Mission Notes vs. St. Lucie (May 10-13)

SERIES SCHEDULE ... All four games are in St. Lucie. First pitch for Wednesday’s game is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. while the other three games get underway at 6:30 p.m. St. Lucie games are available via internet broadcast.

LAKELAND (15-16, 3rd-North, 8.0 GB) ... Lakeland beat Tampa 5-1 yesterday to take the series three games to one. After a 9-4 start, the Flying Tigers have gone 6-12. Julio Rodriguez, thanks to eight hits in his last 11 at bats, ranks fourth in the FSL with a .359 average and Tony Plagman is second in the league with 30 RBI, just one behind the leader while Wade Gaynor is tied for second with 10 doubles. Jordan Lennerton is a close second in the league with 24 walks, just two behind the leader. Lakeland is hitting .258 as a team and have dropped to ninth in the league while the staff ERA of 3.91 ranks seventh.

ST. LUCIE (21-10, 1st-South, 0.0 GB) ... The Mets tore out of the starting gate winning 17 of their first 19 games to stand at 17-2 on April 25. Since then, however, the squad is 4-8. St. Lucie downed Palm Beach 3-2 in 10 innings last night. The Mets have the third best ERA in the FSL at 3.21 while the team batting average of .274 ranks fourth.

LAKELAND PROBABLE PITCHERS:

• Tuesday (5/10) - Jay Voss (1-0, 3.07) worked 4.0 innings in his last start on May 4 against Clearwater. He allowed two runs on two hits with two strikeouts and no walks. Voss began the season as a reliever and has started his last three outings with a 1-0 record and a 4.09 ERA as a starter. This will be his first start on the road in 2011.
• Wednesday (5/11) - Cole Nelson (1-3, 5.34) took the loss in his last start on May 5 working 5.1 innings allowing three runs on seven hits with six strikeouts and four walks. In his previous start he surrendered four runs n 11 in 4.2 innings, but struck out 11.
• Thursday (5/12) - Jared Wesson (3-2, 5.93) tossed eight shutout innings on May 6 in his last start against Tampa. He held the Yankees to a pair of hits to pick up his second straight win. Wesson has a 1.80 ERA in his last two starts on nine hits while in his prior two starts to that, he allowed 12 runs on 20 hits in 6.2 innings for a 5.40 ERA.
• Friday (5/13) - Victor Larez (3-3, 4.68) was tagged for six runs on 10 hits in just 3.2 innings on May 7 against Tampa in his last start. After beginning the season 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA, Larez has dropped three of his last four outings with a 6.41 ERA. He has a decision in each of his six starts.

LAST SEASON ... This is the first series between these two clubs this season. Lakeland won six of the eight games played last season with Brent Wyatt batting .480 in the series with 12 hits including two doubles, a triple and a home run for seven RBI.

THE OL’ COLLEGE TRY ... Lakeland’s Jared Wesson and St. Lucie’s Chris Hilliard were teammates at Itawamba Junior College in Mississippi in 2008. The Flying Tigers’ Corey Jones and the Mets’ Jeff Kaplan both played for Cal State Fullerton in 2008.

DOUBLE D ... St. Lucie’s Matt Den Dekker is all over the FSL leaderboard: 9th with a .336 batting average; 3rd with 40 hits; 1st with 13 doubles; 2nd with 18 extra base hits; 2nd with 25 runs scored; tied for 1st with 4 triples.

TIGER TRIVIA ... Gustavo Nunez led the Flying Tigers with 116 hits last season to become the first Lakeland player since 1985 to lead the team in hits and return to start the following season in Lakeland. Who was the player who led the 1984 team in hits only to start the 1985 season in Lakeland? Answer at the end.

STRONG ARMED ... The Mets’ Matthew Harvey and Jeurys Familia rank first and second in the league with 1.10 and 1.49 ERAs, respectively. Harvey and Scott Moviel are tied for second with four wins each while closer Jeffrey Kaplan is tied for third with eight saves. Harvey is second with 39 strikeouts while Darin Gorski is third with 38 K’s and Familia is fifth with 36.

STRONG “D” ... Lakeland has the best fielding team in the Florida State League with a .980 mark. Wade Gaynor is the top defensive third baseman with a .965 fielding percentage.

NO CONTROL ISSUES ... In the last 12 games, the Flying Tigers bullpen has walked just eight batters while striking out 34. In those dozen games, the pen has allowed just 10 earned runs for a 2.67 ERA. Here’s a look at the strikeouts to walk numbers for the top relievers: Kenny Faulk (22/2); Jordan Pratt (16/3); Zach Samuels (11/2).

HOME, SWEET HOME? ... Wade Gaynor hits over 100 points better on the road than at Marchant Stadium. In 14 road games, the third baseman is hitting .316, while he is hitting .214 in 15 home games. Second baseman Corey Jones is batting .275 in 13 road games and .158 in 16 home dates. On the other hand, catcher Julio Rodriguez is hitting a blistering .450 at home and .263 on the road.

FAMOUS BLOODLINE ... The Mets’ Franciso Pena is the son of former Major Leaguer Tony Pena who played 19 years in the bigs.

GOT HIS NUMBER ... Clearwater’s Jonathan Pettibone had a 3-0 record with a miniscule 0.38 ERA in his first four starts in 2011, but then he faced the Flying Tigers. In his last two starts, both against Lakeland, he emerged 0-1 with a 3.75 ERA. Against Lakeland, he allowed six runs on 10 hits with six strikeouts and five walks. In his first four games against the rest of the Florida State League, Pettibone allowed just one earned run with 18 strikeouts and just two walks.

AAA PITCHERS OF THE WEEK ... Former Flying Tiger Duane Below has been named the International League’s Pitcher of the Week for May 2-8. Below was 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 14.0 innings, including 11 against Charlotte in a no-decision on May 8. In the Pacific Coast League, Andrew Kown, who played in Lakeland in 2006 and 2007, was named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week for the Fresno Grizzlies. the AAA affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Kown was 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA and 13 strikeouts over 13.0 innings.

TRIVIA ANSWER ... Jim Walewander led the 1984 team with 136 hits and then played in 129 games in Lakeland in 1985. He went on to make his major league debut with Detroit in 1987 and played in four seasons in the big leagues.