Mission Notes vs. Dunedin (July 4-7)

SERIES SCHEDULE ... Lakeland entertains Dunedin for a four-game set starting with a 5:00 p.m. game on Monday, July 4. Games 2-4 are 7:00 p.m. starts on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

THE FLYING TIGERS (40-39, 4-5, 5th, 1.0 GB) ... Lakeland is coming off a split of a two-game series in Clearwater. The Flying Tigers won the first game, 8-4, with a six-run fifth on the strength of a Jordan Lennerton grand slam. The Threshers returned the favor on Sunday, taking a 11-3 decision, highlighted by a seven-run third inning. William Bergolla had five hits in the two games.

THE BLUE JAYS (45-36, 6-5, T-1st, 0.0 GB) ... Dunedin pulled out an 9-8 win on Sunday, scoring the winning run in the bottom of the ninth on a wild pitch, an error and a single by Brad McElroy. The Blue Jays have won four of their last six contests. Six of Dunedin’s last seven games have featured rain delays from 18 to 61 minutes. A.J. Jimenez leads the Blue Jays with a .317 average while Kenny Nolan and Ryan Goins are each hitting .293 on the season. Nestor Molina is 7-3 with a 2.91 ERA while closer Wes Etheridge leads all of professional baseball with 28 saves. Dunedin has hit a league-leading 64 home runs with Brad Glenn hitting 16 homers to top the team (although he has hit just one since June 5 and twice dating back to May 27).

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...

• Monday (7/04) - Luke Putkonen (0-3, 6.75 ERA) will be looking to snap a three-game losing streak and get his first win for the Flying Tigers this season. The righthander has struck out 16 and walked five in 24.0 innings but has surrendered four homers in four starts. In his last start, Putkonen allowed five runs - three earned - on nine hits to Dunedin on June 29. Throw in 11 starts at AA Erie and Putkonen is 1-10 this season with a 7.31 earned run average.
• Tuesday (7/05) - Trevor Feeney (6-7, 4.29 ERA) scattered five hits over 7.0 innings while holding Dunedin to one run on four strikeouts in his last start on June 30. He is 2-2 with a 2.73 ERA in his last five starts. Feeney is 3-3 with a 3.74 ERA in seven starts at Joker Marchant Stadium and is 3-4 with a 4.72 ERA in nine road starts. He worked a season-high 8.0 innings on June 4 and has gone 7.0 in six other starts.
• Wednesday (7/06) - Cole Nelson (4-10, 5.40) didn’t make it out the first inning in his last start on July 1 at Dunedin, allowing five runs – four earned – on four hits and three walks in just two-thirds of an innings. He is 1-4 with a 6.85 ERA over his last five starts with 22 strikeouts and 11 walks and has dropped six of his last seven starts.
• Thursday (7/07) - Jared Wesson (9-5, 4.33) Worked five innings in his last start on July 2 at Clearwater holding the Threshers to one run on four hits. He has won two of his last three and has six wins in his last nine starts. Wesson has limited his walks to just four over the last two games after having back-to-back games with six walks each.

THIS SEASON ... Lakeland holds a slim 5-4 advantage in the series. The Flying Tigers took the first two games while the Blue Jays have won four of the past seven with the two clubs alternating wins. Wade Gaynor is Lakeland’s top active player in the series with a .273 average and two homers and seven runs batted in. Tony Plagman carries a .267 average in the series while Brent Wyatt is hitting .233 in the nine games. Lakeland is batting just .221 while Dunedin has a .264 average in the nine games. Trevor Feeney is 2-0 with a 3.32 ERA against the Blue Jays.

GLAD HE’S GONE ... Dunedin may be happy that Gustavo Nunez is no longer with Lakeland as the Flying Tiger shortstop had 13 hits in 23 at bats in his six games versus the Blue Jays. Nunez, now at AA Erie, scored eight runs with three doubles, two triples and a homer against Dunedin this season.

LENNERTON DOES IT AGAIN ... Jordan Lennerton hit a bases-loaded homer in a six-run fifth inning on Saturday. It was the Flying Tiger’s second grand slam of the season – both by Lennerton.

WALKS EQUALS WINS? ... The Flying Tigers have lost three of the last five games and in each loss failed to draw a walk and were shutout in two of those games. In the two wins, they walked a combined eight times. Lakeland was not issued a free pass in three others game, losing twice and strangely enough, in the third, picking up the win in an 10-1 triumph over Charlotte.

SIX-SHOOTER FOR WYATT? ... Brent Wyatt brings a five-game hit streak into this season going 6-for-21 in those five games with three runs, two runs batted in and two doubles.

THIRD PLAYER EJECTED ... Drew Smyly was tossed at the conclusion of the third inning on Sunday after surrendering seven runs (four earned) in the frame. He is the third player ejected this season joining Wade Gaynor (June 2) and Avisail Garcia (June 29). Manager Dave Huppert got an early trip to the showers on April 27 at Clearwater.

IT’S TIME FOR ONE RUN ... Lakeland starting pitchers have allowed just one run in every other game since June 28. In the alternating games, the starters were tagged for 4, 5, 5, and 7 runs.

GATE LEFT OPEN IN THE PEN ... The Lakeland bullpen was victimized for seven runs over the last two games on nine hits and six walks.

DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN? ... Lakeland hopes history repeats itself as one year ago, the Flying Tigers posted a 14-0 shutout over the Blue Jays on July 4. Jordan Lennerton had four-hits to spark a 17-hit attack while Alexander Moreno added three hits and Brandon Douglas and John Murrian each had two hits. Murrian drove in three runs with a home run while Brent Wyatt also drove in three runs.

SOMETHING IN THE AIR? ... In addition to Lakeland’s 14-0 win over Dunedin in 2010, the Flying Tigers shut out Tampa, 4-0, on July 4, 2009. In 2008, Lakeland fell 2-1 to Fort Myers in 14 innings.

BANG UP CROWDS ... Lakeland has averaged almost 4,000 fans (3,982) in the last five Fourth of July games with a high of 5,248 in 2009. Only once has the event been rained out with a soggy night in 2007.

LAKELAND IN THE FSL ... Jared Wesson leads with nine wins ... Kenny Faulk is tied for second with 19 saves; third among relievers with 11.69 strikeouts, fifth with 1.39 walks and fourth with 8.91 baserunners allowed per nine innings ... Tony Plagman is fourth with 56 runs batted in ... Brent Wyatt has dropped to third with a .423 on-base percentage ... Trevor Feeney is first with 98.2 innings pitched and fourth among starters with 1.55 walks issued per nine innings ... Jordan Lennerton is tied for second with 56 walks ... Lakeland is tied with Clearwater for the league lead with a .982 fielding percentage ... Wade Gaynor leads all third baseman with a .954 fielding percentage while Daniel Fields leads all outfielders with a .994 fielding mark ... Julio Rodriguez has thrown out 38.7 percent of opposing would-be base stealers, a mark which ranks second among all league catchers.

STARS OF TOMORROW ... According to research by the Clearwater Threshers staff, 32 players from the AL and NL Major League Baseball All-Star teams played in the Florida State League prior to making it to the majors.