Mission Notes vs. Jupiter (July 21-24)

SERIES SCHEDULE ... All four games will be on the road at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter with the first three games on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 6:25 and the final game Sunday at 5:05 p.m. Audio of the games will be available on the internet. Lakeland takes a 22-14 record into the series against South Division teams.

THE FLYING TIGERS (48-46 all, 12-12 2nd half, 2nd, 1.0 GB) ... Lakeland shut out Charlotte 11-0 on Wednesday to split a four-game series with the Stone Crabs. Eric Roof hit his first homer of the season while Tony Plagman added his 14th round-tripper as Lakeland posted its largest shutout margin of the year and matched the largest margin of victory. The win is the seventh in the last 11 games for Lakeland and places the Flying Tigers in second place in the FSL North Division, just 1.0 game behind front-running Tampa. Lakeland has stolen the fewest bases of any team in the league, swiping a bases just 39 times.

THE HAMMERHEADS (40-55, 8-17 2nd half, 6th, 8.0 GB) ... Jupiter fell 10-3 to Tampa on Wednesday, suffering its second loss in the last five games. Kyle Jensen leads the Florida State League with 20 home runs and a .568 slugging percentage; fourth with a .318 batting average; and fifth with 62 RBI and 103 hits. The Hammerheads have the lowest team batting average in the league at .247 and have scored the fewest runs of any FSL team. On the flip side, Jupiter has the best staff ERA of 3.47 on any league team.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...

• Thursday (7/21) - Shawn Teufel (2-1, 2.50 ERA) took the loss in his last start on July 16 allowing St. Lucie three runs on five hits with three strikeouts and five hits in a season-long 5.0 innings. Teufel moved into the starting rotation on July 10 and is 0-1 as a starter with a 4.00 ERA in two starts. As a reliever he had a 2-0 record and a 2.00 ERA in 12 appearances.
• Friday (7/22) - Trevor Feeney (7-8, 3.84 ERA) did not factor into the decision in his last start despite holding Charlotte to four hits and two unearned runs over 5.2 innings with four strikeouts and three walks. He has alternated wins and losses over his last eight decisions and has dropped his ERA to 2.35 since the All-Star game with a 2-2 record.
• Saturday (7/23) - Mark Sorensen (0-1, 18.00 ERA) made his 2011 season for Lakeland on July 18 against Charlotte and it was probably one he’d like to forget allowing eight runs – four earned – on nine hits in just 2.0 innings. Prior to joining Lakeland, Sorensen was 7-7 with a 6.49 ERA in 17 starts at AA Erie.
• Sunday (7/24) - Jared Wesson (10-7, 4.78 ERA) dropped his last decision surrendering five runs – four earned – on five hits with four walks over 4.0 innings on July 19 against Charlotte. The game continued Wesson’s roller coaster ride as of late. The 6’5” lefty has a 3-0 record and a 1.10 ERA in three wins on June 20, July 2 and 14 and a 0-3 mark with a 7.07 earned run average in alternate starts on June 27, July 9 and 19.

THIS SEASON ... Lakeland and Palm Beach split a four-game series at Roger Dean Stadium back on May 26-29 with the Cardinals winning games one (8-2) and three (2-0) and the Flying Tigers taking games two (3-2) and four (5-3). Jordan Lennerton was 6-for-15 in the series with two doubles and four runs batted in while Gustavo Nunez was also 6-for-15 with four runs scored. Lakeland hit just .217 over the four games as Cardinal pitchers recorded 39 strikeouts in the series. Trevor Feeney and Jared Wesson picked up wins while Kenny Faulk saved both wins.
 
FINALLY! ... Jupiter Chad James finally picked up his first win on July 16 tossing 6.0 scoreless innings against Brevard County while striking out seven. The win snapped a 0-13 start to the season for the 6’3” lefty. James had a 3.81 ERA with 82 strikeouts and just 30 walks in 101.2 innings during the losing streak.

DEUCES WILD ... Jupiter’s Jaime Ortiz has had two hits in each of his last four games and is 8-for-15 during that streak with five runs scored.

ROSTER RUMBLIN’ .... Kenny Faulk was activated off the disabled list on Tuesday, July 19. To make room for him on the roster, Nate Newman was sent to West Michigan. Faulk was 1-2 with 20 saves and a 2.88 ERA before heading to the disabled list while Newman was 1-1 with a 4.40 earned run average in ten games. Faulk returned to action on Wednesday with 1.2 innings of scoreless ball against Charlotte holding the Stone Crabs to one hit with three strikeouts and one walk.

RODRIGUEZ TRADED ... Detroit traded for a third baseman on Wednesday, picking up Wilson Betemit from Kansas City in exchange for Lakeland catcher Julio Rodriguez and West Michigan pitcher Antonio Cruz. Betemit was hitting .281 with 15 doubles, three homers and 27 runs batted in for the Royals. Rodriguez was hitting .283 with 11 doubles, one homer and 27 RBI for the Flying Tigers while Cruz was 2-6 with a 3.11 ERA in 22 appearances (10 starts) for the Whitecaps.

NEW CREW MEMBER ... Taking Julio Rodriguez’s place on the Lakeland roster is Wes Thigpen who joins the club from the Gulf Coast League Tigers. Thigpen, who signed with Detroit as a free agent in 2011 out of Mississippi State University, was batting .238 with two homers and four runs batted in over 14 games.

BAT OF BERGOLLA ... William Bergolla has hit safely in the last three games and nine of his last ten games with one hit in each of those games. He is now 9-for-38 (.237) since the streak began on July 10.

SAILING ALONG ... Avisail Garcia has 13 hits in his last 11 games and is 13-for-41 (.317) over that time, dating back to July 6.

TREYS FOR GAYNOR ... Wade Gaynor has driven in three runs in each of the last two games in his last four starts, collecting three RBI on a homer on July 17 and three more runs batted in with a double on July 20.

PLAGMAN PLUGS ALONG ... Tony Plagman has two hits in each of his last two games and is 5-for-9 (.556) in those games. Plagman homered on Wednesday and Lakeland is now 9-3 in the last 12 games that he has homered.

WICKED WYATT ... Brent Wyatt has hits in each of his last four games and is 6-for-16 (.375) with four runs scored and three doubles.

LAKELAND IN THE FSL ... With a two-run homer on Wednesday, Tony Plagman remains on top of the FSL with 70 runs batted in and is fourth with 164 total bases. Plagman has also been intentionally walked a FSL-high six times ... Jared Wesson is tied for second with 10 wins, one behind the leader Clearwater’s Julio Rodriguez ... Kenny Faulk is second with 20 saves ... Trevor Feeney is first with 117.1 innings pitched and third among starters with 1.69 walks issued per nine innings ... With a hit and two walks on Wednesday, Brent Wyatt remains tied for the league lead with a .426 on-base percentage ... Jordan Lennerton is second with 72 walks ... Despite five errors in the recent Charlotte series, Lakeland has jumped back into a tie for the league lead with a .980 fielding percentage ... two current Flying Tigers lead their respective positions in fielding percentage: Wade Gaynor (3B, .956) and Brent Wyatt (OF, .994). Gaynor leads all third baseman in games played (88), total chances (275), putouts (75), assists (188) and double plays (20).

BELOW DEBUT ... Former Flying Tiger Duane Below made his major league debut on Wednesday tossing 5.0 innings in a start for Detroit against Oakland. Below held the A’s to five hits and three runs ­– one earned – with a pair of strikeouts and one walk. Below posted a 9-11 mark and a 4.22 ERA in two seasons in Lakeland, playing for the Flying Tigers in 2008 and 2009.