THE SERIES .... All four games of this series will be played at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter on Friday-Monday, June 1-4. The Friday, Saturday and Monday games are 6:35 starts while the Sunday game is a 5:05 pm first pitch. All four games may be heard on the Hammerheads’ web at www.jupiterhammerheads.com.
UP NEXT ... Lakeland returns from a seven-game road trip on Tuesday, June 5 at 6:30 pm to open a four-game homestand against the Charlotte Stonecrabs, an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. Games 1-3 are at 6:30 pm while the Friday, June 8 begins at 7:11 pm.
THE FLYING TIGERS (25-26, 3rd, 9.0 GB) ... Lakeland dropped a 14-4 loss at Dunedin on Thursday as former major leaguer Vladimir Guerrero clubbed a pair of two-run homers to spark an 18-hit attack. The Blue Jays erupted for seven runs in the eighth inning to punctuate the win. James McCann had three hits for Lakeland while Nick Castellanos hit a two-run homer. The Flying Tigers have now lost seven of their last nine games and have dropped to 9.0 games behind first place Dunedin. Castellanos leads Lakeland with a .409 average and 30 runs batted in while Avisail Garcia, now back on the active roster after a stint on the disabled list, is second with a .297 mark while leading the club with five homers. Bruce Rondon is tied for third in the Florida State League with 10 saves.
THE HAMMERHEADS (26-27, 2nd, 15.0 GB) ... Jupiter downed Charlotte 11-3 on Thursday scoring six runs in the sixth inning and four more in the seventh to rally from a 3-1 deficit. Ryan Fisher was 3x5 in the game and drove in five runs – three coming on a home run. Mark Canha leads the club with a .306 average and has hits in each of his last eight games going 13x31 (.419) with seven runs batted in. Danny Black was held hitless last night after entering the game with 10 hits in his previous five games. Marcell Ozuna leads the club with nine homers (second in the FSL) and 28 runs batted in. Reliever Michael Brady is 1-3 but has 10 saves and a 2.49 ERA while fellow reliever Raudel Lazo is 4-1 with a 1.96 earned run average.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
6/01 - LHP Shawn Teufel (1-4, 7.88 ERA) ... Teufel is looking for his first win since April 15. He is 0-3 with two no-decisions for Lakeland and 1-1 in two starts for AAA Toledo since that date. In his last start on May 26, he was tagged for five runs on 10 hits in 5.0 innings vs. Tampa.
6/02 - RHP Luis Alberto Sanz (2-1, 5.90 ERA) ... Sanz tossed five shutout innings in his last start on May 27 vs. Tampa, striking out five and holding the Yankees to seven hits. It was the best outing by a Lakeland pitcher since May 8 when Jacob Turner threw 7.0 shutout innings against Palm Beach. Sanz has allowed two earned runs in 12.0 innings over his last two starts with 11 strikeouts and two walks.
6/03 - RHP Alex Burgos (2-7, 5.91 ERA) ... Burgos will be looking to snap a three-game losing streak in which he has surrendered 16 runs (12 earned) over 15.0 innings. He has struggled with control having issued 26 walks in his last five starts. In his last start on May 29 at Dunedin, he gave up five earned runs in 4.2 innings with five walks.
6/04 - RHP Brian Stroud (0-1, 5.87) ... Stroud will be making his fourth appearance for Lakeland. In his last start on May 30 at Dunedin, he held the Blue Jays to two runs on six hits in 6.0 innings with four strikeouts and one walk.
LAST YEAR ... In 2010, Lakeland swept the season series with Jupiter, taking all eight games. However, the Hammerheads got revenge in 2011, winning seven of the eight games, including all four games in Jupiter in which the Hammerheads posted a pair of shutouts. The Flying Tigers were limited to a .228 average and were outscored 34-18 in the eight games with Avisail Garcia and Wade Gaynor each having nine hits.
