Friday, July 29, 2011

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.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Mission Notes vs. Palm Beach (July 25-28)

SERIES SCHEDULE ... All four games will be played at Joker Marchant Stadium and the first pitch for each contest will be 7:00 p.m. Lakeland brings a 22-18 record against South Division teams into this series.

THE FLYING TIGERS (48-50 all, 12-16 2nd half, 6th, 3.0 GB) ... Lakeland is coming off a series in Jupiter where it was swept in four games. The Flying Tigers have now lost six of their last seven games. Sunday’s game was a 4-0 shutout by the Hammerheads, the second blanking of the series and the third time in the last six games in which the Flying Tigers have been held scoreless. Overall, the Flying Tigers have been shutout ten times this season. Lakeland has scored 17 runs in the last seven games with 11 of those coming in one contest. The Flying Tigers have a .255 team batting average and a 3.77 staff ERA.

THE CARDINALS (45-55, 16-15 2nd half, 4th, 2.0 GB) ... Palm Beach has lost five of its last eight games. Palm Beach is led by Kyle Conley who has hit .282 in 34 games while Raniel Rosario has a .277 mark in 89 games. Both players have hit seven homers. Xavier Scruggs leads the club with nine homers and Edgar Lara is next with eight round-trippers. The Cardinals have a .252 team batting average (second lowest in the FSL) and a 3.81 staff ERA.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
  • Monday (7/25) - Drew Smyly (6-3, 2.82 ERA) tossed 6.0 shutout innings in his last start on July 20, scattering five hits against Charlotte with six strikeouts and three walks. In his last three games, he has allowed just two earned runs for a 1.20 ERA and has 13 strikeouts his last two games. Smyly allowed two runs on six hits with three strikeouts in 5.0 innings in a loss against Palm Beach back on May 28.
  • Tuesday (7/26) - Shawn Teufel (2-2, 3.29 ERA) was tagged for five runs on eight hits in 5.0 innings in his last start on July 21 against Jupiter. He is 0-2 with a 5.79 ERA since moving into the starting rotation on July 10 after going 2-0 with a 2.00 in 12 relief appearances. Teufel worked 2.1 innings of relief on May 26 against the Cardinals allowing one run on a homer by Kyle Conley.
  • Wednesday (7/27) - Trevor Feeney (7-9, 3.97 ERA) surrendered four runs on seven hits in 5.0 innings in his last start on July 22 against Charlotte. In his two previous starts he had not allowed an earned run in 11.2 innings. Feeney worked 7.0 innings on May 29 in a win against Palm Beach giving up three runs on eight hits with six strikeouts.
  • Thursday (7/28) - Mark Sorensen (0-1, 8.00 ERA) has allowed four runs of each of his two starts since joining Lakeland. In his last start, he allowed six hits in 7.0 innings with one strikeout and two walks. Sorensen was not with Lakeland in May to face the Cardinals.
THIS SEASON ... The two clubs split their four-game series on May 26-29 with the Cardinals taking games one (8-2) and three (2-0) while the Flying Tigers took games two (3-2) and four (5-3). Jordan Lennerton and Gustavo Nunez each had six hits in the series while Brent Wyatt and Tony Plagman both had four hits. Trevor Feeney and Jared Wesson each got wins in the series while Kenny Faulk saved both games.

THE IN CROWD ... Rostered catcher Eric Roof started at third base on Sunday for Lakeland. It was his first carer start a the hot corner in three seasons for Roof. Wade Gaynor, who is Lakeland’s regular third baseman, was the designated hitter on Sunday. On Friday, outfielder Brent Wyatt started at second base for the second time this season

TREYS AND DEUCES ... Corey Jones went 6-for-12 over the weekend with three hits in both games on Saturday and Sunday. He also doubled in both games. Third baseman Wade Gaynor has had two hits in each of the last three games and is 6-for-16 (.375) in that trio of games.

FIELDS BREAKS THROUGH ... Daniel Fields has singled in each of his last two games. Saturday’s single snapped an 0-for-30 slump for the Flying Tiger centerfielder.

PEAKED ROOF ... Eric Roof brings a mini five-game hit streak into the series and is 6-for-18 (.333) in those five games with a home run.

PLAGMAN PLUGGING ALONG ... Tony Plagman has had two hits each in four of his last six games with a double and a home run and is 10-for-25 for a .400 batting average in his last seven games.

GETTING OFF TO A BAD START ... Lakeland starting pitchers were victimized for 16 runs in the four games at Jupiter for a 6.55 earned run average. In the last six games, the starters have surrendered 24 earned runs for a 6.35 ERA.

CLOSING STRONG ... Meanwhile, the Lakeland relief corps has allowed just two runs in the last five games for a 1.38 ERA. Michael Morrison been scored upon just once in his last 15 appearances while Matt Little has given up just one run in his last 12 outings.

ROSTER RUMBLIN’ .... Scott Green was activated Thursday, July 21, from a lengthy stay on the disabled list and was sent to the Connecticut team.

NEW CREW MEMBER ... With the trade last week of Julio Rodriguez, Wes Thigpen was brought over from the Gulf Coast League club to serve as a back-up for the game. He was sent back to the GCL team the next day. To fill the full-time roster spot, Rob Brantly joined the club from West Michigan where he was batting .303 with seven homers and 44 RBI in 75 games. Brantly was a third-round pick by Detroit in 2010 out of the University of California-Riverside. He was a non-rostered invitee to this year’s Spring Training camp after batting .300 last year for West Michigan with hit streaks of 16 games (22-for-62, .355) and 12 games (12-for-40, .300) during the season.

GOOD TO SEE YA, BRO ... The Roof brothers are reunited as Shawn Roof joined his brother, Eric, on the Lakeland club on Friday from AA Erie. A roster spot was made available as Alexander Moreno was assigned to Connecticut. Shawn, who also played partial seasons in Lakeland in 2007, 2008, and 2009, began the 2011 campaign with the Flying Tigers playing in just two games before being promoted to Erie on April 11. He was hitting .358 for the SeaWolves back on June 20, but saw his average drop to .302 in the past month.

Y’ALL COME BACK NOW ... In the first two games at Jupiter, Lakeland faced pitchers that entered the series with a combined 3-24 record. In game one, the Flying Tigers were shutout over six innings by Chad James who lost his first 13 decisions and has now won two in a row. Up next was Edgar Olmos who was 2-11 entering the contest and left 3-11 after posting five scoreless innings. Both pitchers held Lakeland to four hits.

COUNTDOWN TO 3800 ... Lakeland entered the 2011 season with 3,744 overall franchise wins dating back to 1963. With 45 wins so far this season, the Flying Tigers now have 3,792 needing eight more victories to reach 3,800 all-time.

LAKELAND IN THE FSL ... Jared Wesson remains tied for second with 10 wins, two behind the leader Clearwater’s Julio Rodriguez ... Trevor Feeney is first with 122.1 innings pitched and third with 1.77 walks per nine innings ... Kenny Faulk is second with 20 saves ... Tony Plagman is tied for first with 71 runs batted in and is fifth with 170 total bases ... Brent Wyatt is second with a .416 on-base percentage ... Jordan Lennerton is second with 73 walks ... Lakeland has jumped back into a tie for the league lead with a .980 fielding percentage ... Wade Gaynor (3B, .954) and Brent Wyatt (OF, .994) lead their respective positions in fielding percentage. Gaynor leads all third baseman in games played (91), total chances (285), putouts (76), assists (196) and double plays (20). Wyatt is tied for the lead with 16 outfield assists.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

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.


Sunday, July 17, 2011

Mission Notes vs. Charlotte (July 17-20)

SERIES SCHEDULE ... All four games will be played in the friendly confines of Lakeland’s Joker Marchant Stadium. Sunday’s game is a 1 pm start with the next three games at 7 pm on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

THE FLYING TIGERS (46-44 all, 10-10 2nd half, T-2nd, 1.0 GB) ... Lakeland fell 8-2 to St. Lucie Saturday night. The loss was just the second in the last seven games for the Flying Tigers which now have a 19-12 record against teams from the South Division. The split with the Mets has allowed Lakeland to keep pace with the top of the South Division as Daytona and Dunedin each sport 11-11 records while Lakeland is 10-10. Tampa leads the North with a 12-10 mark.

