SERIES SCHEDULE ... The three games in this home series are all played at different times. Friday’s game is at 7 pm while Saturday is a 6 pm start. The series wraps up with a 1 pm game on Sunday.
THE FLYING TIGERS (58-62 all, 22-28 2nd half, 6th, 5.5 GB) ... Lakeland saw its three game win streak snapped with a 7-2, six-inning, loss to Tampa on Thursday in a rain-shortened game. Game two was postponed due to heavy rains and will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Sept. 2 at 5 pm. Rain has now affected 11 of the last 18 scheduled games. With the rain comes a lot of DHs resulting in the fact that Lakeland has played games of seven or fewer innings eight times in the last nine games.
THE THRESHERS (65-56, 26-26 2nd half, 3rd, 2.5 GB) ... Clearwater downed Dunedin 6-1 on Thursday to snap a five-game losing streak. Three Thresher hurlers rank in the top ten in the Florida State League in terms of earned average in Jonathan Pettibone (6th, 3.08); Julio Rodriguez (8th, 3.14); and Trevor May (9th, 3.34). Rodriguez has a league-best 15 wins (three more than Lakeland’s Jared Wesson who is second) while May has racked up a FSL-high 189 strikeouts – 56 more than Rodriguez who is second with 133. The 189 K’s is the most for a FSL pitcher since Matthew Moore retired 208 batters last season for Charlotte. Darin Ruf is fourth in the league with a .313 average while leading the FSL with 35 doubles, 52 extra base hits and 216 total bases. He ranks second with 133 hits and is fifth with a .508 slugging percentage. Clearwater is the best fielding team in the FSL with a .980 fielding percentage while Cesar Hernandez (2B), Troy Hanzawa (SS) and Sebastian Valle (C), all lead their respective positions in fielding percentage.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ... (With recent promotions, Mission Notes opts to to take a guess at probable starters for this series).
THIS SEASON ... Clearwater has won seven of the 11 meetings between these two clubs this season, but Lakeland has taken two of the last three. Avisail Garcia has 13 hits in nine games against the Threshers while Wade Gaynor has 11 base knocks.
SEVEN LEFT ... Tonight is the first of seven remaining home dates for Lakeland. Following a three-game set with Clearwater, Lakeland has a day off and then hits the road for seven games before returning home for two dates against Dunedin on Aug. 30 and 31. The Aug. 30 date will be a 5 pm doubleheader. Lakeland then does the home and home shuffle with Tampa playing home games on Sept. 2 (also a twin-bill) and then closing the season with a 11 a.m. game on Sunday, Sept. 4.
DO THE ROSTER SHUFFLE ... Lakeland lost two players on Wednesday and gained three others in a flurry of activity. Pitchers Ryan Robowski (2-1, 2.35 ERA, 20 APP) and Jared Gayhart (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 APP) were sent to AA Erie. Rejoining the Flying Tigers are pitchers Victor Larez and Nate Newman, both from West Michigan, and catcher Jeff Kunkel, from AAA Toledo. All three players are making their third stop in Lakeland in 2011. Newman was 1-0 with three saves and a 3.24 ERA at West Michigan while Larez was 3-2 with a 5.28 ERA with the Whitecaps. Kunkel has played in 19 games at Toledo, 12 games in Erie and 8 games in Lakeland.
SON VS POP ... Shawn Teufel took a flight north on Wednesday, getting a spot start in Toledo. It was a special night for Shawn, not for the fact it marked his first start at the AAA level, but for the fact that the start came against a Bisons team managed by his father, Tim Teufel, who is in his first season as the Buffalo skipper. The younger Teufel came out on top, getting the win with 6.0 shutouts innings, holding Buffalo to three hits with seven strikeouts and three walks.
HOPPING ON THE TOLEDO EXPRESS ... The roster moves keep a comin’ as Trevor Feeney was sent to Toledo on Friday. Feeney was 8-11 with a 4.39 ERA for Lakeland this season and needed four more strikeouts to become the 33rd Lakeland pitcher to reach triple digits in strikeouts.
ANYONE WANT TO PITCH? ... Since Aug. 13 six Lakeland pitchers have been moved off the roster – two sent to Toledo (Trevor Feeney and Shawn Teufel), two sent Erie (Jared Gayhart and Ryan Robowski), one sent to the GCL Tigers (Brian Stroud) and one traded (Cole Nelson to Minnesota and subsequently assigned to Fort Myers). Only two pitchers have been added to the Flying Tigers (Victor Larez and Nate Newman). That leaves the staff a few arms (and starters) shy.
HIT FEST ... Lakeland exploded for 18 hits on Tuesday in a 12-5 win at Tampa. Jordan Lennerton led the hit parade with a 4-for-6 night (including two hits in the ninth inning) while Avisail Garcia and Corey Jones each added three hits. William Bergolla and Michael Rockett had two hits a piece with Rockett driving in four runs. The 18 hits is the most Lakeland has had this season since collecting 21 hits in a 14-5 win at Brevard County on May 1.
ONCE A MONTH ... The Flying Tigers scored seven runs in the top of the ninth inning on Tuesday to down Tampa 12-5. The seven-run ninth marked the fourth time this season the squad has tallied seven scores in a single frame. Lakeland first accomplished the feat on May 17 at Charlotte and then did so again on June 10 vs. Daytona. The third time came on July 6 against Dunedin.
LEAPIN’ LENNERTON ... Jordan Lennerton brings a six-game hit streak into this series and is 12-for-22 with four doubles and a homer during that stretch. He has eight hits in 12 at bats in his last three games.
THE DINGERS KEEP RINGING ... Avisail Garcia hit the first offering he saw in the second inning over the right field fence for Lakeland’s six homer in the last four games and the 21st homer since July 27. The Flying Tigers have hit homers in 14 of the last 20 games. Garcia’s homer was his second homer in the last four games. The rightfielder is 6-for-15 (.400) with the pair of homers and a double, plus four runs scored and four RBI in those four games.
BERGOLLA BANGIN’ ... Although he was held hitless in three at bats on Thursday, William Bergolla is 7-for-16 (.438) in his last four games with a double and a homer.
ROB RIGHT ... Rob Brantly is 4-for-40 (.400) in his last three games with a double and two runs scored and two more runs driven in.
LAKELAND IN THE FSL ... Tony Plagman is first with 89 runs batted in (eight more than the second place total) and is gunning to be the first Lakeland player to lead the league in RBI since Ryan Strieby knocked in 94 runs in 2008. Plagman is tied for second with 48 extra base hits and fourth with 207 total bases ... Jordan Lennerton is second with 88 walks ... Jared Wesson is second with 12 wins ... Kenny Faulk is fourth with 20 saves ... Trevor Feeney is second with 143.2 innings pitched and is third with 1.75 walks allowed per nine innings ... Lakeland is tied with Dunedin for second with a .978 fielding percentage ... Wade Gaynor leads all third baseman in fielding percentage (.957), games played (112), total chances (350), putouts (97), assists (238) and double plays (23).
FSL RACE ... With first half winners, Daytona and St. Lucie, falling back in the second half, odds have it that two new teams will take the second halves in their respective divisions. In the North, Dunedin has a 1.5 game lead over Tampa while Clearwater is 2.5 games back. Both Brevard County and Daytona have identical records and trail by 3.0 games. Lakeland is 5.5 games out of first. In the South Division, Bradenton has a 33-19 record and a 2.5 game lead over Palm Beach. St. Lucie is in third, a distant 6.0 games back.
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