ALL-STARS ... The Florida State League All-Star teams were announced Friday and Lakeland had four players selected. Representing the Flying Tigers are third baseman Nick Castellanos, outfielder Avisail Garcia, catcher James McCann, and closer Bruce Rondon.
BUSY BALLPARK ... In addition to being the home of the Jupiter Hammerheads, Roger Dean Stadium is also home to the Palm Beach Cardinals and is the only stadium to host two minor league teams.
CASTELLANOS WATCH ... Going 18x38 (.474) over his last 10 games, Nick Castellanos continues to lead the minor leagues with a .409 average. He leads the Florida State League with 81 hits, 16 doubles, a .469 on-base percentage, a .556 slugging percentage, and 110 total bases and also ranks third in the league with 34 runs scored. Defensively, he has fielded the most chances (120) and has the most assists (87) of any FSL third baseman.
McCANN CATCHING FIRE ... James McCann has hits in five straight games and is 8x19 (.421) during that span.
SOLID GOLD ... Tyler Clark has been a steady force out of the bullpen and is 3-0 with a 0.86 ERA in 13 appearances. He has 25 strikeouts and 10 walks in 21.0 innings and has allowed just two runs on the season. Clark leads all FSL relievers with a .147 opponents’ batting average and ranks fifth with 8.57 baserunners allowed per nine innings. Matt Crouse is close behind in second with a .149 mark. His 6.75 baserunners allowed per nine innings leads FSL relievers.
COULD BE SLOPPY ... Both the Flying Tigers and the Hammerheads have committed 56 errors – third most in the league. However, James Robbins continues to lead the league’s first basemen with a perfect 1,000 fielding percentage with no errors in 461 total chances. He also has the most putouts (427) of any player in the Florida State League.
GROUNDED ... Hernan Perez had two hits on Thursday, but entered the game with one hit in his previous 25 at bats ... James Robbins has two hits in his last 35 at bats and is 4x51 (.078) since May 15.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS ... Lakeland is 22-0 when taking a lead into the ninth inning and 2-22 when trailing heading into the final frame. The club is 18-1 when leading after seven innings and 4-22 when trailing heading into the eighth inning. The Flying Tigers are 14-10 when scoring first and is 16-5 when the opponent gets on the scoreboard first. Lakeland is 3-1 in extra innings which is tied with Clearwater for the best percentage. Lakeland starting pitching has allowed 33 earned runs in the last eight games for a 7.30 earned run average.
FAMILIAR FACE ... Former Flying Tiger pitching coach Joe Coleman now performs the same role for the Hammerheads. Coleman had been Lakeland’s pitching coach from 2007-11. He is in his 47th year in professional baseball, including six seasons as a pitcher with Detroit.
MARLINS FIRST-ROUNDERS ... Chad James, who should pitch in game two of this series, was a first round pick (18th overall) of the Marlins in 2009 out of Yukon High School in Oklahoma while outfielder Christian Yelich was elected by the then Florida Marlins in the first round (23rd overall) of the 2010 draft out of Westlake High School in Thousand Oaks, Calif.
ROSTER SHUFFLE ... On Wednesday, Detroit promoted Zach Maggard to AAA Toledo to take the roster spot vacated when Omir Santos was brought up to the big club and Lance Durham, the son of former major leaguer Leon “Bull” Durham, was added to the roster from extended spring training. However, Lance’s stay wasn’t for long as the one-time Tiger draft pick was sent back to EST as Avisail Garcia was activated off the disabled list on Thursday. The shuffling continued on Friday as catcher Luis Alberto Sanz was promoted to AA Erie and the club welcomed catcher Wes Thigpen from extended spring. Thigpen, who was signed as a non-drafted free agent by Detroit in 2011 out of Mississippi State University, batted .250 for the 2011 Gulf Coast League Tigers with four doubles and two home runs in 31 games.
WINNINGEST MANAGER ... Manager Dave Huppert 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 1,697-1,561 record into the Dunedin 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment