THE SERIES ... All three games of this series will be played at Joker Marchant Stadium on April 18-20. The series opener is Thursday at 6:30 p.m. with game two taking place Friday at 7:11 p.m. The series finale is slated for Saturday at 6 p.m. All three games can be heard live at www.dunedinbluejays.com.
THE FLYING TIGERS (4-9, 6th Place, 5.0 GB) ... Lakeland has now dropped two in a row after being shutout 3-0 by Brevard County on Wednesday and has lost seven of its last nine games. The team batting average of .233 is third lowest in the Florida State League and the team has scored the second fewest runs of any league team. The staff ERA of 3.85 ranks eighth in the league. Lakeland has been charged with 16 errors – fourth most in the league – and ranks ninth in fielding percentage with a .969 mark.
THE BLUE JAYS (9-4, 1st Place) ... Dunedin is coming off a 9-4 loss to Tampa on Wednesday, but is still in first place with a 1.0 lead over Brevard County. The loss was the second in four games for the Blue Jays, who are 6-2 in their last eight games. The Blue Jays are batting .253 as a team and, despite playing in one of the smaller parks in the FSL, have hit a league-low three home runs. Their staff ERA of 3.03 is third lowest in the league and Dunedin has committed just five errors on the season to rank second in the league with a .991 fielding percentage.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
4/18 - Kyle Ryan (1-1, 6.17 ERA) ... took the loss in his last start on April 13 at Dunedin ... tagged for seven runs on 10 hits (including a home run) in 6.0 innings with four strikeouts and two walks ... in contrast, during his first start on April 7, he allowed just a solo home run and five hits in getting the win with 5.2 innings at home against Tampa.
4/19 - Kevin Eichhorn (1-1, 1.54 ERA) ... tossed seven shutout innings in victory at Dunedin on April 14, allowing just two hits while striking out one and walking one ... allowed a pair of earned runs on three hits in 4.2 innings in first start of the year on April 9 ... allowed a total of five hits in his two starts.
4/20 - TBA ... This is the spot in the rotation previously occupied by Tommy Collier who is now on the disabled list ... my guess for starter would be newcomer Slade Smith who joined Lakeland on April 17 from West Michigan (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 APP). He hasn’t started a game as a pro, but did see some starts at Auburn University.
FIRST SERIES MEETING ... The Blue Jays took two out of the three games played April 12-14 in Dunedin, winning games one and two by a combined score of 15-4. The Flying Tigers won the series finale 2-0 behind seven shutout innings by Kevin Eichhorn. Andy Burns led the Blue Jays with six hits, including a homer and four runs batted in the series while Gabe Jacobo added four hits and six RBI in two games. Eugenio Suarez and Aaron Westlake each had five hits for Lakeland while Jason King and Jeff McVaney each homered.
INSIDE THE BLUE JAYS ... Matt Newman is sixth in the Florida State League with a .357 average and is second with a .386 slugging percentage in nine games while Gabe Jacobo is tied for fourth with 12 RBI. Andy Burns has a .560 slugging percentage to rank fourth in the FSL while Jonathan Jones has swiped five bases to tie for third most in the league. Scott Copeland, who has the only complete game in the league, ranks seventh with a 1.57 ERA and has tossed a league-high 23.0 innings.
INSIDE THE FLYING TIGERS ... Kevin Eichhorn ranks seventh in the FSL with a 1.54 ERA while leading the league with a 0.51 WHIP (walks and hits per inning). His .125 opponents’ average also tops the league. Brandon Loy is tied the league lead with 12 walks.
LAKELAND TRIVIA ... Despite winning the FSL Championship in 2012, Lakeland had just one player honored as the Florida State League Player of the Week. Can you name that player?
BIZARRE FINISH ... In Tuesday’s game at Brevard County, the first eight innings were a see-saw battle with the Manatees scoring twice in the bottom of the eighth to knot the game at 5-5. Lakeland had plenty of chances in the extra innings, but couldn’t capitalize. Dean Green led off the 11th with a single for the Flying Tigers but was still at first at the end of the frame. In the 12th, Zack Kirskey drew a lead-off walk and was sacrificed to second, but got no further. Jeff McVaney reached on an error with one out in the 13th, but couldn’t advance. In the 14th, Zach Maggard singled with one out and one out later, Brandon Loy drew a walk, but both were left on the sacks. In the bottom of the frame, Cameron Garfield walked and then was replaced with pinch-runner Adrian Williams, who moved to second and third on consecutive passed balls. Cody Hawn was then intentionally walked, but ball four sailed wide and Williams scored on the wild pitch.
IT’S A MERCEDES ... While recording two saves in his last two outings, Melvin Mercedes has not allowed a run in four appearances this season and has not issued a walk so far.
ON A ROLL ... Jeff McVaney has six hits his last three games (6x14, .429) and has hits in six of his last seven games (10x30, .333) ... Aaron Westlake has hits in six of his last seven games and is 11x27 (.407) in his last seven contests ... Chad Wright is 7x19 (.368) his last four games and has hits in seven of his last eight contests.
SNAPPED ... Eugenio Suarez is saw his eight-game hit steak snapped on Wednesday. During the streak, Suarez was 12x35 (.343).
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 1,749-1,592 record entering the Dunedin 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.
UP NEXT ... Clearwater visits Lakeland April 21-23 and then the Flying Tigers have a day off before heading for Daytona on April 25-27.
NO BAKER’S DOZEN ... Fort Myers finally tasted defeat after an 12-0 start as Palm Beach topped the Miracle 5-3 on Wednesday.
THRESHERS OUT FOR BLOOD ... Clearwater crushed Daytona 15-6 on Tuesday and out-hit the Cubs 27-10. Every batter had at least two hits for the Threshers with Jose Mojica, batting in the No. 9 slot, went 5x5. Three hitters had four hits each. Of the 27 hits, 24 of them were singles. Cubs’ starting pitcher, Ryan Searle, did strike out five, but gave up seven runs on 15 hits in just 4.2 innings of work.
TRIVIA ANSWER - Third baseman Nick Castellanos batted .464 (13x28) with seven runs driven in to earn the FSL Player of the Week Honors on May 7, 2012 and was the only Flying Tiger to be so honored in 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment