THE SERIES .... All four games in this series will be played at St. Lucie’s Digital Domain Park. Games one, two and three are slated for 6:30 pm starts with the finale on Sunday getting underway at 1 pm. The late Gary Carter will be honored prior to Thursday’s game while the first 500 fans, 21 and over, to Friday’s game will receive a free Mets/Budweiser cap. Friday’s game is also Bark in the Park (aka Furball Friday). It’ll be Christmas in July on Saturday while the Bon Jovi Tribute Band, “Livin’ on a Prayer” will perform after the game.
THE FLYING TIGERS (17-15 second half, 4th North, 2.5 GB, 53-44 overall) ... Lakeland fell 4-2 at Tampa on Wednesday, the team’s fifth loss in the last seven games, dropping the club into fourth place, 2.5 games back in the North Division. Lakeland is still atop the Florida State League with a .264 team batting average, but have hit the second fewest home runs (44) in the league. The staff ERA of 3.88 is fifth highest in the league and the pitching corps has walked the third most batters of any FSL staff.
THE METS (14-19 second half, 5th South, 5.0 GB, 63-38 overall) ... The Mets ran away with the South Division first-half title, taking the crown by 14.0 games with a 49-19 record. However, the second way has been a different story as the club is already matched the number of losses from the first half with a 14-19 record. Cory Vaughn is tied for the league-lead with 16 home runs while Alonzo Harris is fourth with 26 stolen bases. The Mets get the job done with pitching as the staff tops the FSL with a 3.46 team ERA and has the third most strikeouts (767). St. Lucie has the fourth lowest team batting avearge in the FSL at .251 but have hit the second most homers (71) of any club.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
7/26 - LHP Shawn Teufel (5-5, 6.13 ERA) ... Teufel is looking for his first win since posting a “W” on July 3 with three no decisions in the interim. Since posting back-to-back starts of 7.0 innings of shutout ball, he has surrendered 20 runs over 25 innings for a 7.20 ERA. In his last start on July 21 at Fort Myers, Teufel gave up four earned runs on four hits with six walks in 5.0 innings pitched. Teufel did not face the Mets the first go around.
7/27 - RHP Drew VerHagen (0-2, 4.50 ERA) ... VerHagen is looking for his first win as a Flying Tiger. In his two previous starts he has allowed three earned runs with three strikeouts and four walks in 6.0 innings. He has yet to work more than 3.2 innings in his two outings. VerHagen was not with Lakeland when the Flying Tigers first met the Mets.
7/28 - LHP Alex Burgos (7-9, 5.16 ERA) ... Burgos is 3-1 over his last five starts with a 3.98 earned run average. He has struck out 23 in those five starts, but has also walked 17 batters. In his last start on July 23 at Tampa, he was tagged for six earned runs on eight hits with two punch outs and five free passes. Burgos took the loss on May 18 allowing six runs (two earned) on six hits with five strikeouts and four walks.
THIS YEAR ... The Mets took three out of four games played in Lakeland on May 17-20 in the first series this season, outscoring the Flying Tigers 21-12 in the process. James McCann, now at AA Erie, and Dixon Machado each had five hits for Lakeland while Avisail Garcia, also with Erie, and Tyler Collins each contributed four hits.
INSIDE THE METS ROSTER ... Pitcher Chase Huchingson and catcher Blake Forsythe were named to the 2012 Florida State League All-Star team ... pitcher Adam Kolarek’s father, Frank, played for the Oakland A’s from 1976-82 ... catcher Kai Gronauer was born in Solingen, Germany ... infielder Robbie Shields was a third round draft pick of the Mets in 2009 out of Florida Southern College in Lakeland ... outfielder Cory Vaughn is the son of Greg Vaughn, who played 15 years in the major leagues from 1989-2003.
TO ERR IS HUMAN ... But not with these guys. Both the Flying Tigers and the Mets have .975 team fielding percentages and are tied for the second best fielding mark in the Florida State League. Lakeland’s James Robbins leads all FSL first baseman with a .994 fielding percentage while Hernan Perez tops all second baseman with a .981 mark.
GUNNED DOWN ... Lakeland catchers have combined to throw out 39.9 percent of opposing baserunners – best percentage of any Florida State League team. The St. Lucie backstops have nailed 34.4 percentage of would-be basestealers – fourth highest mark in the FSL.
FLYING TIGERS TRADED ... Former Flying Tigers Jacob Turner, Brian Flynn and Rob Brantly were traded on Monday to the Miami Marlins for former Lakeland Tiger second baseman Omar Infante and pitcher Anibal Sanchez.
REHAB ASSIGNMENT ... Detroit pitcher Al Aburquerque is on a major league rehab assignment with Lakeland. Alburquerque was 6-1 last season for Detroit with a 1.87 ERA but is recovering from offseason surgery for a non-displaced stress fracture in his right elbow. Originally signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Cubs in 2003, Alburquerque spent part of the 2009 season with Daytona and appeared in three games versus Lakeland tossing 4.0 innings with five strikeouts and a 2.25 ERA.
ROSTER SHUFFLIN’ ... Adolfo Reina was promoted to Toledo on Tuesday with Wes Thigpen rejoining the club from Connecticut. Thigpen was batting .130 in seven games for the New York-Penn club and was 0x7 in three games during a previous stint with the Flying Tigers. The Reina promotion was prompted by the trade of Mud Hen catcher Rob Brantly.
FLYING HIGH ... Tyler Collins has hits in seven of his last nine games going 8x30 (.267) in that stretch with six runs batted in ... Wade Gaynor brings a nine-game hit streak (10x35, .286) into this series with six runs scored and three more driven in on a pair of home runs ... Hernan Perez has hits in nine of his last 10 games, going 16x35 (.457) since July 18 with six runs scored ... Tyler Clark has not allowed a run in his last 16.2 innings over 14 outings and has a win and eight saves in his last 10 appearances. He has also struck out 21 batters in that span ... Victor Larez allowed one run on July 25, snapping a streak of 23.0 scoreless innings over 13 appearances ... Luis Angel Sanz has a 1.00 ERA in his last three starts and has won four in a row. In his last four starts he has a 1.88 ERA and has struck out 15 batters in those four games (but has also walked nine batters) ... Brian Stroud has a 2.70 ERA in his last eight starts, but is 1-3 with four no decisions in that span ... Ryan Woolley has given up one earned run in his last 14.0 innings over seven outings.
GROUNDED ... Luis Castillo has one hit in his last 13 at bats and is 3x27 since July 18 ... after getting seven hits in three games on July 21-23, Daniel Fields is 1x10 his last three games ... Marcus Lemon is 1x9 his last three games since getting four hits on July 21 ... Dixon Machado is 3x20 (.150) the his last six games ... James Robbins is 5x29 (.172) with 18 strikeouts his last eight games ... Tyler White has given up nine earned runs in his last four appearances for a 13.50 ERA.
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 1,725-1,581 record into the St. Lucie series.
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