THE SERIES .... The first two games of this series will be played in Tampa at George Steinbrenner Field with 7 pm start times. The final game of the series has the two teams playing at Joker Marchant Stadium with a special 5 pm first pitch.
UP NEXT ... Lakeland will host the Jupiter Hammerheads for a four-game series on June 24-27. The series will mark the return of former Flying Tigers pitching coach Joe Coleman who is now with the Hammerheads.
THE FLYING TIGERS (36-29 overall, 0-0 second half) ... Lakeland, which was rained out last night at home against Brevard County in the first half season finale, brings a season-best six-game winning streak into this series. With the spurt, Lakeland was able to finish in second place, 5.0 games behind Dunedin. Both Lakeland and Clearwater finished the half with 26 wins, but Lakeland had one less loss. The Flying Tigers bats have remained hot as the team has hit .275 (52x189) the last six games with 13 doubles and remains atop the Florida State League with a .270 team batting average. Lakeland has hit just 27 homers as a team, the second fewest in the league. The bullpen has excelled as late as well, having been scored upon in just one outing over the last nine games for a 1.48 ERA. Overall, the Flying Tigers have the third highest ERA in the league with a 4.01 mark.
THE YANKEES (30-37 overall, 0-0 second half) ... The Yankees closed out the first half with a 3-2 loss to Daytona to end up in fourth place, 12.0 games out of first place. Tampa ranks ninth in the FSL with a .250 team average and sixth with a 3.70 staff ERA. Rob Segedin tops the Yankees with a .294 average and six home runs and is tied for the team-lead with 34 RBI. Ramon Flores is second on the squad with a .269 mark.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
6/21 - LHP Alex Burgos (4-7, 5.32 ERA) ... Burgos has won back-to-back starts and has given up just two hits in the two starts. On June 3 against Jupiter, he tossed six no-hit scoreless innings with six strikeouts and four walks. He followed that outing by allowing the two hits in 5.0 innings on June 10 against Brevard County. He surrendered three earned runs in that start and walked four. Burgos is 1-2 with a 3.94 ERA in three starts versus Brevard County this season.
6/22 - RHP Brian Stroud (0-1, 3.76 ERA) ... Stroud has a 1.59 ERA in his last three starts with three earned runs allowed on 13 hits and eight K’s and four walks. In his last two starts he has been touched for just one earned run on seven hits over 11.0 innings. Despite the impressive numbers, he is still looking for his first win since joining Lakeland. Stroud has not face Tampa this season.
6/23 - RHP Brian Flynn (5-4, 4.23 ERA) ... Flynn snapped a three-game losing streak with a victory over Dunedin on June 12 at home. He worked 5.1 innings and allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits, two walks and four strikeouts. Flynn is 1-1 with a 4.63 ERA on the road and 4-3 at home with a 4.04 earned run average. He is 1-1 with a 3.06 in three starts against Tampa this season.
THIS YEAR ... Lakeland has won eight of the previous ten meetings between the two clubs this season, but Tampa has taken two of the last three. The last two games resulted in shutouts as the Yankees blanked the Flying Tigers 5-0 on May 26 with Lakeland returning the favor on May 27, shutting out Tampa, 4-0. Nick Castellanos led Lakeland with 18 hits and 10 runs scored in the 10 previous games with Tyler Collins adding 11 hits and five runs scored. Alex Burgos is 2-0 versus Tampa this season while Bruce Rondon has two saves.
RUN, WADE, RUN ... Wade Gaynor lifted a fly ball into left field on Monday, June 18 with Brevard County outfielder Michael Reed diving unsuccessfully to make the catch. As the ball rolled to the fence, Gaynor motored around the bases and slide head first across the plate for the first inside-the-park home run for a Lakeland player since Justin Justice accomplished the feat on August 10, 2008.
RONDON MOVES ON UP - PT. 1 ... Bruce Rondon recorded his 15th save of the season on June 18 to move into the top ten single season saves list for Lakeland, tying Mike Kobow who also had 15 saves in 2003.
RONDON MOVES ON UP - PT. 2 ... Bruce Rondon was promoted to AA Erie on Wednesday. Rondon had a 1-0 record and a 1.93 ERA to go with his 15 saves with 34 strikeouts and 10 walks in 23.1 innings pitched. His 15 saves ranked second in the Florida State League.
BULLS IN THE PEN ... Tyler Clark has allowed just one run in his last 13 outings dating back to May 1. The one run came on June 3 at Jupiter ... Matt Crouse was tagged for four runs in 1.2 innings against St. Lucie on May 19 – the only earned runs he has allowed in his last 12 outings dating back to May 1 ... Victor Larez has surrendered just one earned run in his last 10 appearances going back to May 6.
CATTY CASTILLO ... Luis Castillo is batting .395 (19x48) since May 30 with hits in 10 of 13 games. He is also scored 10 runs and drive in eight more during that span. From May 30-June 2 he knocked out five doubles and had two doubles on June 13 against Dunedin.
COOL COLLINS ... Tyler Collins has hits in 12 of his last 15 games going .380 (20x54) since June 30 with 11 runs scored and 11 runs batted in. He has seven doubles during his hot streak. Collins has 21 multi-hit games this season (second only to Nick Castellanos’ 27) with 11 games with two hits. Ten times he has had three hits in a game. Collins also had knocked in two or more runs in nine games this season – most of any Flying Tiger. His .299 batting average is 10th best in the FSL.
GAUDY GARCIA ... Avisail Garcia is 11x28 (.393) over his last eight games with seven runs scored and eight runs driven in with a double, a home run and three stolen bases. Like Collins, Garcia has 21 games with two or more hits in 17 games with two hits and four games with three.
NO SOUR LEMON ... Marcus Lemon has collected hits in 14 of his last 16 games for a .358 clip (19x53). He has six doubles in that stretch.
WITHER THE THREE BAGGER? ... Lakeland has hit just one triple since May 23, that coming off the bat of Nick Castellanos on June 2 at Jupiter.
FIRST ‘12 PICK JOINS CLUB ... Julio Felix, Detroit’s 12th round pick in this year’s draft, becomes the first member of his class to make the Lakeland roster as the 6’1’ righthander joins the Flying Tigers from the Gulf Coast League squad. Felix was picked out of Pima Community College in Arizona where he was 9-2 with a 2.06 in 2012.
WINNINGEST ACTIVE MANAGER ... 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 1,708-1,564 record into the Tampa 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.
WINNINGEST FSL MANAGER ... Tampa manager Luis Sojo is closing in on the most wins by a Florida State League manager. Coaching the Yankees in 2006-09 and 2011, Sojo brought a 381-303 record into the 2012 season. Tampa is 29-36 this season giving Sojo a 410-339 career record at Tampa. The current record is held by Luis Dorante who totaled 418 victories with the Jupiter Hammerheads in 1999-2000, 2002-04 and 2007. Dick Tracewski, who coached the Tigers from 1970-75, has the Lakeland franchise record with 392 wins.
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