THE STONE CRABS (43-48, 13-9 2nd half, 1st, 0.0 GB) ... Charlotte dropped a 4-1 loss to Clearwater on Friday but still sits atop the South Division with a half game over St. Lucie, Bradenton and Palm Beach. Hak-Ju Lee ranks third in the Florida State League with a .326 batting average; leads with nine triples; and is second with 62 runs scored. Tyler Bortnick leads the league with 28 stolen bases; second with 64 run scored; and is third with a .417 on-base percentage.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
  • Sunday (7/17) - Trevor Feeney (7-8, 4.03) tossed six shutout innings in his last start on 7/11 at Bradenton, limiting the Marauders to three hits with six strikeouts and one walk. He is 4-3 with a 2.72 ERA in his last eight starts dating back to May 29. Feeney has struck out 24 percent of the righthanded batters he has faced (47/196), but just 9 percent of lefthanded batters (21/222).
  • Monday (7/18) - Mark Sorensen (7-7, 6.49 at AA Erie) will be making his first start for Lakeland this season. He has dropped four of his last five starts and has allowed 33 earned runs in 24.1 innings for a 12.21 ERA. Part of the problem has been homers, as Sorensen allowed 10 dingers in his last five starts and 17 on the season. The righty is making his third stint in Lakeland having pitched here in 2009 and 2010 with a 10-12 mark and a 4.03 ERA in 147.1 innings last season.
  • Tuesday (7/19) - Jared Wesson (4-3, 3.18 ERA) picked up his 10th win (second in the FSL) in his last start on July 14 tossing five scoreless innings against St. Lucie, holding the Mets to four hits over 5.0 innings with four strikeouts and one walk. He has been on a roller coaster his last six starts with a 17.33 in games one, three and five, and a 1.10 ERA in games two, four and six. Lefties are hitting .218 against Wesson (22 hits in 101 at bats) while righties enjoy a .302 mark (79 hits in 262 at bats).
  • Wednesday (7/20) - Drew Smyly (5-3, 3.07 ERA) picked up the win in his last start on July 15 against St. Lucie, holding the Mets to one run on four hits with seven strikeouts and one walk. He has allowed two earned runs in 9.0 innings over his last two starts and just seven over his last five starts for a 2.52 ERA and has struck out 33 and walked just five in those five starts. Wesson is 5-1 with a 2.62 ERA in his last eight starts dating back to June 3.
THIS SEASON
... Lakeland took three of the four games played May 14-17 in Charlotte. The Flying Tigers batted .277 in the series with Ryan Soares collecting six hits, including three homers, in the four games. Daniel Fields also had six hits, with a homer, and drove in seven runs while Jeff Kunkel had five hits in two games played. Lakeland dropped the first game 4-3 after rallying to score twice and leave the bases in the top of the ninth. The Flying Tigers, which hit nine homers in the series, erupted for seven runs in the third inning to cruise to a 10-1 win in game four.

LEWIS-CLARK TEAMMATES ... Charlotte’s Matthew Stabelfeld and Lakeland’s Brent Wyatt were teammates at Lewis-Clark State College in 2008. Wyatt went to Detroit in the 2008 draft while Stabelfeld was a pick of the Rays a season later.

ROSTER RUMBLIN’ .... With the addition of pitcher Mark Sorensen, Victor Larez was sent to West Michigan.

START STRONG, FINISH STRONGER? ... The Flying Tiger starting staff has a 2.86 ERA in the last seven games while the bullpen has a 2.73 earned run average over the same time frame. The numbers (based on earned runs) are a bit misleading, however, as the starters have allowed 11 runs in those seven games while the bullpen has surrendered 18 total runs. The starting rotation has walked just four batters in the seven games while the pen issued 13 free passes.

MO’ LITTLE ... Reliever Michael Morrison has allowed just one walk in his last 14 outings and 17.1 innings while fellow bullpen mate Matt Little has issued just one free pass over his last ten appearances spanning 12.1 innings.

ONE AT A TIME ... William Bergolla has one base hit in each of his last six games for a .261 average.

CROWED AT THE TOP ... With two hits on Saturday, Avisail Garcia now has 21 games with two or more hits tying him for the team lead with Gustavo Nunez and Tony Plagman. Brent Wyatt is right behind with 20 multi-hit games.

FLYING HIGH ... Avisail Garcia has six hits in his last four games (6-for-17) for a .353 average ... Cory Jones has hits in nine of his last 11 games (13-for-41) for a .317 mark with 10 runs batted in with a double and a pair of homers ... Brent Wyatt didn’t get a hit on Saturday, snapping a mini five-game hit streak in which he was 7-for-17 for a .412 clip.

GROUNDED ... Daniel Fields has been held hitless in his last four games for a 0-for-12 slump ... Jordan Lennerton does have a pair of singles in his last two games, but those are the only hits in five games for the first baseman/DH for a .143 average (2x14).

STAGE FRIGHT? ... With 1,237 fans last night, Lakeland has drawn crowds in excess of 1,000 fans on 14 occasions this season, but has dropped 10 of those games (including Saturday) and seven of the top crowds.

TRADE BAIT ... The Stone Crabs’ Hak-Ju Lee came to the Rays’ organization from the Cubs as part of the Matt Garza trade. Lee has competed for the World Team in the last two XM All-Star Futures Game.

THE DIAMOND AND THE GRIDIRON ... Charlotte’s Anthony Scelfo was a two-sport athlete at Tulane University. Along with playing baseball, he played quarterback for two seasons on the Green Wave football team, passing for 1,400 yards and six touchdowns in 2007.

THE BREEZE IS NOT FROM LAKE PARKER ... Not really a stat to be proud of, but the top three batters who rank 1-2-3 in number of strikeouts are Flying Tigers. Daniel Fields has struck out a league-leading 98 times while Avisail Garcia is second with 92 and Jordan Lennerton is third with 90 whiffs.

LAKELAND IN THE FSL ... Thanks to a four-RBI night on Friday, Tony Plagman has jumped to the top of the FSL with 68 runs batted in and is tied for fourth with 38 extra-base hits ... Brent Wyatt leads the league with a .425 on-base percentage ... Jared Wesson is second with 10 wins, one behind the leader Clearwater’s Julio Rodriguez ... Kenny Faulk, currently on the disabled list, is second with 20 saves ... Trevor Feeney is first with 111.2 innings pitched and third among starters with 1.53 walks issued per nine innings ... Jordan Lennerton is second with 68 walks ... Lakeland remains second with a .980 fielding percentage ... two current Flying Tigers lead their respective positions in fielding percentage: Wade Gaynor (3B, .954) and Brent Wyatt (OF, .994) ... Julio Rodriguez has thrown out 38.7 percent of opposing would-be base stealers, a mark which ranks second among all league catchers.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Mission Notes vs. St. Lucie (July 13-16)

SERIES SCHEDULE ... All four games of this series will be played at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland. The first three games are slated for 7 pm starts with the series finale Saturday at 6 pm.

THE FLYING TIGERS (44-42 all, 8-8 2nd half, T-3rd, 1.0 GB) ... Lakeland has won three in a row to pull within two games of Dunedin and Tampa in the win column. The Flying Tigers are tied with the Blue Jays and Yankees in the loss column. Lakeland took three straight in the recent four game series with Bradenton, including a 9-2 triumph in their last game on Tuesday. In the three wins, the starting pitchers allowed just two earned runs for a 1.29 ERA with 11 strikeouts and just three walks. On the other side, the Flying Tiger bullpen has a 3.89 ERA in the last nine games. Lakeland has climbed to eighth in the league with a .257 team batting average and is in fifth place with a 3.83 staff earned run average.

THE METS (48-39, 10-7 2nd half, T-1st, 0.0 GB) ... Coming off a split of a four-game series with Tampa, St. Lucie sits atop the FSL South standings along with Palm Beach. The Mets were met with a 10-1 defeat in their last game on Tuesday, losing to the Yankees at home and is now 4-4 its last eight games. Juan Lagares leads the Florida State League with a .339 average while teammate Pedro Zapata is fifth with a .319 mark and second with 25 stolen bases. The league’s top two pitchers are also Mets in Darin Gorski and recently promoted Matt Harvey. Gorski is a perfect 8-0 with a lowly 1.56 ERA to go with his 96 strikeouts (second in the FSL). Harvey was 8-2 with a 2.37 ERA and 92 K’s prior to his promotion to AA. St. Lucie has the third highest team batting average in the league at .270 while the staff ERA of 3.94 ranks eighth in the FSL.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ... (With two rain outs last week and a doubleheader Saturday coupled with a day off Tuesday, these probable starters are definitely in the probable category.)
  • Wednesday (7/13) - Victor Larez (5-3, 4.00) gets the nod in the series opener and will be making his first start for Lakeland since June 2. Originally in the starting rotation, Larez was moved to the bullpen in late May. He was 4-3 with a 3.97 ERA in ten starts and has a 1-0 mark with a 4.11 ERA in seven relief appearances. He last worked on July 7, tossing three no-hit innings against Dunedin in a relief role striking out three and hitting one batter.
  • Thursday (7/14) - Jared Wesson (9-6, 4.85) was tagged early and often in his last start on July 9, lasting just 1.2 innings at Bradenton. The Marauders jumped on Wesson for six runs on five hits, including a homer while the Lakeland starter didn’t help himself with three walks and a hit batter. In his previous start, he held Clearwater to one run on four hits in 5.0 innings of work to get the win. He was 8-4 with a 4.32 ERA in the first half, but has stumbled to a 1-2 mark with a 8.25 ERA since.
  • Friday (7/15) - Drew Symly (4-3, 3.18 ERA) held Bradenton to one run on three hits in 4.0 innings of work in his last start on July 9 with four strikeouts and a pair of walks. He has struck out 22 batters and walked four over 20 innings in his last four starts while giving up 18 hits and just six runs (four in one game) for a 2.70 ERA. Smyly is 3-1 with a 3.70 in four home starts and 1-2 with a 2.84 in seven road outings. In five starts in June he was 4-0 with a 1.94 ERA and 31 strikeouts and three walks.
  • Saturday (7/16) - Luke Putkonen (1-4, 6.19 ERA) picked up his first win as a Flying Tiger this season with 2.0 shutout innings of relief on July 9 in the second game of a doubleheader at Bradenton. In his last start on July 4, Putkonen gave up four runs on seven hits to take the loss to Dunedin. He began the season at AA Erie and made his first start for Lakeland on June 9.
THIS SEASON ... The two clubs split a four-game series on May 10-13 in St. Lucie. Lakeland took game one, 10-2, as Jordan Lennerton drove in four runs with a grand slam and Brent Wyatt plated two more runs with a home run of his own. The Mets posted back-to-back shutouts in games two and three by scores of 6-0 and 7-0. The Flying Tigers rallied back from a 5-0 deficit in game four with a five-run sixth inning enroute to a 7-6 win.

