THE SERIES .... All three games of this series will be played in Dunedin with each starting at 6:30 pm. All three games can be heard on the Blue Jays website, www.dunedinbluejays.com.
UP NEXT ... Lakeland continues its long road trip with a four-game series at Jupiter on June 1-4. The Flying Tigers next home game will be Tuesday, June 5 when Lakeland host Charlotte in the first of a four-game series.
THE FLYING TIGERS (24-24, 3rd, 8.0 GB) ... Luis Angel Sanz and Matt Crouse combined on an eight-hitter as Lakeland recorded its first shutout of the season, blanking Tampa 4-0 on Sunday. The win snapped a five-game losing streak by the Flying Tigers, the team’s longest of the season. The recent skid experienced by Lakeland (3-8 over the last 11 games) has dropped the club eight games behind the leading Dunedin Blue Jays. The bats have cooled a little as well and the club has dropped to third in the FSL with a .263 team batting average. Lakeland has stranded the most runners of any FSL club averaging 7.7 men stranded per game.
THE BLUE JAYS (33-17, 1st, 0.0 GB) ... Dunedin used an eight-run fourth inning to bash Brevard County by a 12-5 score on Sunday. Jonathan Jones doubled in three runs in the inning while Jon Talley punctuated the frame with a grand slam. The win was the Blue Hays fourth in a row. Talley leads the club with a .321 average which is fourth in the FSL while Kevin Nolan is sixth with a .311 mark and second with 61 hits. Marcus Knecht is tied for third in the league with eight homers and second with 37 RBI while Ryan Schimpf has six round-trippers. Sean Nolin has a 5-0 record and is sixth in the league with a 2.25 ERA and third with 57 strikeouts while Egan Smith is 6-3 with a 3.23 earned run average. Smith’s six wins is tied for the FSL lead while closer Danny Barnes is second in the minor leagues with 16 saves. Dunedin has taken over the FSL lead with a .265 team batting average. The Blue Jays also lead the league in runs scored, hits and doubles and is second in triples and third in homers. The Blue Jays have stranded one less runner than Lakeland on the year.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
5/25 - LHP Alex Burgos (2-6, 5.55 ERA) ... Burgos is 1-3 with a 6.86 ERA in his last four starts with 11 strikeouts and 21 walks. In his last start on May 23, he surrendered five runs on three hits and five walks on the road in Bradenton.
5/26 - RHP Brian Stroud (0-1, 7.71 ERA) ... Stroud will be making his third start since joining the club on May 18. He was touched for five runs on seven hits in his last start on May 24, but did strike out four at Bradenton.
5/27 - RHP Brian Flynn (4-2, 3.47 ERA) ... After opening the season with a 3-0 record and a 0.92 ERA, Stroud is 1-2 in his last seven starts. In his last start at home May 25 against Tampa, he too allowed five runs on five hits with six strikeouts and three walks.
THIS YEAR ... The two clubs have split their previous six games this season each winning two games on their home turf. Nick Castellanos has gone 14x26 (.538) in the series while James McCann and Tyler Collins each have nine hits in the six games. Lakeland hit .312 as a team in the previous six games while Dunedin batted .261 in the series.
BUMP IN THE ROAD ... Although he was held hitless on May 26, Nick Castellanos has gone 14x26 (.538) his last seven games with six runs scored and three doubles. The Flying Tigers third baseman continues to lead the minor leagues with a .414 average. His 77 hits is 16 more than any other FSL player while his 16 doubles, .476 on-base percentage and .554 slugging percentage and 103 total bases all lead the league.
BROTHER IN ARMS ... Luis Angel Sanz took the mound on Sunday, May 27 for just his second start of the season. In his previous start and previous two relief appearances, he gave up a total of 17 runs (13 earned). On Sunday, Sanz would be pitching to his younger brother, Luis Alberto Sanz, and the result was five shutout innings with five strikeouts.
ROCKY ROAD ... The effort by Luis Angel Sanz on Sunday snapped a stretch of five bad outings by the Flying Tigers starting pitchers. Over the five games prior to Sanz’s start, the starters allowed 26 runs (22 earned for a 7.33 ERA) on 34 hits and 11 walks.
PEN IS BULLISH ... While the starters have struggled, the relief staff has performed at a higher standard being touched for just four runs in the last six games. Although the bullpen has surrendered 13 hits in the 17 innings, the corps has allowed just two earned runs over that span.
STANDOUT ARMS ... Matt Crouse typifies the effort of the bullpen as of late working four shutout innings on Sunday holding the Yankees to just one hit. Crouse has allowed six earned runs (four in one bad outing) in 12 outings this season with 25 strikeouts and just seven walks. His .151 opponent batting average is fourth in the league while his 6.85 baserunners allowed per nine innings is second best in the FSL among relievers. Tyler Clark has limited opponents to a .141 batting average while is second lowest among FSL relievers. Clark’s 7.65 baserunners per nine innings is fifth best among relievers in the league. Victor Larez has allowed just one run in his last eight outings with 16 strikeouts and six walks. Matt Little was touched for one run in his last outing on May 24, just his second run allowing in his last 10 outings with 18 strikeouts and seven walks. Bruce Rondon has not allowed a run in his last 10 outings.
FOUR SQUARED ... Dixon Machado has hits in his last four games with five hits in 13 at bats for a .385 mark. Likewise, Marcus Lemon is making the most of his increased playing time going 5x15 (.333) in his last four games.
PERFECT MEDICINE? ... Lakeland has not homered in the last 10 games and has only one homer since May 11. This series might be what the doctor ordered as Dunedin pitchers have surrendered the third most homers in the Florida State League.
WORKING HIS WAY BACK ... Needing some offensive punch, the Toronto Blue Jays signed veteran slugger Vladimir Guerrero to a minor league contract on May 10. He played his first game for Dunedin on Sunday and could see action in the series with the Flying Tigers.
FIRST ROUNDERS ... Blue Jay Trystan Magnuson was Toronto’s first selection (56th overall) in the 2007 draft out of Louisville while Asher Wojciechowski was the Blue Jays’ first round pick (41st overall) in the 2010 draft out of The Citadel.
ROCKET’S SON ... Dunedin infielder Koby Clemens is the oldest son of seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens.
ROSTER SHUFFLE ... Patrick Cooper was sent to AA Erie on May 25 with Guido Knudson joining the club from extended spring training. Knudson was a 28th round pick last season out of the University of California at San Diego where he was 29-12 in four seasons.
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 1,696-1,559 record into the Tampa series. With four 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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