THE SERIES ... Lakeland travels to Dunedin for a weekend series on Aug. 24-26. Friday’s and Saturday’s games are at 6:30 pm with Sunday’s serires finale getting underway at 5 pm. .
THE FLYING TIGERS (33-25 second half, 1st 0.0 GB, 69-54 overall) ... Lakeland is peaking at the right time having won five games in a row and seven of the last eight to take over sole possession of first place in the North Division with a one-game lead over Dunedin, Tampa and Clearwater. The Flying Tigers own the highest team batting average in the league and now hold a .002 lead over Daytona. Lakeland is also tied for the FSL lead with Bradenton for the league lead with a .977 fielding percentage.
THE BLUE JAYS (31-25 second half, T-2nd, 1.0 GB, 73-50 overall) ... Dunedin is 8-2 its last ten games and has moved into a three-way tie for second place, 1.0 game back of the Flying Tigers, along with Tampa and Clearwater. Closer Danny Barnes, who for some unexplainable reason, is still with the Blue Jays despite his minor league-leading 32 saves. The Blue Jays’ pitching staff has the third lowest ERA in the league with a 3.61 mark.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
8/24 - RHP Warwick Saupold (2-1, 3.27 ERA) ... Warwick Saupold had won back-to-back starts before falling to Dunedin at home on Aug. 17. In that start, the former Australian League pitcher allowed two runs on five hits with four strikeouts and three walks in 5.1 innings pitched – his longest outing with Lakeland.
8/25 - RHP Cesar Carrillo (1-2, 5.40 ERA) ... Cesar Carrillo picked up his first win as a Lakeland Flying Tiger in his last start on Aug. 19 at him against Dunedin (his only appearance against the Blue Jays). In that game, he worked 5.2 innings, holding the Blue Jays to three runs on four hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
8/26 - RHP Drew VerHagen (0-2, 2.55 ERA) ... Drew VerHagen will be looking for his first win in a Flying Tigers uniform. In his last start on Aug. 22 at Brevard County, he tossed 4.0 shutout innings on three hits with a walk and three strikeouts. He is 0-2 with a 3.71 ERA on the road. VerHagen has not faced Dunedin this season.
THIS YEAR ... Lakeland has won eight of the fourteen previous meetings between the two clubs and emerged victorious in five of the last seven contests. Tyler Collins has a team-leading 19 hits in the series with nine doubles. Nick Castellanos, now at AA Erie, had 18 hits against the Blue Jays while SeaWolves teammate James McCann contributed 14 hits while wearing a Lakeland uniform. Hernan Perez and Wade Gaynor has had 11 hits while Luis Castillos has collected 10 hits in the series.
PENNANT CHASE ... Lakeland has won five in a row and has taken over sole possession of first place. Dunedin, Tampa and Clearwater are all 1.0 games behind the Flying Tigers. The Flying Tigers are gunning for their first pennant since winning both halves of the season in 2005 and advancing to the Florida State League Championship, falling three games to two to the Palm Beach Cardinals. Should Dunedin, which won the first half, surge ahead and win the second half as well, Lakeland could earn a wild card playoff spot which goes to the club with the best record in the event of a repeat winner. Lakeland plays three games at Dunedin then heads back to Lakeland for the final seven games of the regular season. Brevard County comes in for three games while the Yankees are the Flying Tigers’ opponent for the final four games. Here’s a look the remaining games for the top four teams.
TAMPA – vs. DAY (3 H); DUN (3 A); vs. LAK (4 A)
LAKELAND – vs. DUN (3 A); vs. BRV (3 H); vs. TPA (4 H)
DUNEDIN – vs. LAK (3 H), vs. TPA (3 A); vs. CLR (AHAH)
CLEARWATER – vs BRV (3 A), (DAY 3 A) vs. DUN (HAHA)
LONG BALL ... Lakeland knocked seven ball out of the park in the last five games with Dean Green and James Robbins each homering twice with Tyler Collins, Wade Gaynor, and Adolfo Reina also going deep.
SANZ TAKES OVER FSL LEAD ... With his win in last night’s game, Luis Angel Sanz picked up his 11th win of the year – the most of any Florida State League hurler. Throw in his one win with West Michigan and Sanz has an organizational-leading 12 wins. With a 3.62 ERA in FSL games, Sanz ranks eighth in the league.
CALLIN’ COLLINS ... Tyler Collins may be the next Flying Tiger to climb the organizational ladder if he keeps up his current play. His 34 doubles is second most in the Florida State League while his 46 extra base hits is tied for third most. His 132 hits and 197 total bases is fourth most in the league. With 34 doubles, Collins has tied Jeff Larish and Cody Ross for second most two-baggers in Lakeland history. The record is held by Gabe Kapler who had 40 doubles in 1997.
NICE TURNAROUND ... Lakeland lost six of the first seven games to Brevard County this season, but rebounded to win the last seven straight games against the Manatees.
NOT SO NICE TURNAROUND ... The Flying Tigers beat Tampa seven consecutive times the two teams met this season, but the Yankees have come back to win six of the last nine contests.
FLYING HIGH ... Alex Burgos has allowed two earned runs over his last four outings for a 1.15 ERA, but has just one win to show for his efforts ... Curt Casali has hits in 10 of his last 13 games for a .277 mark (13x47) and has three doubles in his last four games ... Tyler Collins has hit .316 (24x76) in August with 16 runs scored, six doubles, a pair of homers and 13 runs batted in ... Matt Crouse has a streak of 14.0 consecutive scoreless innings and has allowed just two runs (both in the same game) in his last 13 appearances. He is now 7-1 with five saves and a 1.79 ERA ... Wade Gaynor is 10x34 (.294) in the last nine games with hits in eight of those contests ... Dean Green has showed why he was the Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year for Barry University in 2011, going 10x27 (.371) his last seven games with five runs scored, two homers and seven runs batted in – not to mention two stolen bases ... Guido Knudson has not allowed a run in his last 10.1 innings pitched over six appearnces ... Hernan Perez has hits in 16 of his last 20 games and is batting .319 (22x69) in the month of August ... Adolfo Reina has driven in four runs in his last two games with three hits including a home run ... James Robbins has collected hits in five consecutive games with four runs scored and three more driven on a pair homers ... Michael Rockett has a six-game hit streak going in which he is 9x23 (.391) ... Drew VerHagen has back-to-back shutout appearances, tossing 4.0 scoreless innings against both Daytona and Brevard County.
KEEPING IT CLOSE ... Six of Lakeland’s last 10 games have been decided by one run. Fortunately, the Flying Tigers are 4-2 in those close games. Overall, Lakeland has an FSL-best record of 25-14 in one-run games this season.
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. Schlereth has appeared in eight games so far for Lakeland with a 0-0 record and a 1.13 ERA. He has struck out nine, but walked seven, and allowed six hits in his 8.0 innings pitched.
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 1,741-1,589 record into the Dunedin series.
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