ROSTER SHUFFLING ... Kenny Faulk was placed on the disabled list on Monday with newcomer Trevor White joining the club from the Gulf Coast League club. Also making the move across the complex from the GCL is Alexander Moreno who was with Lakeland from June 10-25, but did not participate in any games. White was a 20th round pick by Detroit in 2010 out of the University of Alabama. He played in the GCL and at Connecticut last season and was 0-0 with a 1.80 in five innings over four games this season with the Gulf Coast Tigers. Moreno played in six games with the GCL club going 4-for-18 in those half dozen games.

FORMER FSC MOC RETURNS TO LAKELAND ... St. Lucie shortstop Robbie Shields was the Mets’ third-round draft pick out of Florida Southern College in 2009 (the first Division II player chosen in the draft that year). Shields started the 2011 season with the Savannah Sand Gnats and was named to the South Atlantic League All-Star team, but was promoted to St. Lucie prior to the game. He has played in 11 games with the FSL club but has not played since June 30 due to back stiffness.

FUTURES GAME PARTICIPANTS ... St. Lucie’s Jefry Marte played for the World Team in the recent XM All-Star Futures Game in Phoenix as part of the festivities leading up to the Major League All-Star Game. Pitcher Matt Harvey, who played for the USA Squad, was promoted in late June and was leading the FSL in strikeouts with 92 at the time of his move to AA.

TITAN TRIO ... St. Lucie’s Jeffrey Kaplan and Lakeland’s Corey Jones and Michael Morrison were all teammates on the Cal State Fullerton baseball team in 2008. Kaplan was drafted in 2008, Morrison in 2009 and Jones in 2010.

BEAVER BUNCH ... Lakeland’s Jordan Lennerton and St. Lucie’s Greg Peavey were teammates on the 2008 Oregon State baseball team.

BIG LEAGUE DAD ... The Mets’ Francisco Pena is the son of former Major League catcher Tony Pena.

BACK IN THE INFIELD ... Brent Wyatt started at shortstop for Lakeland in the second game of the Flying Tigers’ doubleheader at Bradenton on Saturday. It was his first start at shortstop since 2009 when he played six games there for West Michigan. Wyatt did start 18 games at short for Oneonta in his first year as a professional in 2008.

JONES CRANKS IT UP ... Corey Jones’ bat was a big reason Lakeland won its last three games over Bradenton. The Flying Tiger second baseman homered to drive in two runs in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader and followed with a second two-run blast on Sunday. In Monday’s game, Jones was 3-for-5 with a double and three runs batted in.

PLAGMAN BACK AT IT ... Tony Plagman must not like talking to first base coach Larry Herndon. In the last three games, Plagman has had four hits – all for extra bases including a triple and three doubles.

LAKELAND IN THE FSL ... Jared Wesson is second with nine wins ... Kenny Faulk is second with 20 saves and third among relievers with 11.27 strikeouts per nine innings pitched ... Tony Plagman is third with 63 runs batted in ... Brent Wyatt is second with a .418 on-base percentage ... Jordan Lennerton is second with 64 walks ... Trevor Feeney is first with 111.2 innings pitched and third among starters with 1.53 walks issued per nine innings ... Lakeland dropped to second with a .981 fielding percentage ... two current Flying Tigers lead their respective positions in fielding percentage: Corey Jones (2B, .980); Wade Gaynor (3B, .959); Brent Wyatt (OF, .993) ... Julio Rodriguez has thrown out 36.9 percent of opposing would-be base stealers, a mark which ranks second among all league catchers.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Mission Notes vs. Bradenton (July 8-11)

SERIES SCHEDULE ... Lakeland hits the road for four games at Bradenton beginning Friday at 7 pm. Saturday is also at 7 pm while Sunday moves up for a 5 pm start. It’s back to 7 pm for Monday’s series finale. All four games can be heard via the internet. Check the Marauders website for the audio link.

THE FLYING TIGERS (41-41, 5-7, T-5th, 2.0 GB) ... Lakeland climbed back to .500 on the season by downing Dunedin 11-5 in its last game on Wednesday, despite collecting just nine hits. Blue Jay pitchers issued 11 walks in the game including five in the eighth inning. Wade Gaynor led the club with a 3-for-4 night and three runs batted in while Tony Plagman also drove in three runs. The Flying Tigers put up seven runs in the third frame, the third time this season the club has scored as many runs in an inning. Lakeland’s team batting average of .259 is eighth in the league while the 43 team home runs is fourth fewest in the FSL. The 3.84 staff ERA is fifth best in the FSL.

THE MARAUDERS (39-46, 9-6, T-1st, 0.0 GB) ... Bradenton had a chance to take over sole possession of first place on Thursday, but split a doubleheader with Palm Beach. After taking the first game by a 6-4 score in extra innings, the Cardinals took game two 8-4. Heading into the All-Star break on a four-game losing skid, the Marauders came out of the break with a seven straight wins and nine victories in their first eight games back, but have split their last 10 games. Jarek Cunningham is the reigning Florida State League Player of the Week for the week of June 27-July 3 and is fourth in the FSL with 15 homers and second with 23 doubles. For the week, Cunningham had eight hits, including three doubles and three home runs and drove in 10 runs. Aaron Baker is third in the league with 60 RBI. Robbie Grossman has the most walks (72) of any FSL player – 14 more than Lakeland’s Jordan Lennerton who is in second place with 58. The Marauders are second in the FSL with a .271 team batting average and have scored the most runs of any league team (420) as well as hitting the third most homers (64) and stolen the third most bases (76). The staff ERA of 4.01 ranks ninth in the league.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
  • Friday (7/08) - 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.
  • Saturday (7/09) - Drew Symly (4-3, 3.24 ERA) was chased after three innings of work in his last start on July 3 at Clearwater, giving up seven runs – four earned – on seven hits. It snapped a four-game win streak for Smyly and was hit first loss since May 28. In his last three starts he has a 2.81 ERA and a 1-1 record with one no-decision.
  • Sunday (7/10) - Luke Putkonen (0-4, 6.60 ERA) will be looking for his first win in 2011 for the Flying Tigers. Putkonen made his first start for Lakeland on June 9 after starting the season at AA Erie. He gave up four earned runs on seven hits in his last start on July 4 against Dunedin with three strikeouts and three walks. He has allowed at least three runs in each of his five starts for Lakeland.
  • Monday (7/11) - Trevor Feeney (6-8, 4.26 ERA) took the loss in his last start on July 5 at home against Dunedin, giving up three runs on four hits over 7.0 innings. Two of the four hits were of the long ball variety as Feeney has allowed five homers in his last four starts and 13 dingers on the season. He is 2-3 with one no-decision and a 2.49 ERA in his last six starts.
THIS SEASON
... Lakeland took three of four games in the first series between these two clubs on May 22-25 in Lakeland. The Flying Tigers won games one and four by identical 4-3 scores and game two by a 5-2 count while the Marauders’ lone win was a 9-0 shutout in the third meeting. One big highlight of the series was a triple play turned by Lakeland in the series opener on May 22. The Flying Tigers have hit just .220 while the Marauders have a .250 mark in the four games.

RETURN TO OLD FORM ... At the start of the season, Tony Plagman was driving runs on a seemingly nightly basis and then cooled off somewhat. He may be returning to his old ways having racked up seven runs batted in over the last four games on four hits including two doubles and a homer and is now second in the FSL with 61 RBI, just two behind the leader, Justin Bour of Daytona. Plagman has 14 multi-RBI games this season including two games with four runs batted in and six games with three RBI.

