THE SERIES .... All four games in this series will be played in Fort Myers and all four games have different start times. Friday’s game gets underway at 7:05 pm with the first pitch on Saturday at 6:05 pm. Sunday is a 1:05 pm start while Monday is an Education Day with a start time of 10:35 am. Games may be heard on the Miracle website.
THE FLYING TIGERS (13-12, T-2nd-North, 6.0 GB) ... Lakeland lost 5-3 on the road last night at Dunedin to drop its second straight game. The Flying Tigers are now 7-4 over the last 11 contests. Lakeland is batting .291 (51x175) over the last five games with eight doubles, a pair of triples and a trio of home runs. The Flying Tigers had 11 and 13 hits in their last two games and have reached double digits in hits in eight of the last 13 games with 33 doubles, five triples and nine homers in the last 14 games. Lakeland sits atop the Florida State League with a .279 team batting average and is the third highest scoring team in the league with 120 runs and tied for third with 31 stolen bases. The Flying Tigers could rank higher in runs scored, but have stranded almost eight runners per game, third most in the league.
THE MIRACLE (10-17, 6th-South, 12.0 GB) ... Fort Myers was shut out 5-0 by Palm Beach on Wednesday. The Miracle has lost six of their last seven and 13 of their last 17 games. Daniel Santana leads the club with a .279 average while Angel Morales is second with a .277 mark. B.J. Hermsen leads the Florida State League with a 0.78 ERA in 23.0 innings pitched. As a team, the Miracle are hitting just .219 on the season - the lowest of any FSL team – and have scored the second fewest runs in the league. It’s feast or famine at the plate as the club is third in the league with 18 home runs and have struck out the most of any team.
PROBABLE STARTERS
5/01 - RHP Kevin Eichhorn (2-1, 4.30) ... Kevin Eichhorn has won his last two starts despite allowing seven runs on 17 hits in the two games. In his two wins, he struck out a combined seven batters after whiffing a total of six hitters in his first three starts. In his last start on April 29 at Daytona, the 6’0” righty worked a team season-long 8.0 innings.
5/02 - LHP Brian Flynn (3-1, 3.49) ... After winning his first three starts, Brian Flynn has a loss and a no-decision in his last two. In each of last two starts, the 6’8” lefty has surrendered 11 hits and been tagged for a total of nine earned runs. He has struck out 19 batters in 28.1 innings this season while walking just two opponents.
5/03 - LHP Matt Crouse (0-0, 1.20) ... Matt Crouse will be making his third start after coming out of the bullpen the first four outings this season. He has been eased into the starting role working just 2.2 and 3.2 innings in his two previous starts. He is 0-0 with a 2.84 ERA as a starter. As a reliever, he allowed just one hit in 8.2 scoreless innings.
LAST YEAR ... Lakeland won seven of the eight meetings in 2011, winning all four games at Joker Marchant Stadium and three of four in Fort Myers. The Flying Tigers outscored the Miracle 64-28 in the series. Avisail Garcia batted .441 in the eight games with 15 hits, including a pair of homers.
FIRST TRIP TO THE SOUTH ... This series marks the first time Lakeland will play outside its division this season. The inter-division competition continues in their next series as the Flying Tigers will host Palm Beach in a four-game set at Joker Marchant Stadium, May 8-11. Last year, the Flying Tigers went 26-22 against teams in the South Division.
IN A ZONE ... Nick Castellanos has had two or more hits in five straight games and is 12x22 (.545) in those games. He has hits in 23 of his 25 games played and has 14 multi-hit games on the season. His .426 average leads all of minor league baseball and is 23 points higher than the next batter. In the FSL, the closest batter is teammate Avisail Garcia who has a .364 mark. Castellanos leads the league in hits (43); doubles (tied with 9); on-base percentage (.459); total bases (60) and slugging percentage (.594) and is third with 12 extra base hits.
HANGING TOUGH ... Avisail Garcia is second in the league with a .364 average and 36 base hits. He is tied for third with 51 total bases while his .515 slugging percentage ranks fifth
OOPS, HE DID IT AGAIN ... Tyler Collins opened the season with three hits in each of his first four games and has had three hits in three more games since then. Overall, he has nine multi-hit games. With a .337 average, Collins is third in the FSL, behind teammates Nick Castellanos (.426) and Avisail Garcia (.364). He is also fifth in the FSL with a .407 on-base percentage.
AIN’T NO LEMON ... One of the latest additions to the Flying Tiger roster is Marcus Lemon, the son of former Major Leaguer, Chet Lemon. Marcus has hits in each of his four games played so far and has had two hits in each of his last two contests.
ARM STRENGTH ... Tyler Clark has allowed just two runs in six outings and surrendered seven hits with five coming in one appearance ... Matt Crouse has given up two earned runs in his six appearances ... Victor Larez has struck out 13 batters in his last 10.1 innings ... Matt Little has allowed one earned run in his last 8.0 innings over five trips out of the bullpen ... Bruce Rondon has three saves and has not been scored upon in his last four stints with nine strikeouts and two walks over 5.0 innings.
ROUND TRIP TICKET FOR ONE ... Lakeland has hit 11 home runs as a team this season - nine of them have been solo shots. Only Wade Gaynor, now at AA Erie, has hit homers with men on base and he did it twice. He has a two-run homer and a three-run blast.
ROSTER SHUFFLIN’ ... Wade Gaynor was promoted to AA Erie on Tuesday with Edgar Corcino, from extended spring, holding the roster spot until Matt Perry could join the club from West Michigan. Gaynor was hitting .230 for Lakeland with two homers and 13 runs batted in. Perry played in seven games and was batting .125 for the Whitecaps.
YOU LOOK FAMILIAR ... Lakeland fans may recognize the name of Miracle pitcher Cole Nelson. The former Detroit 10th round draft pick was 5-11 for the 2011 Flying Tigers before going to the Twins’ organization along with Lester Oliveros for Delmon Young.
FRIDAY NIGHT’S ALRIGHT ... Lakeland is 3-0 on Fridays this season.
CLOSING IN ON 1700 ... Flying Tiger manager Dave Huppert is in his second season with Lakeland and his 24th season as a minor league manager. He brings a 1,685-1,547 record into the Dunedin series.
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