FIRST ROUND OF THE PLAYOFFS ... Making their first playoff appearance since 2005, the Flying Tigers open the first round of the 2012 Florida State League postseason with a 6:30 pm home game on Tuesday. Game two in the best-of-three series will take place Wednesday at 6:35 pm at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium in Dunedin. Game three, if necessary, will be played Thursday in Dunedin, also at 6:30 pm. All games are broadcast on the Dunedin website.
THE FLYING TIGERS (73-58) ... Lakeland took the last three games of the regular season versus Tampa to win the second half pennant for the first time since the 2005 team took both halves. The three wins also gives the Flying Tigers the most wins (73) since the same 2005 squad posted an 85-48 record. Lakeland leads the FSL with a .267 team batting average and a .978 fielding percentage, while the Flying Tigers’ pitching staff ranks seventh with a 3.79 ERA. Lakeland baserunners have swiped 135 bases this season – fourth most in the FSL – and have been caught just 36 times – second fewest in the FSL. Defensively, Lakeland has thrown out 76 out of 127 would-be base stealers for a league-leading 37.4 percent. Tyler Collins is tenth in the Florida State League with a .290 average, second with 35 doubles, and fourth with 137 base hits. Hernan Perez now ranks fifth in the FSL with 27 stolen bases.
THE BLUE JAYS (78-58) ... Dunedin dropped four of its last six games to finish the second half tied with Clearwater for second place, one game behind Lakeland. Dunedin’s team batting average of .255 is sixth in the league while the staff ERA of 3.59 is third lowest in the league. The Blue Jays are third with a .975 fielding percentage while the catchers have gunned down 41 of 97 stealers for a 29.7 mark. Danny Barnes leads the minor leagues with a franchise record 34 saves. Casey Lawrence is ninth in the league with a 3.63 ERA and fifth with 138.2 innings pitched. Marcus Knecht ranks third in the FSL with 32 doubles and fourth with 40 extra-base hits.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS ...
9/04 - RHP Luis Angel Sanz (11-3, 3.46 ERA) ... Sanz is tied for the FSL lead with 11 wins and ranks fifth with a 3.46 ERA. Winner of his last seven decisions, he has a 7-0 record with a 2.04 ERA in his last 10 games (nine starts) with 42 strikeouts and 21 walks in 57.1 innings pitched. Sanz is a perfect 7-0 in 13 home appearances (nine starts) with a 3.02 at Joker Marchant Stadium this season. He is 1-0 with a 4.05 ERA in two relief appearances versus Dunedin and but hasn’t faced the club since May 2. In his last start on Aug. 30 against Tampa, Sanz shutout the Yankees for 5.0 innings on three hits with five strikeouts and a pair of walks.
9/05 - RHP Drew VerHagen (0-3, 3.67 ERA) ... VerHagen will be gunning for his first win as a Flying Tiger. In his last start on Aug. 28 versus Brevard County, he was tagged for a season-high four runs on five hits in just 2.1 innings. He had not allowed a run in two previous starts of four innings each prior to the 28th. VerHagen is 0-2 on the road this season with a 3.71 ERA in five games (four starts) and has not faced Dunedin this season.
9/06 - RHP Warwick Saupold (2-2, 3.77 ERA) ... Saupold surrendered a season-high five runs on four hits in 3.0 innings in his last start on Aug. 31 against Tampa. He is 1-1 on the road this season with a 3.07 ERA in three games (two starts). Saupold is 0-2 versus the Blue Jays this season, but has a 1.59 ERA in two starts. He has nine strikeouts and three walks against Dunedin, but has allowed 12 hits in 11.1 innings.
THIS YEAR ... Lakeland holds a 9-7 advantage in the series and has won six of the last nine meetings. Three games in the series have been decided by one-run (including a 6-5 Lakeland win in 13 innings on August 18) while six of the contests have been won by two runs. On May 31, Dunedin crushed Lakeland 14-3 with the Flying Tigers returning the favor on June 12 winning 11-3. Tyler Collins has batted .328 with 21 hits (including 10 doubles) while Wade Gaynor has 13 hits including a pair of homers. Kevin Nolan has led Dunedin with 17 hits while Marcus Knecht has 12 hits in the 16 contests.