MULTI-HITTERS ... Recently promoted Gustavo Nunez had 21 games with two or more hits and still leads Lakeland in that category. Close behind is Avisail Garcia, Tony Plagman, Brent Wyatt and Jordan Lennerton, each having 19 multi-hit games. Garcia has had a team-high four games with four hits and three games with three hits. Plagman has had six three-hit games while Lennerton and Wyatt have had three hits in four and three games, respectively. Both players have had one four-hit game each.

NO RICKEY HENDERSONS HERE ... No one is going to confuse this year’s version of the Flying Tigers with a big base stealing team. Avisail Garcia’s stolen base on Thursday was just the second swipe of a base by a Lakeland player in the second half of the season. Heading into Friday’s games, the Flying Tigers had a league-low 33 stolen bases as a team in 2011. In contrast Tyler Bortnick of Charlotte and Pedro Zapata of St. Lucie are tied the league lead with 24 thefts each. Charlotte and Brevard County each have over 100 team stolen bases.

IT WAS BOUND TO HAPPEN ... Thursday’s rain out was the first suffered by Lakeland at home this season. The scheduled game with Dunedin will be made up as part of a 5 pm doubleheader on August 30, which marks the Blue Jays’ next visit to Lakeland.

THAT’S SOME BULL
... The bullpen was not scored upon in the first six games of the second half, but has allowed 12 runs in the last six games.

FESTIVE FOURTH ... Lakeland drew 5,349 fans on the Fourth of July, but unfortunately all of the fireworks came after the game as the Flying Tigers fell 5-2 to Dunedin. The attendance was around 1,400 fans higher that the average Independence Day crowd (over the last six years) and was the largest Fourth of July attendance since 2005.

LAKELAND IN THE FSL ... Jared Wesson is tied with nine wins ... Kenny Faulk is tied for second with 19 saves; third among relievers with 11.34 strikeouts, and fifth with 1.62 walks ... Tony Plagman is second with 61 runs batted in ... Brent Wyatt has climbed back into second with a .422 on-base percentage ... Jordan Lennerton is second with 58 walks ... Trevor Feeney is first with 105.2 innings pitched and fourth among starters with 1.53 walks issued per nine innings ... Lakeland is tied with Clearwater for the league lead with a .982 fielding percentage ... three Flying Tigers lead their respective positions in fielding percentage: Corey Jones (2B, .980); Wade Gaynor (3B, .957); Daniel Fields (OF, .994) ... Julio Rodriguez has thrown out 37.5 percent of opposing would-be base stealers, a mark which ranks second among all league catchers.

YA GOTTA LOVE THE MINORS ... Where else other than Minor League Baseball can the first 1000 adults attending Saturday’s game at Bradenton receive a free Marauders’ shot glass?

Thursday, July 7, 2011

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.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Mission Notes vs. Clearwater (July 2-3)

SERIES SCHEDULE ... Both games of this mini-series will be played at Bright House Networks Field in Clearwater. Saturday’s game is at 6:30 p.m. while Sunday’s start is at 6:00 p.m.

THE FLYING TIGERS (39-38, 3-4, T-3rd, 2.0 GB) ... Lakeland has split its last six games, alternating wins and losses. The team is coming off a three-game set at Dunedin in which they were shutout twice in the three games. In the last game on Friday, Dunedin jumped on Lakeland starter Cole Nelson for five runs in two-thirds on an inning. The Flying Tigers are sixth in the Florida State League with a .260 team batting average while their staff ERA of 3.76 is fifth best.

THE THRESHERS (42-36, 3-6, 6th, 3.0 GB) ... Like Lakeland, Clearwater was shutout in its last game as well, losing 8-0 to Brevard County. The Threshers, who were 16 games above .500 on June 6, have lost 15 of their last 20 games. Pitcher Julio Rodriguez is tied, along with three others, including Lakeland’s Jared Wesson, for the league lead with eight wins, while opponents are heading a league-low .198 against him. Fellow pitcher Jonathan Pettibone is 7-5 with a 2.91 ERA which ranks ninth in the league while Trevor May has struck out a FSL-high 108 batters – 16 more than the second place total. First baseman Darin Ruf has a league-leading 25 doubles. Clearwater has the best team ERA in the league at 3.36 and is fifth in the FSL with a .266 team batting average.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
  • Saturday (7/02) - Jared Wesson (8-5, 4.48 ERA) was tagged for a season-high 11 hits in his last start on June 27 against the Threshers at home. Clearwater scored four runs off Wesson as the lefty struck out three and walked three. Wesson has had an up and down season, going 1-2 with a 9.98 ERA in April and then turning in a stellar 5-1 mark with an impressive 2.52 ERA in May, but fell to 2-2 with a 4.23 number in June. Righthanded batters are hitting almost 100 points better than lefties with a .304 average verus a .207 mark.
  • Sunday (7/03) - Drew Smyly (4-2, 2.77 ERA) worked 6.0 innings and struck out eight with one walk in holding Clearwater to one run on five hits in his last start on June 28. He began the season 0-2 with a 3.97 ERA and is 4-0 with a 1.93 ERA since June 3. Twice in his last four starts he has worked 7.0 scoreless innings. Smyly has struck out eight batters in each of his last two starts allowing just one earned run on eight hits with one walk. In four home starts, he is 3-1 with a 3.70 ERA, but is 1-1 with a 2.03 ERA in five road starts.
THIS SEASON
... These two squads have faced each other nine times in the past with the Threshers taking six of the nine games. Lakeland took two of the last three games played last week on June 26-28 in Lakeland. Julio Rodriguez has a .458 average (11-for-24) in seven games of the series while Avisail Garcia has a .359 (14-for-39) in nine games. The Flying Tigers have a .274 team batting average in the series while the Threshers are batting at a .288 clip. The two teams have identical staff ERAs of 3.36 over the nine games.

HOT AND COLD BATS ... The Flying Tigers collected 12 hits in in a 7-1 win against the Threshers on June 28. The next night in Dunedin Lakeland was shutout, 5-0 on four hits. Rebounding on June 30, the Flying Tigers had 11 hits in a 5-1 win. The bats went cold in their last game, getting shutout once again, 4-0, on three hits.

WHAT’S IN STOHR ... Pitcher Tyler Stohr has earned a promotion to AA Erie. Stohr was 1-0 with a 3.45 ERA in 24 relief appearances for Lakeland with 23 strikeouts and eight walks in 31.1 innings.

NEW MAN IS NEWMAN ... Taking Stohr’s roster spot is Nate Newman who was 1-0 with one save and a 4.20 ERA with 12 strikeouts and four walks in 15.0 innings pitched at West Michigan.

THE INCREDIBLE FAULK ... Kenny Faulk is 19 for 20 in save opportunities this season and has not allowed a run in his last five appearances and just four runs (all in one outing) since May 25. His 19 saves is already tied for sixth most ever by a Lakeland pitcher (the franchise record is 29 set by Chris Homer in 2005). The 19 saves is already 10 more than last year’s co-leaders, Lester Oliveros and Jared Gaynor, who each had nine saves.

LITTLE ERA ... Matt Little was touched for one run on July 1 at Dunedin. It was the first run allowed since May 5 for the Flying Tigers (he spent most of June at West Michigan) and now has a 1.08 ERA in his last six appearances out of the bullpen.

BE LIKE MIKE
... Michael Morrison has not allowed a run in his last 10.1 innngs over nine appearances on four hits with 11 strikeouts and four walks. He has been scored upon just one run in his last 15 appearances dating back to May 1.

ALMOST ZILCH FOR ZACH ... Another hot reliever is Zach Samuels who has allowed just one score in his last 12.0 innings and nine appearances dating back to May 12 for a 0.75 ERA. He has mowed down 11 batters and issued just one free pass in that stretch.

LEAVE IT TO THE PEN ... The Lakeland bullpen has allowed just one run in the second half (that coming in 7.1 innings of relief on July 1) for a miniscule 0.35 ERA since the first half ended. Conversely, the starting rotation has been tagged for a 4.89 ERA. With the performance of the bullpen, Lakeland has been able to post a 30-1 record when leading after seven innings and a 13-7 record in 1-run games. However, the Flying Tigers are 1-4 in extra inning games.

DANDY DANIEL ... Daniel Fields has hits in 12 of his last 15 games for a .300 average (15-for-50).

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.

FROM THE FARM TO THE SHOW ... As of Friday, there were 12 former Flying Tigers on the big league team, including pitchers Charlie Furbush (1-1, 2.49), Lester Oliveros (made his major league debut on Friday), Ryan Perry (0-0, 9.00), Rick Porcello (6-6, 5.06), Justin Verlander (11-3, 2.32) and Brayan Villarreal (1-1, 6.32). Among the position players are Brennan Boesch (.303-10-38), Andy Dirks (.255-6-15), Don Kelly (.250-2-10), Ryan Raburn (.203-7-28), Ramon Santiago (.219-1-7) and Casper Wells (.250-4-12).

LAKELAND IN THE FSL ... Jared Wesson is in a four-way tie for the league lead with eight wins while 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 fifth with 52 runs batted in ... Brent Wyatt continues to lead with a .429 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 .953 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.