Mission Notes vs. Fort Myers (July 29-Aug. 1)

SERIES SCHEDULE ... All four games will be played in Fort Myers beginning with 7:05 p.m. start times on Friday and Saturday. Sunday’s game gets underway at 1:05 p.m. while Monday’s game moves back to 7:05 p.m. All games will be carried live on internet radio. Check the Miracle’s website for details.

THE FLYING TIGERS (49-53 all, 13-19 2nd half, 6th, 6.0 GB) ... Lakeland dropped a doubleheader last night to Palm Beach losing 6-5 and 3-1 in a twin bill delayed 1:19 due rain. Both games were over 2:18 long with game two ending at 11:40 p.m. The pair of losses gives Lakeland a 2-9 record over the last 11 games. An obvious big part of the problem is a rack of run production as the Flying Tigers have been shut out three times and held to one run four times in that skid. A key hit here or there could’ve changed the fate of some games as Lakeland has averaged 8.0 runners left on base in the last 11 games. The Flying Tigers are batting .255 as a team with a 3.80 ERA.

THE MIRACLE (48-56, 14-20 2nd half, 6th, 5.5 GB) ... Fort Myers will be looking to snap an eight game losing streak dating back to July 21. The Miracle have been outscored 51-13 in the last eight games, including a 12-1 loss to Tampa on Thursday. Aaron Hicks is third in the league with 25 doubles, but hasn’t hit a two-bagger since July 19. Fort Myers is hitting .253 as a team (second lowest in the Florida State League) and has a 4.61 ERA (the highest in the FSL).

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...

• Friday (7/29) - Jared Wesson (10-8, 4.81 ERA) took the loss in his last start on July 24 against Jupiter despite holding the Hammerheads to three runs on nine hits. It was his second loss in a row and third in his last four starts. Wesson has allowed seven earned runs in nine innings over his last two starts after tossing five scoreless innings on July 14. Righthanders are batting a robust .310 against Wesson while he is holding lefties to a .232 mark.
• Saturday (7/30) - Brian Stroud (1-4, 2.76 ERA for Gulf Coast Tigers) will be making his Lakeland debut after going 1-4 with the GCL club. A 31st round pick out of Western Michigan University, he is the first 2011 Detroit draft pick to play for the Flying Tigers. Stroud has dropped his last three starts despite allowing a total of five earned runs and striking out 16 and walking just one batter. He went 1-3 in July but posted a 1.80 ERA with 22 K’s in 25.0 innings.
• Sunday (7/31) - Shawn Teufel (2-3, 3.89 ERA) will be looking for his first win as a starter since moving into the rotation on July 16. As a starter he has allowed 12 earned runs in 13.0 innings for a 6.88 ERA in three starts. In his last start on July 28, he gave up five runs – four earned – on five hits and four walks in 3.0 innings. Teufel, son of former major leaguer Tim Teufel, is holding lefties to .171 while righthanders are batting .273 against him.
• Monday (8/01) - Trevor Feeney (7-10, 4.27 ERA) has lost his last two starts allowing 10 runs on 18 hits in 9.0 innings. In his last start on July 28 against Palm Beach he allowed six runs on eight hits, but struck out five batters. Prior to the last two outings, he had not been touched for a earned run in 11.2 innings over two previous starts. Lefties are hitting .289 against Feeney while righthanders are batting .277 against him.

THIS SEASON ... Lakeland swept Fort Myers in four games in Lakeland back on May 31-June 3 by a combined score of 31-13 including a 13-2 victory in the opener (despite leaving 13 men on base) behind four hits each by Avisail Garcia and Corey Jones. Lakeland batted .329 in the series with 10 doubles, two triples and three homers. Fort Myers batted .239 in the four games. Should Lakeland go on to sweep these four games, it would be the first season series sweep since claiming eight wins over Jupiter last season.

CLOSE ONES ... The 6-5 loss to Palm Beach in the opening game of Thursday’s doubleheader was the 28th one-run game for Lakeland this season. The Flying Tigers are 18-10 in one-run games, the best record in the FSL.

SMYLY SMILING WITH PROMOTION ... With a 3-0 record and a string of 17 scoreless innings over his last three games, Drew Smyly earned a promotion to AA Erie on Friday. Smyly had allowed a run in the first inning against St. Lucie on July 15 and then tossed four shutout innings before holding Charlotte scoreless thru six innings on July 20 and blanking Palm Beach thru seven innings in his last start on July 25. Overall, the 2010 second round draft was 7-3 with a 2.58 ERA with 77 strikeouts and 21 walks in 80.1 innings for Lakeland. He’ll join fellow 2011 Flying Tigers Gustavo Nunez, Tyler Stohr and Jay Voss in Erie.

ROBUST ROBOWSKI MAKES MUD HEN RUN ... Drew Smyly wasn’t the only Flying Tiger pitcher taking a flight out of town. Earlier in the week Ryan Robowski was promoted to AAA Toledo on July 26. The former Flying Tiger made his Mud Hen debut on July 28 tossing one shutout inning against Norfolk, limiting the Tides to one hit with one strikeout.

FIRST DRAFTEE ... Brian Stroud becomes the first 2011 Detroit Tiger draft pick to play for the Flying Tigers this season. A 31st round pick out of Western Michigan University, Stroud made his professional debut on June 24 for the Gulf Coast League Tigers and joined Lakeland on July 29 after posting a 1-4 mark with a 2.76 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 32.2 innings for the GCL club.

A LITTLE BIT HERE AND THERE ... The run allowed by Matt Little in his last appearance on July 28 against Palm Beach was his first allowed in eight outings dating back to July 1 and just his second tally surrendered since May 5.

MORE ISN’T ALWAYS BETTER ... Reliable Michael Morrison was tagged for four runs in his last outing on July 26 matching the amount of runs he had allowed in his previous 33.1 innings over 27 appearances.

WHAT A RELIEF ... Cole Nelson seems to be adjusting quite well to his new role as a relief pitcher. Opening the season as a starter, Nelson struggled to a 4-10 mark and a 5.36 ERA. However, since moving into the Flying Tiger bullpen on July 11, he has a 1.74 ERA with 11 strikeouts in 10.1 innings pitched.

ZILCH FOR ZACH ... Reliever Zach Samuels has been untouchable as of late, tossing 10.1 scoreless innings in his last five appearances.

FIRED UP FIELDS ... Daniel Fields carries a mini five-game hit streak into the series with one hit in each game including a triple on July 26 and a three-run homer on July 28.

DH DEUCES ... Avisail Garcia had two hits in each game of the doubleheader against Palm Beach on Thursday and is 5-for-10 his last three games.

ONE IN 11 ... Lakeland will play just one home game (Aug. 4) in the next 11 days with one off day (Aug. 2).

LAKELAND IN THE FSL ... Trevor Feeney is first with 126.1 innings pitched and fourth with 1.78 walks per nine innings ... Jared Wesson remains tied for second with 10 wins ... Kenny Faulk is second with 20 saves ... Tony Plagman is tied for first with 73 runs batted in ... Brent Wyatt is third with a .416 on-base percentage ... Jordan Lennerton is second with 73 walks ... with six errors in the Palm Beach series, Lakeland has dropped to second with a .979 fielding percentage ... Corey Jones (2B, .976) and Wade Gaynor (3B, .953) lead their respective positions in fielding percentage. Gaynor leads all third baseman in games played (95), total chances (295), putouts (80), assists (201) and double plays (20) while Wyatt is tied for the lead with 17 outfield assists.