THE SERIES .... All four games in the series will be played at Bradenton’s McKechnie Stadium with Monday’s game at 10 a.m. The final three games will be 6:30 p.m. starts. The games may be heard on the Marauders’ website, www.bradentonmarauders.com.
THE FLYING TIGERS (22-19, T-2nd-North, 5.0 GB) ... Lakeland got past St. Lucie 2-1 on Sunday to snap a three-game losing streak to the Mets. Coming into the series tied for the FSL-lead with a .270 batting average, Lakeland knocked out 12 hits in game one, but was held to just six hits in the final three games by the league’s best pitching staff. Dixon Machado had five hits in the series, including three hits in game two. Lakeland has a 5-7 record against South Division teams this season and is 12-9 in road games. Lakeland remains tied for the league lead with a .267 team batting average and is eighth with a 3.88 staff ERA.
THE MARAUDERS (19-24, 4th-South, 15.0 GB) ... Bradenton enters this series having lost six of its last seven games. Mel Rojas leads the club with a .289 average while Stefan Welch is second with a .277 mark and a team-leading six homers. Drew Maggi has a .264 average to go with his team-best 13 stolen bases which ranks second in the FSL. Gerrit Cole is 2-1 on the year with a 2.93 ERA and 43 strikeouts in 40.0 innings pitched. Jameson Taillon is 2-3, but has a 2.55 ERA and 40 punch outs in 42.1 innings pitched. Bradenton ranks ninth in the league with a .244 team batting average and is fourth with a 3.21 staff ERA.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
5/21 - LHP Shawn Teufel (1-3, 8.18 ERA) ... Teufel is 0-2 with a 10.66 ERA since rejoining Lakeland April 26 after going 1-1 in two games for AAA Toledo. In his last outing on May 16 against Tampa, he allowed five runs on eight hits over 6.0 innings, but did record five strikeouts without a walk.
5/22 - TBA
5/23 - LHP Alex Burgos (2-5, 5.15 ERA) ... Burgos took the loss in his last outing giving up six runs – two earned – in 5.1 innings against St. Lucie on May 18. He has struck out five batters in each of his last two starts, but has walked nine batters in the two games.
5/24 - RHP Brian Stroud (0-0, 6.23 ERA) ... Stroud will be making his second appearance of the 2012 season having joined Lakeland on April 30 from extended spring training. In his only start, he worked 4.1 innings on May 19 against St. Lucie, allowing three runs on seven hits.
TRIPLE PLAY ... Lakeland won six of the eight meetings in 2011, but the first meeting is the most memorable. In that game on May 22 in Lakeland, the Flying Tigers turned a triple play that led to two Bradenton ejections. Here’s the recap from MLB.com, “Robbie Grossman and Aaron Baker walked to open the eighth for the Marauders against reliever Kevin Hess. Adalberto Santos hit a popup to shallow right field, where Avisail Garcia made an apparent sliding catch. As Garcia rolled over, however, the ball got away from him and both runners advanced a base. First base umpire Jose Rivera ruled it a catch, and the Flying Tigers were able to double Grossman off second base and nab Baker for the triple play. (Marauder manager) Carlos Garcia had charged across the diamond from the third-base coach’s box to argue with Rivera, who tossed him while the play was unfolding. Grossman was ejected after the inning and had to be separated from Rivera by teammates.”
INSIDE THE MARAUDERS ROSTER ... Gerrit Cole was a first round pick of Pittsburgh in 2011 draft out of UCLA and signed for an $8 million signing bonus. Cole was also a first round pick by the New York Yankees in 2008 out of high school, but did not sign. Jameson Taillon was the Pirates’ first round pick in the 2010 draft out of high school and was ranked by MLB.com as the No. 8 prospect in baseball entering the 2012 season. Taillon was 8-1 with a 1.78 ERA as a high school senior with 114 strikeouts in 62.0 innings pitched. Evan Chambers attended Lakeland High School and was Pittsburgh’s third-round draft pick in 2009. Wes Freeman is also from Lakeland and attended All Saints Academy in Winter Haven before playing collegiately at the University of Central Florida. Mel Rojas is the son of former major league Mel Rojas, Sr. who played 10 years in the major including the 1999 season for Detroit.
NINE FOR NINE ... Lakeland closer Bruce Rondon is a perfect nine-for-nine in save opportunities in 2011. His nine saves is second in the FSL.
AVI-SAILING ALONG ... Avisail Garcia is 12x43 (.279) with seven runs scored and four RBI in his last eight games.
GAYNING GROUND ... Wade Gaynor is 13x40 (.325) with three doubles and three triples in his last 12 games.
ONE OR THE OTHER ... Dixon Machado was held to three hits over a 10-game stretch, but scored at least one run in nine of those games. Since then, he has five hits in four games, but has not scored.
THE McCANN CAN ... James McCann has hits in seven of his last nine games (9x31, .290) with five runs scored and seven runs batted in.
HERNAN FIRE ... Hernan Perez has hits in 11 of his last 15 games (14x50, .280) and has scored in four of the last six games.
I’M EIGHTEEN ... Nick Castellanos was held hitless in game two of the St. Lucie series on May 18 to snap his 18-game hit streak – the longest in the Florida State League this season. The third baseman was 31x72 (.431) during the streak with four doubles, two triples and a home run with 12 runs batted in. It was only third time this season Castellanos was held without a hit. Unfortunately, the Mets duplicated the feat on May 20, holding him hitless in three at bats. After cranking out 10 hits in five games, Nick Castellanos is 1x9 is his last three games, but still leads the FSL with a .394 average, 63 hits, 86 total bases, and a .456 slugging percentage.
NUMBER NINE ... Luis Castillo also had a hitting mark come to an end in the St. Lucie series, seeing a nine-game streak snapped. The center fielder was 13x38 (.342) with four doubles during the stretch, but is 1x12 the last three games.
GROUNDED ... Tyler Collins is 4x27 (.148) the last seven games while James Robbins is 2x19 (.105).
ELUSIVE GOOSE EGG ... Lakeland is the only team in the FSL not to have thrown a shutout this season.
ROSTER SHUFFLE ... Lakeland added Brian Stroud to the roster on May 18 from extended spring training. Stroud was 0-3 with a 8.27 ERA for Lakeland in 2011. He was a 31st round pick by Detroit in 2011 out of Western Michigan University.
UP NEXT ... Following this series, the Flying Tigers return home to face the Tampa Yankees in a three-game set May 25-27. Lakeland is 7-0 versus Tampa so far this season.
CLOSING IN ON 1700 ... Manager Dave Huppert is in his second season with Lakeland and his 24th season as a minor league manager. Huppert, who entered the 2012 season as the second winningest active minor league manager, brings a 1,694-1,555 record into the Bradenton series. With six more wins, Huppert will become the first active minor league manager to reach 1,700 wins. (Tom Kotchman, manager of the Orem club in the Angels’ organization finished the 2011 season with the most wins as a active manager with 1,678, but the Owls season does not begin until June.). The all-time record for wins belongs to Stan Wasiak of the Dodger’s organization, who won 2,497 games.
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