Mission Notes vs. Daytona (Aug. 9-11)

SERIES SCHEDULE ... All three games in this series at Lakeland’s Joker Marchant Stadium and will all get underway at 7 pm. Each game can be heard via the Cubs’ internet broadcasts.

THE FLYING TIGERS (54-58 all, 18-24 2nd half, 6th, 5.0 GB) ... Lakeland has dropped its last three games including back-to-back one-run losses. On Sunday, the club battled Brevard County to a 4-4 tie through 10 innings of a scheduled seven inning game before the contest was suspended due to rain. Coming back on Monday, the Manatees prevailed in 13 innings posting a 5-4 win. In the game that followed, the teams swapped leads before Hunter Morris hit a solo homer in the bottom of the sixth to snap a 5-5 tie and lift Brevard County to the 6-5 win in seven innings. The Flying Tigers are now 18-13 in one-run games.

THE CUBS (68-46, 21-23 2nd half, 5th, 3.0 GB) ... Daytona is coming off a 2-1, ten-inning, loss at Clearwater on Monday. The loss is the Cubs’ fourth in their last five games and drops the club into fifth place after capturing the first half pennant with a 47-23 record. Justin Bour is tied for second in the Florida State League with 21 homers, just one behind the leader, Brad Glenn of Dunedin, while his 75 RBI is second to Lakeland’s Tony Plagman’s 85 ribbies. Evan Crawford is sixth in the FSL with a .313 batting average and is fourth with 28 stolen bases while Logan Watkins is tied for first with 11 triples.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...

• Tuesday (8/09) - Mark Sorensen (1-2, 4.91) recorded his first win in four starts for Lakeland by defeating Daytona on Aug. 4 in his last start. Sorensen held the Cubs to three runs on five hits over 7.0 innings with two strikeouts and two walks. He has a 2.77 ERA and a 1-1 record in his last two starts allowing four earned runs.
• Wednesday (8/10) - Jared Wesson (12-8, 4.77) has won his last two starts including a win over the Cubs on Aug, 5 despite allowing six earned runs over 6.0 innings. Wesson is 3-1 versus Daytona this season. His 12 wins is tied for fifth most for a Lakeland pitcher and is the most since Jonah Nickerson finished 12-4 for the 2008 Flying Tigers..
• Thursday (8/11) - Brian Stroud (0-2, 9.00) has lost both his starts since joining Lakeland on July 30. He has allowed six runs in each of his two starts and has surrendered 18 hits in the two outings. Stroud has racked up 10 strikeouts and walked just one in his two appearances.

THIS SEASON ... Lakeland had taken 10 of the 15 meetings between these two clubs and seven of the last nine, including the last two straight. The 10 wins is the most wins over any FSL team by Lakeland this season. Three of those victories belong to Jared Wesson who is 3-1 against the Cubs, despite a 6.04 ERA in his four starts. William Bergolla has a .424 in nine games versus Daytona with a pair of homers while Tony Plagman carries a .339 average against Daytona with six doubles and 14 RBI in the 15 games. Rob Brantly had five hits, including a home run, in the recent three game series at Daytona. The Cubs have won just once in six games in Lakeland this season.

BOMBS AWAY ... Lakeland hit homers in both games at Brevard County and has hit at least one round-tripper in six of the last seven games.

PATIENCE, MY YOUNG MAN ... The Flying Tigers have struck out 30 times over the last three games with half of those K’s coming in the first game at Brevard County on Aug. 7. On the other side of the plate, Lakeland has drawn just nine walks in those three games.

MANATEE MAKE-UPS ... The first game of Lakeland’s doubleheader at Brevard County on Sunday, Aug. 7 was suspended in the bottom of the 10th inning. The game was completed Monday (the Manatees won 5-4 in 13 innings) forcing Monday’s scheduled doubleheader games to be pushed back to the next series. One game will be made up in Lakeland on Aug. 12 as a DH while a second game will made up Aug. 14 in Brevard County as part of a twin-bill.

STARTERS STRUGGLE ... Lakeland’s starting pitchers have allowed four of more runs in each of the last four starts for a 8.49 ERA. Meanwhile, the bullpen has a 2.86 earned run average since July 27.

NADA FOR NELSON ... Cole Nelson continues his fine run in the Flying Tiger bullpen having surrendered just two runs since moving to the ‘pen on July 11. He has not given up a run in 12.0 innings over his last six outings. He now has a 1-0 record and a 1.10 ERA out of the bullpen opposed to a 4-10 record and a 5.36 mark as a starter.

TOUGH FOR TEUFEL ... While Cole Nelson has achieved success going from starter to reliever, Shawn Teufel has gone from reliever to starter and has struggled. He has a 1-3 record in his last five starts with a 6.39 earned run average. Teufel has a 5.05 ERA as a starter and was 2-0 with a 2.00 mark as a reliever.

BERGOLLA AT NINE ... William Bergolla has hits in each of his last nine games and is 12-for-33 for a .364 average with eight runs scored and seven runs batted in with a double and a homer.

JOLLY JORDAN ... Jordan Lennerton is 8-for-17 over his last four games with a .471 average with five runs scored and five more batted in with two homers and a double.

ROOF BROTHER #1 ... Eric Roof has hits in his last six games and is 9-for-21 during those games for a .429 mark. He has also scored nine runs and driven in three in those six games.

ROOF BROTHER #2 ... Shawn Roof had a seven-game hit-streak snapped on Monday. Prior to an 0-for-4 night in his last game, Roof was 13-for-28 for a .464 mark. He is now 13-for-34 (.382) since July 28.

GET YOUR FREE PASS HERE ... Jordan Lennerton has drawn a team-high 85 walks this season - that’s the second highest total in Lakeland history. The franchise record is 114 free passes earned by Bernie Anderson in 1987.

EVEN DOZEN FOR WESSON ... With his win on Friday, Jared Wesson is now 12-8 on the season. The 12 wins is the most for a Flying Tiger pitcher since Jonah Nickerson finished the 2008 season with a 12-4 record. Jordan Tata was the last Lakeland hurler to record 13 wins, completing his 2005 campaign at 13-2. Prior to that, you’d have to go back to 1997 to find a Lakeland pitcher with 13 wins as Brian Powell turned in a 13-9 record that season. The Lakeland franchise record is held by Mike Chris who went 18-5 in 1977.

TEN FOR 100 ... Trevor Feeney has a team-best 90 strikeouts this season. With 10 more punch outs, Feeney would become the 33rd Lakeland pitcher to reach triple digits in strikeouts.

THANKS FOR DROPPING BY ... Carlos De Los Santos was added to Lakeland’s roster on Aug. 5 from the Gulf Coast League Tigers, but was sent back to the club on Aug. 7.

LAKELAND IN THE FSL ... Jared Wesson is second with 12 wins ... Kenny Faulk is second with 20 saves ... Tony Plagman is first with 85 runs batted in (10 more than the second place total) and tied for fourth with 44 extra base hits and is also fourth with 195 total bases ... Trevor Feeney is fourth with 137.2 innings pitched and 1.83 walks allowed per nine innings ... Jordan Lennerton is second with 85 walks ... Lakeland is second with a .979 fielding percentage ... Corey Jones (2B, .975) and Wade Gaynor (3B, .954) lead their respective positions in fielding percentage ... Gaynor leads all third baseman in games played (104), total chances (324), putouts (86), assists (223) and double plays (21).