THE SERIES .... All four games of this series will be played at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter. The series opener is Sunday at 5:05 pm with Monday’s game getting underway at 12:05 pm. The final two games are Tuesday and Wednesday at 6:35 pm. Roger Dean Stadium is the only stadium to be the home site for two minor league teams as the Jupiter Hammerheads also play their home games at RDS.
THE FLYING TIGERS (11-9 second half, T-3rd, 1.5 GB, 47-38 overall) ... Lakeland split a doubleheader on Sunday at Charlotte winning the opener 7-0 as Luis Angel Sanz and Ryan Woolley combined on a three-hitter and then dropping the nightcap 8-3 as the Stone Crabs put up a six-run fifth inning. The Flying Tigers are 5-3 their last eight games and 9-6 the last 15 contests. Lakeland remains atop the Florida State League with a .264 average but Daytona has closed the gap and is now just one point behind the Flying Tigers. The staff ERA of 3.91 is eighth in the FSL.
THE CARDINALS (12-11 second half, T-2nd, 1.0 GB, 43-47 overall) ... Palm Beach downed Daytona 9-6 on Saturday to win its second game in a row and fourth in the last six contests. Mike O’Neill has a .351 average on the season, topped only in the Florida State League by former Flying Tiger Nick Castellanos’ .405 mark. O’Neill’s 104 hits and .437 on-base percentage are also second in the league while his 46 walks is tied for third most in the FSL. Starlin Rodriguez ranks seventh with a .302 average. Dean Kiekhefer has a 0.41 walks per nine innings to top all FSL relievers while his 8.45 baserunners allowed per nine innings is the third lowest in the league. Palm Beach bats .257 as a team, a total that is sixth best in the FSL, while the staff ERA of 3.65 is third lowest in the league.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
7/15 - RHP Brian Stroud (0-2, 3.22 ERA) ... Stroud will be making his eighth start of the season and is still looking for his first win against two losses. He has an impressive 1.29 ERA in his last four starts with an 0-1 mark having allowed three combined runs. In his last start on July 8 at home against Daytona, Stroud tossed 6.0 innings of one-hit ball with three walks and no strikeouts.
7/16 - LHP Brian Flynn (7-4, 3.98 ERA) ... Flynn is 3-0 with a 3.21 ERA in his last five starts but has gotten a no-decision in his last two outings. In his last start on July 9 at Daytona, Flynn held the Cubs to three runs on six hits in four innings. He did strike out five in the contest, but also walked five batters.
7/17 - LHP Jared Wesson (0-1, 3.79 ERA) ... Wesson is making his fourth start since joining Lakeland in late June and will be looking for his first win as a Flying Tiger in 2012. In his last start on July 11 at Charlotte, he limited the Stone Crabs to one run on five hits with three strikeouts but did not get a decision in the game.
7/18 - LHP Alex Burgos (7-8, 4.88 ERA) ... Burgos has won his last three starts and is 5-1 his last six outings. In those six games, he has a 3.24 ERA and has struck out 27 batters, but has also walked 22 opponents. In his last start on July 12 at Charlotte, Burgos kept the Stone Crabs in check with four hits for one run with five K’s and three free passes.
THIS YEAR ... The two clubs split their four-game series in Lakeland on May 8-11 with each club scoring 14 runs in the series. Hernan Perez and Avisail Garcia, now at AA Erie, each had six hits in the series with Garcia hitting a pair of home runs. Lakeland batted .269 in the four games while Palm Beach hit .263 for the series behind eight hits by Starlin Rodriguez and seven more, including three doubles by Alan Ahmady.
INSIDE THE CARDINALS ROSTER ... Outfielder James Ramsey was St. Louis’ top pick (23rd overall) in the 2012 draft out of Florida State University and was just signed on June 29. Pitcher Drew Benes is the son of Andy Benes, who was the first player selected in the 1988 MLB draft. The elder Benes spent 15 years pitching in the majors. Cardinal manager Johnny Rodriguez is the father of Tampa Bay Rays’ infielder Sean Rodriguez.
FLYING HIGH ... Daniel Fields has hits in six of his last seven games and is 8x23 during that span ... Marcus Lemon has hits in six of his last eight games and is 10x28 in those eight contests ... James Robbins has at least one hit in 20 of his last 26 games and is 33x87 since June 6 for a .379 mark with 16 runs scored and 20 runs batted in. The .379 average is the best of any Florida State League batter since June 6.
GROUNDED ... Luis Castillo is 3x21 his last six games ... Tyler Collins is 5x33 his last nine games ... Wade Gaynor has one hit in his last five games (a three-run homer, albeit) and is 4x32 in nine games since July 5 ... Dixon Machado is 2x18 his last five games ... Hernan Perez has one hit in his last 15 at bats and is 4x45 since in 14 games since June 29.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS ... Tyler Collins leads Lakeland with a .286 average, 43 runs scored, 89 hits, 23 doubles, four triples, 44 RBI and 132 total bases ... Dixon Machado is one run scored behind Collins with 42 while his three triples also is second on the team ... James Robbins is second with 73 base hits, 19 doubles and 41 runs batted in ... Wade Gaynor tops current players with seven home runs ... Perez and Machado each had a team-high 14 stolen bases ... Alex Burgos and Brian Flynn are tied for the team lead with seven wins while Flynn’s 3.98 ERA is tops among starters with 47 innings or more. He also has struck out a team-high 78 batters ... Tyler Clark leads current Lakeland relievers with seven saves in seven opportunities and tops all Florida State League relievers with a .143 opponents’ batting average. Clark’s 12.32 strikeouts per nine innings is second among FSL relievers while his 8.13 baserunners allowed per nine innings is second best in the league ... Victor Larez ranks fifth among FSL relievers with 9.85 baserunners allowed per nine innings.
LACK OF POP ... Palm Beach has hit a league-low 27 home runs while Lakeland’s 37 homers is the second fewest.
GOOD EYE ... Flying Tigers batters have struck out the fewest time (573) of any FSL team and is one of only two teams with less than 600 strikeouts.
UP NEXT ... Lakeland returns home from its eight-game road trip on Thursday, July 19 to open a four-game series against Ft. Myers.
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 1,719-1,573 record into the Palm Beach series.
TURNER BACK IN ROTATION ... Jacob Turner, who started his 2012 campaign with Lakeland while working his way back to the big leagues, will make his second start for Detroit on Tuesday. With former Flying Tiger Drew Smyly headed to the disabled list, Turner will be part of Detroit’s starting rotation for now.
ALUMNI REPORT ... Nick Castellanos is batting .302 with Erie with four homers and 15 RBI. He was held hitless on Saturday, snapping a 13-game hit streak in which he had six games with two hits each. The former Lakeland third baseman has been victimized by the strikeout with 18 strikeouts in his last 11 games ... Avisail Garcia is hitting .243 with the SeaWolves ... James McCann has a .188 average with 17 strikeouts in 28 at bats for Erie ... Luis Alberto Sanz has a .138 mark in 10 games for the SeaWolves while Wes Thigpen is 3x7 (.429) in two games with Erie ... Bruce Rondon is nine for nine in save opportunities in AA and has a combined 24 saves in 25 opportunities for Lakeland and Erie combined.
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