THE SERIES ... The Flying Tigers will host the Jupiter Hammerheads (Marlins) for four games, May 5-8, in a rematch of last year’s Florida State League championship series won by Lakeland in five games. Lakeland rallied from a 1-2 deficit for the league crown. The series opens Sunday at 1 pm with games two and four at 6:30 pm. Game three on Tuesday will be the first Education Day of the year and will get underway at 10:30 am.
THE FLYING TIGERS (11-16, 6th Place, 5.5 GB) ... Lakeland will be looking to snap a two-game losing streak after dropping a pair of games at home to Daytona (the middle game of the series was rained out and will be made up as part of a doubleheader on May 17). The Flying Tigers reached double digits in hits in both games against the Cubs, but couldn’t string the hits together losing 6-2 and 11-5. Despite having ten or more hits in the last six games, Lakeland ranks sixth in the FSL with a .261 team batting average while the staff ERA of 3.66 is fourth best in the league.
THE HAMMERHEADS (12-16, 4th Place 11.0 GB) ... Jupiter has won one more game than Lakeland, but has the misfortune of playing in the same Division as red hot Fort Myers (23-5) and trails the Miracle by 11 games. The Hammerheads, which began the season 0-7 and losing nine of their first 10 games, bring a six-game win streak into this series after back-to-back three-game sweeps of Dunedin and Charlotte. Austin Barnes is the FSL’s top hitter with a .382 average while ranking third with a .436 on-base percentage. Isaac Galloway is tied for fourth with 10 doubles and 20 runs scored. Closer Nick Wittgren has six saves which is tied for second most in the FSL. Jupiter is fourth in the league with a .266 team batting average and has the second lowest staff ERA at 3.38 on the season. With just 10 homers on the season, the Hammerheads have hit the fewest round-trippers of any FSL team.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
5/05 - Kyle Ryan (3-1, 3.06 ERA) ... has won his last two starts ... has allowed just three earned runs over his last three starts (20.2 innings) ... allowed one run on six hits with three strikeouts and two walks in win at Charlotte in his last start on 4/29 ... is 2-1 with a 1.59 in three home starts ... dismiss his one bad start (7 ER, 10 H on 4/13 at Dunedin) and his ERA drops to 1.37 ... followed that bad outing with eight, one-hit, shutout innings against Dunedin on 4/18 (did not get the decision in that game).
5/06 - Hudson Randall (2-2, 1.35 ERA at West Michigan) ... making his Lakeland debut ... allowed just four earned runs in five starts at low-A West Michigan ... struck out three in each of his last two starts ... threw 5.2 scoreless innings to get first win on 4/20 ... has issued just four walks (three in last start) all season ... righthanders hit just .200 against Randall while lefties have a .293 mark.
5/07 - Jeff Ferrell (0-2, 5.52 ERA) ... making his third start since moving into the starting rotation on 4/20 ... was tagged for five earned runs on seven hits over 4.2 innings (4 K, 2 BB) in loss at Daytona in last start on 4/26 ... is 0-1 with a 7.04 in two starts (0-1 with a 3.86 ERA in four relief appearances) ... lefties are hitting a lofty .438 against Ferrell while righties are batting at a .289 clip.
5/08 - Drew VerHagen (0-3, 4.6 ERA) ... making his second start since coming off the disabled list on 5/2 ... gave up six runs (five earned) on eight hits (5 K, 1 BB) on 5.0 innings in lost on 5./2 against Daytona ... is 0-2 with a 7.07 ERA in three home starts.
LAST YEAR ... Lakeland won four of the six games in the regular season and then took the best of five from Jupiter in the FSL Championship round. The Flying Tigers went 3-1 on the road while splitting a pair of home games in Lakeland with two games rained out in the regular season. The two teams split the first two games in the playoffs in Jupiter while Lakeland won two of three at Joker Marchant Stadium.
HOT PROSPECTS ... Jupiter pitcher Justin Nicolino was ranked No. 4 among Marlins prospect by MLB.com entering 2013 season while fellow pitcher Jose Urena and infielder Noah Perio were ranked No. 12 and No. 14, respectively, in the same poll.
LAKELAND TRIVIA ... Lakeland beat Jupiter three games to two in the FSL Championship series last season. Game two was a thrilling 8-7, 15-inning win by Lakeland on the road. Who scored the go-ahead run in the top of the 15th for the Flying Tigers?
GATOR BOYS ... Lakeland’s Hudson Randall and the Hammerheads’ Anthony DeSciafani and Josh Adams were all college teammates at the University of Florida in 2010-11
LOW-SCORING AFFAIR ... These two clubs haven’t been setting the scoreboards a-blazin’ this season. Jupiter has scored the third fewest runs in the FSL (109) while Lakeland has the fifth fewest (116). Twelve of the Hammerheads’ games this season have come down to one-run with Jupiter winning just three of those contests. Lakeland is 0-4 in 1-run games.
GOOD THINGS COME IN SMALL PACKAGES ... At 5-foot-7, Tyler Hanover is not your prototypical major league prospect, but don’t tell his bat. The diminutive Hanover has had two or more hits in each of his last five games for 11 hits in 21 at bats for a .524 clip. He is now hitting .440 versus righthander pitchers and .375 versus lefties. In his six home games so far, Hanover is 11x20 for a .550 mark.
KEEP ON ROLLIN’ ... Patrick Leyland has moved into the starting catcher’s spot for Lakeland since joining the club on 4/28 and his hot bat may just keep him there for a while. In his six games as a Flying Tiger, Leyland has had two hits in three of the games and singled in the other three for a modest six-game hit streak and a .381 average. He is blistering right handed pitchers for a .500 clip.
JOLLY JEFF ... Jeff McVaney has had two or more hits in four of his last six games going 11x27 for a .407 clip. He has hit two doubles, two triples and two homers and driven in eight runs in those six games.
HIT ≠ RUNS ... Lakeland has had ten or more hits in each of the last six games (71x223) for a .318 clip but have stranded 45 runners in those six games scoring 42 times.
LONG BALL ... The Flying Tigers hit have hit six home runs in the last six games equalling their home run total for the first 21 games.
WHERE’D THAT COME FROM? ... The Lakeland bullpen was roughed up for seven earned runs on Saturday - more than they had surrendered in the last 10 games combined.
CONSISTENCY ... Lakeland is hitting .261 in 13 home games and has an identical .261 average in 14 road 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 1,756-1,599 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 ... Lakeland travels to Clearwater for three games May 9-10.
TRIVIA ANSWER ... Luis Castillo, who entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the 15th inning for Lakeland, singled and was sacrificed to second by Curt Casali. He then scored the game-winner when Hernan Perez tripled into the gap in left center.
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