Mission Notes vs. Daytona (April 20-22)

THE FLYING TIGERS (9-4) ... With their 8-6 win over Dunedin last night, Lakeland has taken over sole possession of first place in the FSL North Division. The win was the Flying Tigers’ eighth in the last ten games while their 9-4 start is the best for a Flying Tiger since 2005. In last night’s game, the 3-4-5 hitters (Wade Gaynor, Tony Plagman, Avisail Garcia) combined for six hits, five runs scored, and five runs batted in. Lakeland is now hitting .253 on the season with eight homers while the pitching staff has a 3.55 ERA. The Flying Tigers will play two games in Daytona before returning home for a Friday night game at 7 against these same Daytona Cubs.

DAYTONA CUBS (8-5) ... The Cubs bumped Clearwater out of first place last night by handing the Threshers a 4-3 defeat. At 8-5 the two clubs are tied for second place, just one game behind the Flying Tigers. Jae-Hoon Ha is fourth in the FSL with a .415 average and second with 22 hits while Michael Burgess is tied for the league-lead with four home runs. Robert Whitenack is eighth in the FSL with a 1.06 ERA to go with his 2-0 record and is third in the league with 18 strikeouts.

EARLIER THIS SEASON ... Lakeland swept the Cubs in three games last week in Lakeland winning games one and two by identical 4-3 margins and taking game three, 9-6. Tony Plagman was an impressive 9x12 with eight runs batted in the previous three games while Brent Wyatt (4x7, .571) and Wade Gaynor (4x8, .500) also had impressive marks. Matt Cerda has hit 6x12 (.500) in the series for the Cubs while Jae-Hoon Ha is 6x13 (.462).

LAKELAND PROBABLE PITCHERS:

• Wednesday - Jared Wesson (1-0, 5.19) ... picked up the win on April 15 going 5.2 innings on five strikeouts ... worked 3.0 innings in first start on April 10, striking out two and walking four ... four of five runs allowed have come in the third inning ... righthanders are batting .350 against him while holding lefties to a .083 average.
• Thursday - Victor Larez (2-0, 2.08) ... picked up the win on April 16 working 6.0 innings, allowing three runs on six hits ... worked 7.0 shutout innings on April 11 at Dunedin, getting the win, holding Dunedin to four hits ... has seven strikeouts in the two games ... has not walked a batter in two outings ... righties hitting .231 against while lefties have a .182 average.
• Friday - Trevor Feeney (2-0, 3.71) ... did not face Daytona in the first series ... picked up wins in his first and third starts ... went 6.2 innings in win on April 17 despite allowing nine hits ... righties hitting .385 against Feeney while lefties have a .256 average.

DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE ... The Flying Tigers have knocked out nine doubles in the last four games and have had at least one double in all but two games this season.

WHERE ARE THE THIEVES? ... Daniel Fields, Gustavo Nunez and Shawn Roof are all tied for the team lead in stolen bases –with one each. They are also the only three Flying Tigers that have attempted a stolen base in 2011.

LEFT STRANDED ... Lakeland has stranded an average of 9.8 runners per game over the last eight contests and have had three games with 13 runner left on base.

FIRST OR LAST, IT DOESN’T MATTER ... Lakeland is 8-2 when scoring first and 4-0 when scoring last.

MADE THE JAYS FEEL BLUE ... Gustavo Nunez has been a one-man wrecking crew against Dunedin this season going 13x23 (.565) with four doubles, two triples and a home run while scoring eight runs.

GOT SOMETHING AGAINST FIRST BASE? ... Wade Gaynor seems to not like stopping at first base as six of his last 11 hits have been for extra bases with four doubles and two home runs.

CAN’T HIT JUST ONE ... Tony Plagman has six multi-hit games, including two doubles and two singles on April 16 against Dunedin. He has two other games with three hits.

THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD ... The Lakeland bullpen has a sparkling 1.03 ERA in the last eight games with 30 strikeouts with just six walks. Lakeland starting pitchers, however, have a 5.20 ERA in the same time frame and have given up at least three earned runs in each of the eight starts.

NO FREE PASSES ... Starter Victor Larez is 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA and has not allowed a walk in his 13.0 innings ... Kenny Faulk, who leads the team with four saves, has not walked a batter in six relief appearances and has struck out 10 batters. Faulk has only allowed one run ... Dan Gentzler, who has two saves and an 0-2 record despite allowing just one earned run, also had not issued a free pass so far.

FSL LEADERS ... Tony Plagman is fifth in the FSL with a .412 average (Clearwater’s Joe Slavery leads all of minor league baseball with a torrid .523 average) and leads with 17 RBI (his 17 RBI is tied for second most in the minor leagues, just one behind the leaders). He is also third with 21 hits and fifth with a .474 on-base percentage ... Gustavo Nunez leads with 13 runs scored and is fourth with 32 total bases ... Jordan Lennerton is second with 11 walks ... Kenny Faulk is second with four saves.

DETROIT MINOR LEAGUE LEADERS ... Tony Plagman is second with a .412 average and leads with 17 RBI (over twice as many the next highest total) ... Gustavo Nunez is fourth with a .367 mark ... Kenny Faulk (4), Dan Gentzler (2) and Ryan Robowski (2) are the only Detroit minor leaguers with more than one save ... Drew Smyly is tied for fourth with 14 strikeouts ... Lakeland has the best ERA (3.55) of the four Detroit minor league teams so far and is third with a .253 average.

LAKELAND PROMOTIONS ...

• Friday (April 22): The Phillie Phanatic will be the star attraction while the first 300 paid adults will receive as free 45th Anniversary Affiliate Pin.
• Saturday (April 23): The Flying Tigers will stage their annual Easter Egg Hunt with 20,000 eggs and a special appearance by the Easter Bunny. Fireworks will follow the egg hunt.
• Monday (April 25): $1 hot dogs and 2-for-1 ticket offer in the Ledger, compliments of the Ledger Media Group.