THE SERIES ... Lakeland heads to the east coast for a three-game set May 24-26 at Jackie Robinson Park in Daytona against the Cubs. Friday and Saturday’s game are 7:05 pm starts while Sunday’s game is set for 6:35 pm. All games can be heard on the Cubs website, www.daytonacubs.com.
THE FLYING TIGERS (17-29, 6th Place, 10.0 GB) ... Lakeland is coming off a split of a four-game home series against Fort Myers, which had entered Joker Marchant Stadium with the best record in baseball at 31-11. Jeff McVaney ranks second in the Florida State League with five triples while Brandon Loy is tied for the league lead with 26 walks. The Flying Tigers team batting average of .249 is ninth in the league while the staff ERA of 3.92 ranks seventh. Lakeland has hit 18 triples this season which is tied for second most in the league but has hit the fewest homers (18) of any FSL team. With seven stolen bases allowed to Fort Myers on Thursday, Lakeland is last in the league in stolen bases against efficiency, throwing out 16 of 75 would-be base stealers for a .213 mark.
THE CUBS (23-22, 3rd Place, 3.5 GB) ... Daytona is also coming off a four-game series, splitting a pair of games at Jupiter. The Cubs have now won six of the last eight games. Javier Baez brings a nine-game hit streak into the series in which he is 14x38 (.368) with 10 runs scored while Dustin Geiger has hits in nine of his last 11 games for a 17x37 clip (.459) with seven doubles, a pair of homers and 11 RBI. He is leading the league with 40 RBI and is fourth the FSL with a .325 average. John Andreoli has a league-leading six triples while Baez is third in the FSL with 30 runs scored. The Cubs have the third best team batting average (.262) but the staff ERA of 4.56 is second highest in the FSL. They are tied with Lakeland with 18 triples and have hit 24 round-trippers as a team.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
5/24 - RHP Drew VerHagen (2-3, 4.68 ERA) ... Drew VerHagen did not factor into the decision in his last start on May 19 against Cubs after holding Daytona to four runs on four hits with three walks and no strikeouts. Those four runs are all he has allowed in his last 18.2 innings over three starts. VerHagen is 0-2 with a 7.36 ERA in two starts against the Cubs this season. He is 1-1 with a 1.06 ERA in three previous road starts.
5/25 - RHP Wilsen Palacios (3-4, 3.44 ERA) ... Wilsen Palacios took the loss in his last start on May 21 against Fort Myers, allowing five runs (four earned) on eight hits over 5.0 innings with four strikeouts and two walks. Two of his hits allowed were homers. He is 1-1 with a 5.55 ERA in five previous road starts. Palacios is 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA in his one previous start against the Cubs in 2013.
5/26 - LHP Kyle Ryan (0-3, 5.34 ERA) ... Kyle Ryan got the win in his last start on May 21 against Fort Myers, holding the Miracle to a pair of solo homers in 6.2 inning with five strikeouts and two walks. He is 3-1 with a 2.23 ERA in five starts at home, but 1-3 with a 4.73 in four road starts. Ryan, who has a 3.71 ERA in May, has not faced the Cubs in 2013.
SEASON SERIES ... Daytona has had Lakeland’s number so far this season, taking eight the nine previous meetings. The last six games in the series have been played in Lakeland. The Cubs have a lofty .301 team batting average in the series and have outscored Lakeland 53-32 in the nine games.
GEIGER COUNTER ... Dustin Geiger has blistered Flying Tigers pitching for a .472 average in the nine games, going 17x35 with five doubles, a triple, a homer and 11 RBI. In the recent four-game series in Lakeland, the Cubs’ first baseman was 10x16 with five doubles, a triple and a homer for six RBI and four runs scored cementing his Florida State League Player Award for the week ending May 19.
WASN’T ACTING ALONE ... Dustin Geiger wasn’t the only Cubs player that had an outstanding series against Lakeland last week. Jorge Soler went 9x17 with four runs scored while Javier Baez was 7x17 with six runs scored.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS ... The Flying Tigers are 7-18 at home this season and 10-11 on the road ... Lakeland has been involved in 11 game decided by one run and have lost eight of them ... The Flying Tigers are 14-5 when having more hits than their opponent and 2-18 when outhit. They are 1-6 when having the same number of hits as their opponent ... Lakeland has scored three or fewer runs in 25 of the 46 games played this season.
NOT WAY TO END THE WEEK ... Lakeland is a combined 3-19 in games played on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The Flying Tigers are 1-7 on Thursdays, 0-7 on Fridays and 2-5 on Saturday. Conversely, they are 7-4 to start the week with a 4-2 record on Sunday and a 3-2 mark on Monday.
BE LIKE MIKE ... Michael Hernandez has hits in seven straight games (9x24, .375) and 11 of his last 12 contests (15x43, .349). He is hitting .400 (14x35) versus left handers, but just .190 (11x58) against righties.
ROAD WARRIORS ... Jason Krizan hits 59 points higher in road games than at home (.313 vs. .254) ... Brandon Loy hits 84 points better away from home (.266 vs. .182) ... Aaron Westlake brings his average up 80 points when travelling (.333 vs. .253) ... Chad Wright bats 40 points better on the road than at home (.283 vs. .244) ... As a team, Lakeland has a .257 average on the road with 11 homers and 96 runs scored. At home, the production dips to .243 with 7 homers and 79 runs scored.
THE OLD NEW GUYS ... Lakeland welcomed one alum and one player off the DL since the last series. Joining the Flying Tigers once again is shortstop Dixon Machado who is recovering from a hamstring injury that has sidelined him at AA Erie all season. Machado played the entire 2012 season with the FSL Champion Flying Tigers and has hits in each of the three games played so far. Coming off the disabled list is Steven Moya who has been out since suffering an injury on April 10. Moya is 4x9 in his two games back off the DL. To make room for Machado, Harold Castro was sent back to Extended Spring Training while a spot for Moya opened up when pitcher Jade Todd was placed on the disabled list.
THE NEW, NEW GUY ... The Flying Tigers also welcomed a new player to the team on Thursday as right handed pitcher Josh Carr was added to the roster from Extended Spring Training (EST). An opening was created when infielder Jordan Dean was sent back to EST. Carr was a 28th round draft pick of Detroit in 2012 out of Kennesaw State College. He was 5-2 with a 2.70 ERA in 15 appearances (six starts) last season in the Gulf Coast League.
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 1,762-1,612 record entering the Daytona 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 Memorial Day off, the Flying Tigers return home to Joker Marchant Stadium on May 28-30 to face Dunedin for three games and then host Tampa on May 31 in a single game.
HOMEGROWN TALENT... So far in 2013, four position players that once played for the Flying Tigers have played for Detroit (Andy Dirks, Omar Infante, Don Kelly and Ramon Santiago) while six pitchers (Rick Porcello, Luke Putkonen, Bruce Rondon, Drew Smyly, Justin Verlander, and Brayan Villarreal) once toiled in Lakeland.
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