THE SERIES .... Lakeland concludes its seven-game road trip with a three-game weekend series at Clearwater on Aug. 10-12. Games one and two at Bright House Networks Field get underway at 6:30 pm while Sunday’s series finale is set for a 1 pm first pitch. The first 1,000 fans to Friday’s game will receive a “one-of-a-kind” bat-brella.
THE FLYING TIGERS (25-21 second half, 2nd, 3.5 GB, 61-50 overall) ... Lakeland managed a split of its doubleheader at Daytona on Thursday to record the only win in the series. The two losses have dropped the Flying Tigers to 3.5 games out of first place. The squad remains in second place with a 1/2 game lead over Brevard County. Tyler Collins, who is 13x30 (.533) his last eight games, is 10th in the Florida State League with a .300 average and second with 30 doubles. His 179 total bases is fifth most in the league. Lakeland remains second in the league with a .265 average, just behind Daytona’s .266 mark.
THE THRESHERS (23-23 second half, 5th, 5.5 GB, 59-53 overall) ... Clearwater was crushed by Tampa last night by a 12-0 score as the Yankees put up a nine spot in the eighth inning. The loss was the Threshers sixth in a row and ninth in the last 10 games. Austin Wright ranks third in the Florida State League with a 3.23 earned run average. At 9-3, Wright is tied with Lakeland’s Luis Angel Sanz and two other pitchers for second most wins in the FSL. His 115 strikeouts is third most in the league. Adam Morgan, whose 140 strikeouts tops the league, was fourth with a 3.29 ERA put has since been promoted to AA despite going 4-10 on the season. Jesse Biddle is second with 122 strikeouts and sixth with a 3.47 ERA. Jim Murphy is third in the FSL with 14 homers and 71 RBI while leading the league in doubles (34) and extra base hits (49). He is second with 182 total bases and fourth with 63 runs scored. While the Threshers have the top three pitchers in terms of strikeouts, they also have three pitchers in the top five in walks issued.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
8/11 - RHP Luis Alberto Sanz (9-3, 3.54 ERA) ... Sanz has allowed just three runs over 31.0 innings in his last five starts for amazing 0.87 ERA since July 14. In his last start on Aug. 4 versus Clearwater, he held the Threshers to one run on four hits in 6.0 innings with five strikeouts and two walks. Sanz is 7-0 at home with a 2.89 ERA in 11 games and 2-3 with a 4.50 in eight road appearances. He is 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA in two previous appearances (one start) against Clearwater. His nine wins is tied with three others for second most in the FSL while his 3.54 ERA is ninth lowest in the league.
8/11 - LHP Shawn Teufel (5-6, 6.11 ERA) ... Teufel is looking for his first win in over a month. Since July 8, he is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in six games. In his last start on Aug. 5 against Clearwater, he limited the Threshers to three runs on seven hits with six strikeouts and two walks in 6.0 innings. He is 3-3 on the road with a 7.80 ERA in nine road starts while going 2-3 with a 4.70 ERA in ten home appearances. Teufel is 0-1 with a 7.20 ERA in two games (one start) vs. Clearwater.
8/12 - LHP Cesar Carrillo (0-1, 4.50 ERA) ... Carrillo will be making his third appearance and second start for Lakeland. In his previous start on Aug. 7 at Daytona, he checked the Cubs to two runs on five hits with five strikeouts and two walks in 5.0 innings. He has not faced Clearwater this season.
THIS YEAR ... Lakeland has emerged victorious in eight of the 13 meetings between the two clubs this season and has won the last four games. The season series is split 3-3 in the games played at Bright House Networks Field. Wade Gaynor leads Lakeland with 15 hits, including six doubles, a triple and two homers for nine RBI. James Robbins has 13 hits, including five doubles, while Tyler Collins has collected 11 base hits. Dixon Machado has scored 11 times in the 13 games. For the Threshers, Jim Murphy has 17 hits, including nine doubles, while Albert Cartwright and Edgar Duran each have had 13 hits.
LET’S GO DEEP ... Adolfo Reina hit his first home run as a Flying Tiger in the second inning of the second game of a doubleheader at Daytona on Thursday to give Lakeland a 1-0 lead. Two innings later, Wade Gaynor clubbed his 12th homer of the season, a two-run shot to give the Flying Tigers a 3-1 lead. After Michael Rockett doubled in two runs in the sixth for a 5-1 Lakeland lead, Dean Green connected for his first round-tripper for Lakeland in the seventh for the final 7-1 lead. The three homers marked the first time this season the Flying Tigers have hit a trio of round-trippers in a game.
A LEMON ROLL ... Marcus Lemon brings a 10-game hit streak into this series in which he is 17x39 (.434) with nine runs scored. He has five multi-hit games during the streak.
PEREZ-ING ... Hernan Perez has base hits in seven of his last eight games and is 12x28 (.429) during that span.
PACKIN’ ‘EM IN ... Clearwater leads the Florida State League in attendance with an average of 2,566 fans per game. The numbers have been helped by the fact that Clearwater has not had lost a home date to rain this season (although one game was called with the scored tied 2-2 in the sixth inning due to inclement weather). In contrast, Lakeland has had nine home games lost due to weather – most in the FSL.
ROSTER MOVES ... Tyler Clark was promoted to AA Erie on Monday with Dan Bennett being added from West Michigan. Clark was 6-1 with nine saves and a miniscule 0.63 ERA for Lakeland. Bennett, a 19th round pick by Detroit in 2011 out of Florida State University, was 5-2 with 11 saves and a 2.68 ERA for the Whitecaps. On Tuesday, Matt Perry was activated from the disabled list.
PLAYOFFS? ... With just over three weeks left in the season, the Flying Tigers need to win the second half (or for Dunedin to catch fire) to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2005. The winner of each half advances to the Florida State League Playoffs in September. Should the first half winner repeat as Division winner in the second half, the team with the best record in the Division earns a berth in the playoffs. Dunedin took the first half pennant with a 66-48 record, but is in fourth place with a 24-23 mark, 5.0 games out of first. Lakeland is in second place, 3.5 games behind Tampa, but just 1/2 game ahead of third place Brevard County. Following this series, Lakeland has six games left with Brevard County and Dunedin, four against Tampa (the last four games of the regular season) and a three-game set with Daytona. In the South Division, St. Lucie won the first half with Bradenton currently leading the second half. However, there are four teams within one-game of the Marauders.
RONDON CLIMBS ANOTHER STEP ... Bruce Rondon, who began the season in Lakeland and was promoted to AA Erie on June 20, has been given a ticket to AAA Toledo. The closer had 12 saves in 13 opportunities with the SeaWolves and posted an impressive 0.83 ERA in 21 games.
MLB REHAB ... Joining the Flying Tigers on a MLB rehab assignment is Detroit Tiger reliever Daniel Schlereth, who is working his way back from left shoulder tendinitis.
WINNINGEST ACTIVE MANAGER ... Manager Dave Huppert, who was just named to the Florida State League Hall of Fame, 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 1,733-1,585 record into the Daytona series.
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