Mission Notes vs. Charlotte (July 17-20)

SERIES SCHEDULE ... All four games will be played in the friendly confines of Lakeland’s Joker Marchant Stadium. Sunday’s game is a 1 pm start with the next three games at 7 pm on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

THE FLYING TIGERS (46-44 all, 10-10 2nd half, T-2nd, 1.0 GB) ... Lakeland fell 8-2 to St. Lucie Saturday night. The loss was just the second in the last seven games for the Flying Tigers which now have a 19-12 record against teams from the South Division. The split with the Mets has allowed Lakeland to keep pace with the top of the South Division as Daytona and Dunedin each sport 11-11 records while Lakeland is 10-10. Tampa leads the North with a 12-10 mark.

THE STONE CRABS (43-48, 13-9 2nd half, 1st, 0.0 GB) ... Charlotte dropped a 4-1 loss to Clearwater on Friday but still sits atop the South Division with a half game over St. Lucie, Bradenton and Palm Beach. Hak-Ju Lee ranks third in the Florida State League with a .326 batting average; leads with nine triples; and is second with 62 runs scored. Tyler Bortnick leads the league with 28 stolen bases; second with 64 run scored; and is third with a .417 on-base percentage.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...

• Sunday (7/17) - Trevor Feeney (7-8, 4.03) tossed six shutout innings in his last start on 7/11 at Bradenton, limiting the Marauders to three hits with six strikeouts and one walk. He is 4-3 with a 2.72 ERA in his last eight starts dating back to May 29. Feeney has struck out 24 percent of the righthanded batters he has faced (47/196), but just 9 percent of lefthanded batters (21/222).
• Monday (7/18) - Mark Sorensen (7-7, 6.49 at AA Erie) will be making his first start for Lakeland this season. He has dropped four of his last five starts and has allowed 33 earned runs in 24.1 innings for a 12.21 ERA. Part of the problem has been homers, as Sorensen allowed 10 dingers in his last five starts and 17 on the season. The righty is making his third stint in Lakeland having pitched here in 2009 and 2010 with a 10-12 mark and a 4.03 ERA in 147.1 innings last season.
• Tuesday (7/19) - Jared Wesson (4-3, 3.18 ERA) picked up his 10th win (second in the FSL) in his last start on July 14 tossing five scoreless innings against St. Lucie, holding the Mets to four hits over 5.0 innings with four strikeouts and one walk. He has been on a roller coaster his last six starts with a 17.33 in games one, three and five, and a 1.10 ERA in games two, four and six. Lefties are hitting .218 against Wesson (22 hits in 101 at bats) while righties enjoy a .302 mark (79 hits in 262 at bats).
• Wednesday (7/20) - Drew Smyly (5-3, 3.07 ERA) picked up the win in his last start on July 15 against St. Lucie, holding the Mets to one run on four hits with seven strikeouts and one walk. He has allowed two earned runs in 9.0 innings over his last two starts and just seven over his last five starts for a 2.52 ERA and has struck out 33 and walked just five in those five starts. Wesson is 5-1 with a 2.62 ERA in his last eight starts dating back to June 3.

THIS SEASON ... Lakeland took three of the four games played May 14-17 in Charlotte. The Flying Tigers batted .277 in the series with Ryan Soares collecting six hits, including three homers, in the four games. Daniel Fields also had six hits, with a homer, and drove in seven runs while Jeff Kunkel had five hits in two games played. Lakeland dropped the first game 4-3 after rallying to score twice and leave the bases in the top of the ninth. The Flying Tigers, which hit nine homers in the series, erupted for seven runs in the third inning to cruise to a 10-1 win in game four.

LEWIS-CLARK TEAMMATES ... Charlotte’s Matthew Stabelfeld and Lakeland’s Brent Wyatt were teammates at Lewis-Clark State College in 2008. Wyatt went to Detroit in the 2008 draft while Stabelfeld was a pick of the Rays a season later.

ROSTER RUMBLIN’ .... With the addition of pitcher Mark Sorensen, Victor Larez was sent to West Michigan.

START STRONG, FINISH STRONGER? ... The Flying Tiger starting staff has a 2.86 ERA in the last seven games while the bullpen has a 2.73 earned run average over the same time frame. The numbers (based on earned runs) are a bit misleading, however, as the starters have allowed 11 runs in those seven games while the bullpen has surrendered 18 total runs. The starting rotation has walked just four batters in the seven games while the pen issued 13 free passes.

MO’ LITTLE ... Reliever Michael Morrison has allowed just one walk in his last 14 outings and 17.1 innings while fellow bullpen mate Matt Little has issued just one free pass over his last ten appearances spanning 12.1 innings.

ONE AT A TIME ... William Bergolla has one base hit in each of his last six games for a .261 average.

CROWED AT THE TOP ... With two hits on Saturday, Avisail Garcia now has 21 games with two or more hits tying him for the team lead with Gustavo Nunez and Tony Plagman. Brent Wyatt is right behind with 20 multi-hit games.

FLYING HIGH ... Avisail Garcia has six hits in his last four games (6-for-17) for a .353 average ... Cory Jones has hits in nine of his last 11 games (13-for-41) for a .317 mark with 10 runs batted in with a double and a pair of homers ... Brent Wyatt didn’t get a hit on Saturday, snapping a mini five-game hit streak in which he was 7-for-17 for a .412 clip.

GROUNDED ... Daniel Fields has been held hitless in his last four games for a 0-for-12 slump ... Jordan Lennerton does have a pair of singles in his last two games, but those are the only hits in five games for the first baseman/DH for a .143 average (2x14).

STAGE FRIGHT? ... With 1,237 fans last night, Lakeland has drawn crowds in excess of 1,000 fans on 14 occasions this season, but has dropped 10 of those games (including Saturday) and seven of the top crowds.

TRADE BAIT ... The Stone Crabs’ Hak-Ju Lee came to the Rays’ organization from the Cubs as part of the Matt Garza trade. Lee has competed for the World Team in the last two XM All-Star Futures Game.

THE DIAMOND AND THE GRIDIRON ... Charlotte’s Anthony Scelfo was a two-sport athlete at Tulane University. Along with playing baseball, he played quarterback for two seasons on the Green Wave football team, passing for 1,400 yards and six touchdowns in 2007.

THE BREEZE IS NOT FROM LAKE PARKER ... Not really a stat to be proud of, but the top three batters who rank 1-2-3 in number of strikeouts are Flying Tigers. Daniel Fields has struck out a league-leading 98 times while Avisail Garcia is second with 92 and Jordan Lennerton is third with 90 whiffs.

LAKELAND IN THE FSL ... Thanks to a four-RBI night on Friday, Tony Plagman has jumped to the top of the FSL with 68 runs batted in and is tied for fourth with 38 extra-base hits ... Brent Wyatt leads the league with a .425 on-base percentage ... Jared Wesson is second with 10 wins, one behind the leader Clearwater’s Julio Rodriguez ... Kenny Faulk, currently on the disabled list, is second with 20 saves ... Trevor Feeney is first with 111.2 innings pitched and third among starters with 1.53 walks issued per nine innings ... Jordan Lennerton is second with 68 walks ... Lakeland remains second with a .980 fielding percentage ... two current Flying Tigers lead their respective positions in fielding percentage: Wade Gaynor (3B, .954) and Brent Wyatt (OF, .994) ... Julio Rodriguez has thrown out 38.7 percent of opposing would-be base stealers, a mark which ranks second among all league catchers.