THE SERIES .... Lakeland welcomes the Yankees to Joker Marchant Stadium for a weekend series that gets underway with a 7:11 pm game on Friday. Saturday’s game is at 6 pm with Sunday’s game to follow at 1 pm.
THE FLYING TIGERS (23-22, 3rd, 6.0 GB) ... Lakeland will be looking to get back on track after dropping three straight in Bradenton. The Flying Tigers have now lost six of their last eight games to fall 6.0 games behind Dunedin. Despite the skid, Lakeland remains atop the Florida State League with a .265 team batting average. Nick Castellanos continues to lead minor league baseball with a .411 batting average and is the only batter to be hitting .400 or better.
THE YANKEES (21-26, 4th, 9.0 GB) ... Tampa took three out of four games at Palm Beach in its latest series. Two of those wins came in 10 innings as the Yankees have now won four their last five since losing five of the previous six contests. Rob Segedin is tied for first in the Florida State League with 15 doubles, third with 33 runs scored and 86 total bases, and fourth with 53 hits. Segedin leads the Yankees with a .294 average, six homers and 27 runs batted in. Mark Montgomery is fifth in the Florida State League with eight saves. The Tampa closer is 3-1 with a 1.23 ERA in 16 appearances.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
5/25 - LHP Brian Flynn (4-1, 2.94 ERA) ... Flynn has one win and four no decisions in his last five starts despite posting a 3.25 ERA with 23 strikeouts. Flynn, who has surrendered one run in each of his last three starts, leads the Flying Tigers with 38 strikeouts in 52.0 innings, but has also issued the second most walks with 14.
5/26 - LHP Shawn Teufel (1-3, 7.67 ERA) ... Teufel is 0-2 with two no decisions since returning from a two-game stint in AAA Toledo. In his last start on May 21 at Bradenton, he worked 5.0 innings and allowed three runs on seven hits, but walked four batters.
5/27 - RHP Luis Angel Sanz (1-1, 7.50 ERA) ... Sanz made his first start of the season on May 22 at Bradenton, striking out six and walking one in 7.0 innings. He was victimized by his defense which committed five errors on the night, allowing six runs - three earned.
THIS YEAR ... Lakeland has won each of the previous seven meetings this season. Nick Castellanos has 13 hits in the seven games with Tyler Collins knocking out 10 hits, including nine in the first three games. Avisail Garcia and Wade Gaynor each have eight hits in the series with Gaynor collecting three triples. No Flying Tiger has homered against Tampa in the seven previous meetings. Alex Burgos has two wins in the series.
ROSTER SHUFFLE ... Avisail Garcia was placed on the disabled list on Wednesday, May 23 joining Kevin Eichhorn and Daniel Fields. On Thursday, May 24, Wade Gaynor was promoted to AA Erie with Jeff Holm joining the club from West Michigan and Zach Maggard added from extended spring training. Holm was batting .294 in 17 games for the Whitecaps. Maggard played at nearby Florida Southern College.
PLAGMAN HITS FOR THE CYCLE ... Former Flying Tiger Tony Plagman had a night to remember on May 22, hitting for the cycle in Erie’s 8-7 win over Reading. Plagman got his big night off with a bang, slamming a grand slam in a six-run first inning for the SeaWolves. After reaching on a fielder’s choice in his second at bat, Plagman doubled in the fifth inning. He then picked up the hard part of the cycle, tripling in the seventh. To put the crowning touch on the night, he drove in the winning run with a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth.
POWER OUTAGE ... Lakeland has hit just one home run in the last 12 games. Tyler Collins clubbed a two-run shot on May 17 against St. Lucie for the only Flying Tiger round-tripper since May 11.
JUMP ON THE STARTERS ... Flying Tiger starting pitchers have allowed 16 runs in their last three games.
CONSISTENT CASTELLANOS ... Nick Castellanos collected hits in each of the four games at Bradenton going 9x15 (.600) and has at least one hit in 41 of his 45 games played this season. In addition to leading the minor leagues with a .411 average, the Flying Tigers third baseman leads the Florida State League with 72 hits, 96 total bases, .472 on-base and .549 slugging percentages and is tied for second with 14 doubles. He is also fourth with 28 runs batted in. Castellanos is also consistent on the field, leading the league with 105 total chances and 78 assists at third base.
SLAMMING THE DOOR ... Closer Bruce Rondon is nine for ten in save opportunities this season. His nine saves is tied for third in the FSL. He has allowed just one run over his last 13.1 innings in 12 appearances with 20 strikeouts. He has also walked just one batter in his last eight trips out of the bullpen.
SLAMMING THE DOOR, PT. II ... Thanks largely in part to Bruce Rondon’s skill coming out of the pen, the Flying Tigers are a perfect 18-0 when taking a lead into the ninth inning.
UNTOUCHABLE ... Tyler Clark has not allowed a hit or run in his last 10.1 innings over six appearances. He has struck out 15 batters and walked five over that span.
CUTTING ‘EM DONE ... James McCann has gunned down 23 would be base stealers this season – the most of any catcher in the Florida State League. He has thrown out 46.9 percent of the runners trying to steal – a figure that also leads the league.
WHAT’S THE POINT? ... Usually a team that scores first in a game wins that game. It’s true for every team in the Florida State League, but Lakeland is only 12-9 when putting the first number on the scoreboard for a .571 winning percentage – lowest in the league. On the other side, the Flying Tigers are 15-5 when the opponent scores first for a .750 winning percentage – third best in the FSL.
SOLID AT FIRST ... James Robbins has been a rock at the first sack for Lakeland. The Flying Tigers first baseman has not committed an error in 423 chances at first base and leads the lead with his 1.000 fielding percentage. He also leads the FSL with 394 putouts.
UP NEXT ... Lakeland will next hit the road for a seven-game road trip opening with three games at Dunedin on May 29-31 and then heading to Jupiter for games on June 1-4. The Flying Tigers’ next home game will be Tuesday, June 5 against Charlotte.
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 1,695-1,557 record into the Tampa series. With five 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.
THE ORGANIZATION ... Detroit, loser of three straight, is third in the American League Central Division with a 20-24 record, 6.0 games behind Cleveland .... Toledo, which has also lost three straight, is in second place in the International League West Division with a 23-24 record, 3.5 games out of first place ... Erie is 22-23 and in third place in the Eastern League Western Division, 6.5 games out ... West Michigan is 21-26 in the Midwest League Eastern Division, 12.5 games back in seventh place.
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