Cubs’ infielder Junior Lake.
ONLY IN MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL ... NPR somehow determined that April 11, 1954 was the least significant day of the 20th Century. So, the West Michigan Whitecaps celebrated the “most boring day in history” in a myriad of ways, including encouraging fans to watch the grass grow between innings. The club also painted a wall pregame so fans could watch paint dry.
LAKELAND PROMOTIONS ...
- Thursday (April 14): The Flying Tigers will hold the second annual Chili Cook-Off on to raise money and awareness for the American Red Cross along the Lakeland Fire Department. It is also Thirsty Thursday with $1 beer and sodas.
- Friday (April 15) has a trio of goodies for fans with the first Friday Premium Giveaway, the first T-Shirt giveaways (45th Anniversary shirts this Friday) and Agricultural Night honoring the 4-H and Future Farmers of America. Children and families from the Florida Baptist Children’s Home and Gulf Coast Community Services will be the guest of the Flying Tigers and the Detroit Tigers Foundation of Florida.
- Saturday (April 16): Lakeland holds it second annual Pink-in-the-Park night for cancer awareness. The team will wear pink jerseys which fans can have a chance to win in a $75 per ticket raffle. Silent auction items will also be available. Last year’s event raised over $12,000 to support the Mary Kay Foundation. Saturday is also the second fireworks show of the season.
No comments:
Post a Comment