Mission Notes vs. Charlotte (May 14-17)

SERIES SCHEDULE ... All four games will be played at Charlotte Sports Park, which in addition to being the home of the Stone Crabs, is the Spring Training home of the Tampa Bay Rays. Saturday’s game is at 6:30 p.m., Sunday is a 1:30 p.m. while Monday and Tuesday’s first pitches are slated for 6:30 p.m.

FLYING TIGERS (17-18, 4th-North, 8.0 GB) ... Lakeland overcame a 5-0 deficit with a five-run sixth inning on Friday and also came back from trailing 6-5 to post a 7-6 win at St. Lucie, gaining a split of a four-game series against the Mets. Daniel Fields went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two more driven in with a double and triple while Brent Wyatt and Corey Jones also added two hits. The Flying Tigers have won three of their last five games and four of their last seven. Lakeland was out hit 33 to 18 in the last three games of the series against St. Lucie. The Flying Tigers rank ninth in the FSL with a .255 average have stolen a league-low 13 bases. Lakeland’s staff ERA of 4.00 ranks seventh.

CHARLOTTE STONE CRABS (12-23, 6th-South, 11.0 GB) ... Charlotte rallied late in last night’s game, but couldn’t overcome Brevard County in falling 8-7 to the Manatees. The loss was the Stone Crabs’ second in a row, fourth in the last five, and ninth in the last 12 games. In spite of their 12-23 record, the Stone Crabs rank fifth in the league with a .274 batting average. They are second in the league with 12 triples, but have hit a league-low 10 home runs (Daytona leads with 33 dingers). Charlotte has a 4.31 ERA which ranks eighth in the league, right behind Lakeland. Charlotte won the South Division last season and advanced in the Florida State League to face Tampa in the championship series, falling in four games

LAKELAND PROBABLE PITCHERS:

• Saturday (5/14) - Trevor Feeney (3-3, 4.35) had his best outing of the year in his last start on May 9 at Tampa. Working 7.0 innings, Feeney held the Yankees to one run on four hits with four strikeouts. In his last two starts, he is 1-1, despite a 1.92 ERA with 12 K’s and just two walks.
• Sunday (5/15) - Jay Voss (2-0, 3.05) picked up a win in his last start on May 10 going 6.0 innings against St. Lucie. Voss held the Mets to two runs on six hits with four punch-outs and one walk. He has allowed two earned runs in each of his last three starts and is 2-2. He began season in the bullpen but joined the starting rotation when Drew Smyly went on the disabled list.
• Monday (5/16) - Cole Nelson (1-4, 4.91) held St. Lucie to two earned runs on six hits with four strikeouts and four walks on May 11 in getting tagged with his third consecutive loss. He is looking for his first road victory against a pair of losses and has a 4.91 ERA in five home outings and two road starts.
• Tuesday (5/17) - Jared Wesson (3-3, 6.43) surrendered five runs on six hits in 4.2 innings at St. Lucie in his last start on May 12. In the game prior to that, he tossed two-hit ball over 8.0 shutout innings. He is 2-1 with a 5.63 ERA at home and 1-2 with a 7.11 mark on the road.

LAST SEASON … Lakeland won five of the eight games played last season, including three of four in Lakeland. In the one home loss, Charlie Furbush struck out 13 batters. The two teams split their four games at Charlotte. Four games in the series were decided by one run with two others being two-run affairs. Jordan Lennerton batted .438 in the series.

TOP TEN HITTER ... Lakeland’s Julio Rodriguez is tied for seventh in the Florida State League with a .341 average. In the other dugout, Charlotte’s Hak-Ju Lee, who came to the Tampa Bay organization from the Cubs as part of the Matt Garza trade, leads the FSL with a .396 average.

GRAND SALAMI ... Jordan Lennerton made his first homer of the season a big one, connecting for a grand slam on May 10 on the road at St. Lucie. It is the eighth four-run round-tripper of the Florida State League season.

TODAY’S LETTER IS K ... Kenny Faulk has worked 1.0 inning in each of his last ten appearances out of the bullpen and has recorded two strikeouts in seven of those games and had three K’s in another. In his 14 relief appearances he has recorded at least one strikeout in 13 of those games.

OUTSTANDING IN HIS FIELDS ... Daniel Fields is 7-for-22 (.318) in his last six games with a pair of doubles and a triple.

WILD WYATT ... Brent Wyatt brings a five-game hit streak into the series in which he is 7-for-16 (.438).

STILL #2 ... Tony Plagman continues to rank second in the Florida State League in runs batted in, entering this series with 30 while Jordan Lennerton is still second in the FSL with 27 walks.

BACK-TO-BACK SHUTOUTS … St. Lucie tossed back-to-back shutouts against Lakeland on Wednesday and Thursday, winning 6-0 and 7-0. It marked the first time since April 10 and 11 of last season when Tampa blanked the Flying Tigers 1-0 and 3-0 that the club had been shutout in conseuctive games.

GLOVE WORK ... Lakeland is tied for second in the league with a .977 fielding percentage. Individually, center fielder Daniel Fields leads the FSL with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage, handling 75 total chances with zero errors. Wade Gaynor leads FSL third baseman with 25 putouts while Corey Jones leads all second baseman with 107 assists. Catcher Julio Rodriguez has thrown out 35.3 percent of opposing base stealers this season.

UP AND DOWN … Two former Flying Tigers exchanged roster spots in the organizational ladder as Ben Guez (OF) moved up to Toledo while Bryan Pounds (3B) was sent to Erie.

DETROIT ORGANIZATION LEADERS ... Justin Henry leads all Detroit minor leaguers with a .367 batting average at Erie while Ben Guez has a .351 mark at Toledo. Julio Rodriguez’s mark of .341 ranks fifth while Toledo’s Andy Dirks and Erie’s Bryan Pounds rank eighth and ninth with averages of .328 and .313, respectively. Toledo’s Duane Below and Charlie Furbush rank second and third with ERA’s of 2.70 and 2.90, respectively. L.J. Gagnier (6th, 3.86); Toledo’s Adam Wilk (8th, 3.96) and Trevor Feeney (9th, 4.35) also rank in the top ten.

THANK YA, THANK YA VERY MUCH … Fans at the Saturday night Charlotte game will be treated by an appearance by Little “E”, the World’s Smallest Elvis Impersonator.