THE SERIES ... After seven straight home games, Lakeland hits the road to play three games at Clearwater May 9-11. Game one is on Thursday at 7 pm with games two and three on Friday and Saturday at 6:30 pm. All games will be played at Bright House Networks Field.
THE FLYING TIGERS (12-19, 6th Place, 7.5 GB) ... Lakeland puts its 7-7 road record on the line with seven away games in the next eight days. The Flying Tigers snapped a five-game losing streak on Wednesday with their first walk-off win of the year. With the score tied at 2-all in the ninth, Jordan Dean led off with a walk while one out later, Jason Krizan tripled to centerfield to score Dean with the winning run. The victory was just the fifth home win of the season for Lakeland. The Flying Tigers have dropped to ninth in the FSL with a .251 average while the team ERA of 3.70 is fifth best.
THE THRESHERS (17-15, 2nd Place 3.0 GB) ... Clearwater is coming off a four-game sweep of Palm Beach and has now won six of their last seven. The Threshers have three hitters in the top ten in the league in Jose Mojica (.370, 3rd); Cameron Perkins (.357, 4th) and Aaron Altherr (.336, 8th). Perkins leads the FSL with 36 hits while Altherr is fourth with 41 hits. Maikel Franco is third with 13 doubles and second with 20 RBI. Thresher batters also rank in the top five in five other offensive categories. Two of the Threshers pitchers rank in the top five in the FSL in earned run average in Gabriel Arias (3-1, 1.24, 2nd) and Perci Garner (3-0, 2.36, 5th). No surprise that the Threshers are the top offensive team in the league with a .285 team average (second in runs scored). However, Clearwater has the third highest staff ERA (4.30) of any league team.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
5/09 - RHP Wilsen Palacios (1-3, 4.31 ERA) ... Although he allowed just four hits, Palacios gave up four earned runs in 6.0 innings in taking the lost in his last start on May 4 at Daytona with four strikeouts and one walk. This is his fourth road start where he has an 0-1 record and a 5.40 ERA. He took the win on April 22 against Clearwater tossing six shutout innings while checking the Threshers on four hits and a season-high seven strikeouts.
5/10 - LHP Kyle Ryan (3-2, 3.29 ERA) ... Ryan was tagged with the loss in his last start on May 5 at home against Jupiter, surrendering three runs on just three hits with four strikeouts and three walks. In his last four outings, he is 2-1 with a 2.03 earned run average. He got a win on April 23 against Clearwater allowing a pair of earned runs on nine nine hits with three punch outs and no walks in 6.0 innings.
5/11 - RHP Jeff Ferrell (0-2, 4.58 ERA) ... Despite holding Jupiter to just one run on three hits over 5.0 innings, Ferrell did not factor into the decision in his last start on May 6. This is his fourth start after beginning the season in the bullpen where he wa 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA. As a starter, Ferrell is 0-1 with a 4.97 earned run average.
EARLIER THIS YEAR ... The Flying Tigers swept the Threshers in three games on April 21-23 in Lakeland (for three of their five home wins), winning the three games by a combined 22-8 score. In game one, Lakeland trailed 4-0 before scoring five times in the eighth for a 7-4 win. Wilsen Palacios tossed 6.0 shutout innings in game two as the Flying Tigers won 3-1. In the series finale, Lakeland scored six runs in the first inning and Chad Wright hit a pair of triples as the Flying Tigers had a season-high 17 hits in a 12-2 win. The 12 runs was also a season best.
BIG WEEK ... During Lakeland’s recent seven-game homestand, Lakeland drew 11,329 fans for an average of 1,618 per game. The Flying Tigers had draw over 2,000 fans in three of those games, including a season-high crowd of 4,087 for Bright House Networks night on May 4. The first Education Day game of the year on May 7 was attended by 3,526 fans while 2,032 came out to Lakeland City Baseball Day on May 5. Unfortunately, Lakeland is winless in six home games this season in which attendance is 1,000 or more.
RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME ... Jason Krizan came off the bench on Wednesday as a defensive replacement for Chad Wright. In his second at bat, Krizan singled to drive in Lakeland’s second run of the game. In the ninth, he came up to bat with one out and Jordan Dean on first. On a 1-1 pitch, Krizan drove a ball deep to center field for a triple to score Dean with Lakeland’s first walk-off win of the year.
WESTLAKE SWIMMING ALONG ... Aaron Westlake is 7x20 his last five games and has at least one hit in 20 of his last 25 games dating back to April 11 to raise his average 153 points.
FROM THE ‘PEN ... Melvin Mercedes has been touched for just one unearned run this season while posting a 2-0 record with three saves. Will Clinard has not allowed a run in his last four outings and just two in his last 13.2 innings over seven appearances.
BEST NIGHT ... Drew VerHagen tossed 6.2 shutout innings in his last start on May 8 against Jupiter holding the Hammerheads to five hits with four strikeouts and two walks.
ONE AT A TIME ... Jason King has gotten one base hit in seven of his last eight games.
FORMER FLYING TIGER COLLINS NAMED EASTERN LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE WEEK ... Last season, Tyler Collins hit seven home runs over the season for Lakeland. Last week, the outfielder slammed six homers as a member of the AA Erie SeaWolves to earn Eastern League Player of the Week honors. In addition to the six round-trippers, Collins hit .348 with 12 runs batted in and twice had two homers in a game.
ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER ON THE DL ... John Murrian became the latest Flying Tigers to suffer the injury bug, heading on the disabled list retroactive to May 2 where he joins six others. Taking his roster spot for just one game was former University of South Florida catcher Drew Longley who came up from Extended Spring Training on May 6 only to be sent back to EST on May 7. The newest Flying Tigers member is infielder Harold Castro, a second baseman up from EST.
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 1,757-1,602 record entering the Jupiter 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 ... After taking Sunday off for Mothers Day, Lakeland continues its week long road trip with four games at Palm Beach, May 13-16.
FORMER FLYING TIGERS EXCELLING AT AA ERIE ... Warick Saupold is sixth in the Eastern League with a 2.50 ERA while Victor Larez is tied for the league league with five wins. Tyler Collins is tied for the Eastern League lead with seven homers and is third with a .552 slugging percentage. Hernan Perez is third in the EL with 12 stolen bases and 40 hits. Daniel Fields is second at Erie with four homers while hitting .274.
ONE STEP AWAY ... At AAA Toledon, Jordan Lennerton is hitting .301 with four homers and 14 RBI and Nick Castellano is batting .230 with three homers and 11 runs batted in. Bruce Rondon has five saves in six opportunities and has not allowed a run in 10 appearances.
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