THE SERIES ... After playing all their games so far in the North Division, Lakeland now ventures into the South Division to take on the Charlotte Stone Crabs, a Tampa Bay Rays affiliate, in a four-games series April 28-May 1. The series opener is Sunday, April 28 at 5:30 p.m. with the final three games April 29-May 1 getting underway at 6:30 p.m. All games will be livestreamed on the Stone Crabs website.
THE FLYING TIGERS (8-14, 6th Place: North, 7.0 GB) ... Lakeland downed Daytona 5-1 on Saturday to split a three-game series as the Cubs took games one and two. With the win, the Flying Tigers have won four of their last six, but remained in sixth place in the North Division, 7.0 games out of first place. In Saturday’s game, Eugenio Suarez and Jeff McVaney each homered as the club hit two homers in a game for just the second time this season. The Flying Tigers rank eighth with a .246 team batting average and have scored the fourth fewest runs (77) of any league team while hitting the second fewest homers (8) of any FSL line-up. The pitching staff has the fourth lowest ERA (3.38)in the Florida State League. Lakeland is 4-7 on the road in 2013.
THE STONE CRABS (8-14, 4th Place: South, 11.0 GB) ... Charlotte was swept in three games by Fort Myers and have lost five of its last six games. Three of the losses were by one run and a fourth by two runs. Ryan Carpenter ranks fourth in the Florida State League with a 1.96 ERA to go with a 2-1 record and leads the FSL with 28 strikeouts. Alejandro Segovia is tied with two others for second in the league with five home runs and is second with a .612 slugging percentage. Taylor Motter is tied for second with eight stolen bases. The Stone Crabs have the league’s third lowest team batting average (.239) and have scored the second fewest runs (70) in the league. Charlotte also has the third highest staff earned run average (4.25) of any FSL staff. The Stone Crabs are 5-6 at home.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
4/25 - RHP Wilsen Palacias (1-2, 3.86 ERA) ... picked up his first win in his last start on 4/22 against Clearwater tossing 6.0 innings of shutout ball, allowing four hits while striking out seven and walking one ... has struck out 12 in his last two starts (each 6.0 innings) ... is 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA in two home starts and 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA in two road starts ... of his nine runs allowed this season, four runs came in the first inning and five in the third ... lefties are hitting .348 with righties batting .254.
4/26 - LHP Kyle Ryan (2-1, 3.51 ERA) ... picked up the win in his last start on 4/23 against Clearwater ... allowed two runs on nine hits with three strikeouts and no walks in 6.0 innings ... had tossed eight shutout innings and allowed one hit in a no-decision versus Dunedin on 4/18 ... is 2-0 with a 1.37 ERA in three home starts and 0-1 with a 10.50 ERA in his one previous road outing ... holding lefties to a .200 average while allowing righthanders to hit .270.
4/27 - RHP Kevin Eichhorn (0-2, 3.60 ERA) ... took the loss in his last start on 4/25 at Daytona allowing four runs on nine hits (two homers) with four strikeouts and no walks in 5.0 innings ... has lost last two starts ... is 0-2 with a 4.15 ERA in two home starts and 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA in two road starts ... lefties are batting .200 against him while righthanders are hitting .283 ... almost half of his hits allowed (10 of 21) have come in the fourth inning.
LAST YEAR ... Lakeland won the season series in 2012 taking four of the seven games played (one was rained out). The two teams split the four games played in Charlotte with Lakeland winning two of the three in Lakeland. Both series were affected by the weather with one rain out and two postponements resulting in three doubleheaders (one was called after one game). Both squads hit three homers in the series last season. Lakeland hit .241 in the seven games while Charlotte batted .255.
VANDY REUNION ... The series will be a reunion in two ways. Stone Crabs catcher Curt Casali was a member of the Flying Tigers 2012 Florida State League championship team. In addition, Casali played collegiately at Vanderbilt University in 2011 with Lakeland’s Will Clinard and Aaron Westlake.
LAKELAND TRIVIA ... Last season, Hernan Perez led the Flying Tigers with 27 stolen bases – the second highest total since this player swiped an amazing 75 stolen bases to lead all of minor league baseball in 2007. Can you name this speedster?
FOURTH FIRST ROUNDERS ON CHARLOTTE ROSTER ... Charlotte third baseman Richie Shaffer was Tampa Bay’s first round pick (25th overall) in the 2012 draft out of Clemson University. Shaffer is ranked ninth among Rays’ prospects by MLB.com entering the 2013 season. Shortstop Jake Hager was Tampa Bays’ top pick (32nd overall) in the 2011 draft out of Sierra Vista High School in Nevada. Hager was named the 2011 Gatorade Nevada Baseball Player of the Year. Outfielder Kes Carter was also selected by the Rays in the first round in 2011 (56th overall) out of Western Kentucky University. Fellow outfielder Drew Vettleson was tabbed by Tampa Bay as a first-round pick in 2010 out of Central Kitsap High School in Washington. Vettleson tossed three no-hitters as an ambidextrous pitcher in high school.
TIGERS REHAB ASSIGNMENT ... Detroit outfielder Avisail Garcia joined Lakeland for the recent Daytona series while rehabbing from a right heel contusion suffered during Spring Training.
ANOTHER ONE HITS THE DL ... Starting pitcher Drew VerHagen is the latest Flying Tiger to see himself on the disabled list. Taking his place on the roster is Charlie Gillies who joins the club from Extended Spring Training. Gillies wasted no time in making a mark on the staff, picking up the win on Saturday with three shutout innings of relief work.
LEADS THE LEAD-OFF SPOT ... Eugenio Suarez was moved into the lead-off slot in the Lakeland line-up on 4/19 and has responded with a .448 average going 13x29 with seven runs scored. He has hit three doubles and a triple and led off Saturday’s game with his first homer of the season. He brings an eight-game hit streak into the Charlotte series and has scored at least one run in six of those eight games.
GO WESTLAKE YOUNG MAN ... Aaron Westlake is 11x33 his last seven games and has two games with three hits and two more with two hits during that stretch.
RIGHT WITH WRIGHT ... Chad Wright dropped down to No. 2 in the line-up when Eugenio Suarez moved into the No. 1 spot. Wright is 12x32 (.375) in that second spot with four runs scored and five more driven in. During a five-game stretch from April 20-25, Wright had two or more hits in each game.
TAKING ADVANTAGE ... Tyler Hanover has played in just two games since 4/18, but has made the most of his limited action with a combined five hits in eight at bats. Two of the hits were doubles and he has driven in a run in each of the two games.
THE SKIPPER ... Manager Dave Huppert, who was inducted into the Florida State League Hall of Fame in 2012, is in his 25th season as a minor league manager and is the active winningest manager in the minors with a 1,753-1,597 record entering the Charlotte series. Last season, he led Lakeland to the 2012 Florida State League Championship to record his fourth overall championship and his third in the FSL. He also led the 2001 Brevard County to a co-championship while his 2007 Clearwater squad won the crown outright. In addition, he coached the Lakeland Blue Claws (Phillies) to the 2006 South Atlantic League title.
TRIVIA ANSWER - Ovando Suero stolen 75 bases in 2007 to lead all of minor league baseball. Only Jose Reyes of the New York Mets stole more bases that season (78) that Suero.
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