LAKELAND IN THE PLAYOFFS ... Lakeland is making its first appearance in the playoffs since 2005 when the Flying Tigers fell three games to two to Palm Beach in the championship round. Lakeland opened the 2005 playoffs by sweeping Dunedin in two games. Overall, Lakeland has a 30-29 record 16 appearances in the playoffs, but is 16-20 in first-round games. Lakeland won the FSL Championship in 1992 under manager John Lipon and also won back-to-back titles in 1976 and 1977 under Jim Leyland, who is now the manager of the big league Tigers.
DUNEDIN IN THE PLAYOFFS ... This is the third straight year Dunedin has qualified for the FSL playoffs. Last season, the club fell two games to one to Daytona in the first round. The Blue Jays last advanced to the championship round in 2006 when they were swept by St. Lucie in three games. Overall, Dunedin has made 11 trips to the postseason (all since 1990) with a 11-28 record. The Blue Jays are looking for their first FSL championship.
KEEP IT IN THE PARK ... Dunedin has the second most homers of any FSL club (94) hitting 46 at home and 48 on the road. However, Lakeland pitchers have allowed the fewest homers (59) of any staff in the league.
GREEN MACHINE ... Dean Green has definitely had the hot bat down the stretch for Lakeland, going 17x34 (.500) his last nine games and 25x56 (.446) his last 15 games with 15 RBI and nine runs scored.
LEMON-AID ... Marcus Lemon has also carried the lumber to the dish and brings an 11-game hit streak into the playoffs in which he is 16x41 (.390) with eight runs scored. He hit .356 in August.
DYNAMIC DUO II? ... Many moons ago, the great Detroit shortstop/second baseman combo of Alan Trammel and Lou Whitaker took the field in Lakeland. If things hold up, perhaps this year’s middle infielder duo could be next great combo. Dixon Machado leads all FSL shortstops with a .965 fielding percentage while second baseman Hernan Perez tops his position brethren with a .979 fielding mark.
CASUALLY CASALI ... Catcher Curt Casali is 5x16 (.313) with three doubles and four runs scored in his last five games.
TWO FOR TYLER ... Tyler Collins has 35 doubles this season, the most for any Lakeland player since Gabe Kapler set the team record with 40 in 1997. His doubles are second most in the FSL while he ranks fourth with 137 hits.
CROUSE IN THE HOUSE ... Matt Crouse has the third lowest opponent’s batting average in the league (.189) and leads all FSL relievers with just 9.09 baserunners allowed per nine innings. He has racked up an 8-2 record and six saves with a 1.91 ERA in 38 appearances this season.
WADE’S WORLD ... Wade Gaynor has hits in eight of his last nine games (8x33, .242) and 14 of his last 16 contests (16x59, .271).
STINGY LAREZ ... Victor Larez has allowed two runs in his last 14.0 innings over six appearances and just five earned runs since June 1 (22 appearances, 40.1 innings) for a 1.12 ERA.
IT’S REINA-ING ... Catcher Adolfo Reina has hits in eight of his last nine games and is 13x30 (.433) during that stretch with nine runs batted in. He hit .439 in August for Lakeland.
ROSTER SHUFFLE ... The Flying Tigers welcomed two new pitchers to the club on Saturday in Jade Todd and Melvin Mercedes. Todd, who was 6-2 with two saves and a 1.65 ERA in West Michigan, was Detroit’s 7th round pick in 2008 out of Shades Valley High School in Alabama and has played for the GCL Tigers as well as West Michigan. Mercedes, who was 0-3 with nine saves and a 2.80 ERA in 37 games for West Michigan, was signed by Detroit in 2008 as a non-drafted free agent. He has played in the Dominican Summer and Gulf Coast Leagues as well for the Connecticut and West Michigan squads.
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 1,745-1,592 record into the playoffs. Coincidently, Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland is the winningest active manager in the majors.
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