THE SERIES ... After taking Mothers Day off, Lakeland continues its road trip with four games at Roger Dean Stadium against the Palm Beach Cardinals on May 13-16. The first three games are at 6:35 p.m. with the series finale on Thursday, May 16 getting underway at 10:35 a.m.
THE FLYING TIGERS (13-21, 6th Place, 7.5 GB) ... After closing out April with four straight wins, Lakeland has lost seven of its last nine games after droping two of three at Clearwater. Run production has been the big key as the Flying Tigers have been held to three or less runs in five of the last seven games. Key base hits have plagued Lakeland as well, as the Flying Tigers had 28 hits in the Clearwater series, but stranded 26 baserunners in the three games. Lakeland’s team batting average of .253 ranks ninth in the league while the staff ERA of 3.92 ranks seventh.
THE CARDINALS (15-20, 4th Place 12.0 GB) ... Palm Beach comes into this series with an unexpected two days off as the club was rained out on Saturday and the entire FSL took Mothers day off. The Cardinals snapped a five-game losing streak with a 7-3 win over St. Lucie in their last game on May 10. Overall, Palm Beach has lost 11 of its last 13 games. Stephen Piscotty leads the Cardinals with a .317 average including a team-best seven homers while Danny Stienstra is second with a .309 mark. Stienstra brings an eight-game hit streak into the series in which he is 12x30 for a .400 pace. Tim Cooney is 3-3 and has a 2.75 ERA to rank 10th in the FSL. Palm Beach’s .260 batting average is fifth in the league while the staff ERA of 4.30 is third highest in the league.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
5/13 - RHP Hudson Randall (0-1, 13.50 ERA) ... Randall got a rude welcome to the FSL getting tagged for seven runs on eights hits in just 2.0 innings in his first start on May 7. Randall brought a 2-2 record and a 1.35 ERA in five starts from West Michigan.
5/14 - RHP Drew VerHagen (0-3, 3.69 ERA) ... VerHagen had a good chance for his first win in his last start on May 8 against Jupiter, tossing 6.2 scoreless innings, leaving the game with a 1-0 lead, but the Cardinals later tied the game at 2-all, before Lakeland won in the bottom of the ninth. VerHagen took the loss in game seven of the 2012 season series against Palm Beach after pitching 3.2 innings and allowing one run on one hit and a pair of walks. Lakeland lost that game 1-0 in seven innings in the opening contest of a doubleheader.
5/15 - RHP Wilsen Palacios (1-3, 5.45 ERA) ... Palacios is coming off his worst start of the season, allowing seven runs on eight hits in 5.0 innings on May 9 against Clearwater. He did strike out seven but did not factor in the decision as Lakeland came back to win 8-7 in 10 innings. Palacios has been roughed up in his last two starts, surrendering 11 earned runs on 12 hits for a 0-1 record and a 9.00 ERA.
5/15 - LHP Kyle Ryan (0-2, 4.58 ERA) ... Ryan allowed just three runs on three hits in his last start on May 5 against Jupiter with four strikeouts and three walks and was saddled with the loss. In his last four starts, he is 2-1 with a 2.03 earned run average. In four home starts, Ryan has a 2-1 record and a 2.10 ERA. Almost half of his runs allowed (six of 14) have come in the first inning.
LAST YEAR ... The Flying Tigers took the season series in 2012 winning five of the eight games played. The two clubs split the series in Lakeland while the Flying Tigers won three of four games in Palm Beach.
CARDINAL FIRST ROUNDER ... Thirdbaseman Stephen Piscotty was St. Louis’ top pick (36th) overall in the first round of the 2012 draft out of Stanford University.
BROKEN WINGS ... The Cardinals entered the weekend with seven of their pitchers on the disabled list.
CLINARD TOSSING BLANKS ... Reliever Will Clinard has not allowed a run in his last five appearances out of the bullpen and has struck out seven over 7.2 innings during that span.
CASTRO MAKES LAKELAND DEBUT ... The newest Flying Tiger finally made his Lakeland debut on May 10 at Clearwater. Harold Castro got the starting nod at second base and responded with one hit in three at bats and scored one run.
BATTLE FOR THE SECOND SACK ... Another newcomer, Jordan Dean is also a second baseman. Dean has had two hits in three games – both doubles, while scoring a pair of runs and stealing a base.
BACK AT IT ... Tyler Hanover, who has also played second base this season, put together a string of five games in which he had two or more hits in each game and then was held hitless in three games. Hanover has snapped back with hits in each of his last four games for a 6x16 clip.
MAKING THE MOST OF THE HITS ... Michael Hernandez, who joined the club on April 25, has been making the most of his base hits as six of his 11 knocks have been for extra bases. He enters the Palm Beach series with five singles, three doubles, a triple and two home runs.
TWO AT A TIME ... Jason Krizan has collected two base hits in three of his last four games for a 6x15 pace and driven in three runs including a game-winning triple in Lakeland’s last home game on May 8.
ALSO WITH SIX HITS ... Brandon Loy has knocked out six hits in his last four games for a 6x12 clip.
POWER ON THE ROAD ... Lakeland has hit just 15 home runs this season – 11 of which have come on the road (only Jupiter and Bradenton – each with 14 – have fewer homers as a team than Lakeland). The Flying Tigers have also scored more runs on the road (83) than at home (54) and hit 20 points better in away games (.263) than at home (.243).
ARMS OF JEKYLL AND HYDE ... One is never quite sure what one gets with the Lakeland pitching staff as or late. On May 7, the Lakeland starter was tagged for seven runs while on May 8, that night’s starter tossed 6.2 shutout innings, but on May 9, Dr. Jekyll returned with seven runs being charged to the starter. The bullpen has had its share of ups and downs as well tossing 5.0 scoreless innings on May 9, but allowing five runs in 4.0 innings on May 11.
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 1,758-1,604 record entering the Cardinals 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 returns home on May 17 to open their third seven-game homestand of the year. The first series begins May 17 as a 5 p.m. doubleheader against the Daytona Cubs in a make-up of the May 3 rain out. After the Cubs, the Flying Tigers host Fort Myers for four games.
ROUGH SUMMER FOR THE ORGANIZATION ... Of the four Detroit minor league teams currently in action, only Erie at 22-13 has a winning record. Overall, the four clubs have a combined 60-80 record for a .429 percentage – a mark that ranks 28th among all organizations. The Minnesota Twins, thanks in large part to Fort Myers amazing 27-8 record (best in all of baseball), lead all clubs with a 86-57 mark.
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