THE SERIES .... The Flying Tigers head back on the road for a three-game swing to Space Coast Stadium to face the Brevard County Manatees on Saturday, June 9 (6:35 pm), Sunday, June 10 (5:05 pm), and Monday, June 11 (6:35 pm).
UP NEXT ... Lakeland returns home for a three-game series against Dunedin on June 12-14 – the final series before the All-Star break. All three games have 6:30 pm start times.
THE FLYING TIGERS (30-28, 3rd, 8.5 GB) ... Lakeland took two of the three games against Charlotte in it most recent series, including a 9-0 blanking of the Stone Crabs on Friday. After Charlotte won the opener, Lakeland took games two and three by a combined 19-3 score and outhit the Stone Crabs 26-11 in the two games. The Flying Tigers have now won five of their last seven games and are batting .327 in the last eight games with 19 doubles and continue to lead the FSL with a .270 team batting average.
THE MANATEES (26-34, 5th, 13.5 GB) ... Brevard County dropped a 5-3 decision at Jupiter on Friday and have lost three of the last five. Starter Jimmy Nelson leads the Florida State League with a 2.21 ERA and 77 strikeouts while his walks/hits allowed per nine innings (1.08) is also best in the FSL. Reggie Keen is tied for the FSL lead with 19 stolen bases. The Manatees have the third lowest batting average in the league (.246)
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
6/09 - RHP Luis Angel Sanz (3-1, 4.89 ERA) ... Sanz has not allowed a run in his last two starts and has a streak of 12.1 scoreless innings over his last three outings. Since moving into the starting rotation on May 22, he has made three starts with 14 strikeouts and just three walks. He is making his first start against the Manatees in this series.
6/10 - LHP Alex Burgos (3-7, 5.31 ERA) ... Burgos snapped out of a three-game losing streak in grand style, tossing six shutout innings of no-hit ball on June 3 at Jupiter. In that game, he struck out six and walked four in making his first no-hit, scoreless start of the season. He is 0-2 with a 3.27 ERA in two starts vs. the Manatees, after allowing five runs – four earned – on 10 hits with 12 strikeouts and two walks.
6/11 - RHP Brian Stroud (0-1, 4.22 ERA) ... Stroud will be making his fifth start of the season and is coming off a solid outing in his last start on June 4. Starting at Jupiter, he surrendered one unearned run on three hits with one strikeouts and one walk. He was not on the roster for the first two series versus the Manatees.
THIS YEAR ... The Manatees have won five of the six previous meetings including two of three games at Space Coast Stadium. All six games have been low scoring affairs (nine total runs or less in each) with three of the games coming down to one run. Lakeland’s lone win was a 3-2 decision on April 15. Lakeland has a .208 average in the series with a pair of homers while Brevard has a .223 mark and five home runs.
OFF TO A GOOD START ... With the exception of one game, the starting pitching staff has been almost untouchable as of late, capped by a seven-inning shutout by Shawn Teufel on Friday, June 8. In the last six games, the staff has allowed just seven runs (six earned with four coming in the one bad outing) for a combined 1.60 earned run average. Luis Angel Sanz got the ball rolling with six innings of shutout ball of June 2. Alex Burgos followed with six no-hit scoreless innings on June 3. Brian Stroud allowed one unearned run in six innings on June 4 while Ryan Woolley, making a spot start on June 6 in the second game of a doubleheader, surrendered a pair of earned runs.
TUFF MAN TEUFEL ... Shawn Teufel matched the storm clouds amassing over the Joker Marchant Stadium turf on Friday, June 6 and washed away the hopes of Charlotte in holding the Stone Crabs scoreless for his first career shutout. It was also just the second complete game shutout recorded in the Florida State League this season.
FIRST IN THE USA ... Dixon Machado deposited an 0-2 pitch over the left field wall for his first home run of the season with one out in the second inning against Charlotte on Friday, June 8. It was not only his first round-tripper since 2009, it was his first hit on United States soil, collecting his first three career home runs while playing in the Venezuelan Summer League. Machado has hits in his last six games (including three games with two hits) and is 9x21 (.429) in those games.
WELCOME BACK, DANIEL ... Daniel Fields returned to the Flying Tiger line-up on June 6 after being activated from the disabled list. Fields last played on April 26 and went on the DL on May 2. The Lakeland centerfielder went 4x9 with a pair of stolen bases in his first two games back and is now 10x28 (.357) with five runs batted in, two doubles, a triple and six stolen bases with hits in each of his last seven games.
LEMON’S NOT ONE ... Marcus Lemon has hits in his last six games going 10x23 (.435) with five runs scored, six runs driven in and three doubles.
ALL-STARS ... Four Flying Tigers were named to the Florida State League All-Star Game. Two of the four, third baseman Nick Castellanos and catcher James McCann have since been promoted to AA Erie. Also selected were Avisail Garcia and closer Bruce Rondon. The All-Star game will be played on Saturday, June 16 at Charlotte Sports Park, the home of the Stone Crabs.
ROSTER SHUFFLE ... The revolving door continues to spin as catcher James McCann earned a promotion to AA Erie and infielder Matt Perry was sent to the Connecticut roster on Wednesday. McCann batted .288 in 45 games for Lakeland and was 14x33 (.424) since May 25. Perry had played in just five games and was hitless in five at bats. Infielder Cale Iorg, an FSL All-Star for Lakeland in 2008, returns to the club to begin recovery from off-seson shoulder surgery in his throwing arm and catcher Adolfo Reina joins the Flying Tigers from extended spring training. On Thursday, Marcus Lemon was removed from the temporary inactive list and added to the roster while Jeff Holm was sent to West Michigan.
TAKING A HOLADAY IN THE BIGS ... Bryan Holaday, a member of the 2010 Flying Tigers made his major league debut on Wednesday, June 6. The former draft pick out of Texas Christian University batted .220 in 44 games for Lakeland in 2010. Holaday joins Duane Below, Brennan Boesch, Andy Dirks, Don Kelly, Rick Porcello, Luke Putkonen, Ryan Raburn, Ramon Santiago, Drew Smyly, Clete Thomas, Justin Verlander, Brayan Villarreal, Thad Weber, Adam Wilk and Danny Worth as former Lakeland players who have donned the Old English “D” in Detroit in 2012.
1700th WIN ... Manager Dave Huppert recorded his 1,700th victory as a minor league manager on Sunday, June 3 when the Flying Tigers posted an 11-1 win at Jupiter. He is in his second season with Lakeland and his 24th season as a minor league manager. Huppert, who became the winningest active manager in the minor leagues with Lakeland’s sixth win on April 19 of this year, brings a 1,702-1,563 record into the Charlotte series. The all-time record for wins for a minor league manager belongs to Stan Wasiak of the Dodger’s organization who won 2,497 games.
MOMMA TOLD ME THERE’D BE DAYS LIKE THIS ... June 6 was a night Charlotte catcher Luke Bailey would like to forget. Playing in the first game since April 14, the Stone Crab backstop committed four errors (all of the throwing variety) tieing the Florida State League for most errors in a game by a catcher. The last time it happened was in 1996 when Chris Unrat was charged with four miscues while playing for then Charlotte Rangers
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