THE SERIES ... Game one of this series will be played at Joker Marchant Stadium on Friday, May 31 at 7:11 p.m. with games two and three played in Tampa on Saturday, June 1 at 6 pm and Sunday, June 2 at 1 pm.
THE FLYING TIGERS (20-32, 6th Place, 10.0 GB) ... Lakeland lost two of three to Dunedin, but is 5-4 its last nine games. The Flying Tigers scored seven runs in the Blue Jays series and has not scored more than eight runs in a game since April 29. A problem of late has been strikeouts as the Flying Tigers have whiffed 36 times in the last four games. Lakeland is 8-20 at home this season and 12-12 on the road.
THE YANKEES (22-29, 5th Place, 7.5 GB) ... Tampa dropped two of three at Dyatona and has now lost five of its last eight games. Gary Sanchez, who has had two hits in a game six times in the last nine, ranks fifth in the Florida State League with 39 runs batted in while Ben Gamel, who has a nine-game hit steak, is tied for third with 17 doubles. Corey Black is second in the league with 63 strikeouts, but also ranks fifth with 24 walks issued while Shane Greene is fifth with 60.2 innings pitched. Tampa is sixth with a .255 team batting average and third with 59 stolen bases. The Yankees pitchers have struck out the most batters of any club in the FSL, but the staff ERA of 4.07 is ninth highest in the FSL. Tampa is consistent, posting an 11-15 record on the road while going 11-14 at home.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
5/31 - RHP Drew VerHagen (2-3, 3.51 ERA) ... VerHagen has won his last two decisions, including his last start on May 24 at Daytona, working 5.0 innings while allowing two runs on five hits. He has a 2.28 ERA in his last four starts with 10 strikeouts and nine walks. He is 0-2 with a 5.06 ERA in five previous home starts including a loss to Tampa on April 5 after allowing three runs on four hits in 4.1 innings.
6/01 - LHP Kyle Ryan (5-4, 3.32 ERA) ... Ryan has won his last two starts, allowing two runs in each start. In his last outing on May 26 at Daytona, he went 6.0 innings, allowed five hits with a pair of strikeouts and one walk. He is 2-3 with a 4.41 ERA in five road starts this season. Ryan picked up a win against Tampa on April 7 allowing one run on five hits in 5.2 innings.
6/02 - RHP Wilsen Palacios (0-4, 8.84 ERA) ... Palacios is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA in his last two starts with a no-decision is his last start on May 28 at home versus Daytona. In that game, he gave up two runs on four hits with five strikeouts and four walks. He has 25 punch-outs in his last four starts and is 1-1 with a 5.55 ERA in five previous road games. Palacios worked 4.0 innings in his only previous start against Tampa on April 6, going 4.0 innings with two runs allowed on six hits.
SEASON SERIES ... The Flying Tigers last played Tampa in the season opening series on April 4-7. The Yankees won the first two games, 7-4 and 9-2, while the Flying Tigers took the last two, 8-3 and 3-1.
A SANZ STREAK ... Luis Sanz brings a five-game hit streak into the Tampa series, going 7x17 for a .412 clip.
HAROLD HALTED ... Harold Castro saw his six-game hit streak snapped on Thursday. During the streak, he was 8x23 for a .345 average. Castro has hits in nine of his 12 games played since joining the club on May 10.
BREAKING IN A NEW GLOVE ... Normally an outfielder, Jason Krizan started at first base for Lakeland on May 29 making his first-ever career start at that position. In his first game, he had 13 putouts and made one assist while in his second start, he made 11 putouts.
SLOWED A LITTLE ... Jeff McVaney entered the Dunedin series on a seven-game hit streak (10x30, .333) and had hits in 11 of 12 games for a 14x50 span (.280). However, the Blue Jays, held him to a 1x8 effort at the plate. He is now 15x58 (.259) since May 16.
HOT START ... Steven Moya started the Dunedin series on a tear, getting six hits in six at bats, including two doubles and a triple with two runs scored and three more driven in.
WRIGHT TIME ... Chad Wright has hits in five of his last seven games and is 7x25 for a .280 average during that span.
WELCOME TO THE CLUB ... Josh Carr made his Lakeland debut a memorable one on May 25, tossing 3.2 hitless, shutout innings at Daytona with five strikeouts and zero walks. Brennan Smith pitched for the first time for Lakeland on May 30 against Dunedin and tossed 2.0 scoreless innings with one hit and one strikeout.
THAT’S MORE LIKE IT ... Hudson Randall was 2-2 with a 1.35 ERA in five starts at West Michigan, but found the going a bit rougher in the Florida State League, allowing 19 runs in his first four starts. The old Randall came to pitch on May 30 against Dunedin as the 6’4” righty held the Blue Jays hitless through 6.0 innings facing the minimum 18 batters. Randall set down the first seven batters in order before walking one. He then got the next hitter to ground into a double play and retired the next nine Dunedin players in a row. The luck ran out in the seventh as John Berti singled to ruin the no-hitter. The Blue Jays loaded the bases on an error and a walk before Matt Newman doubled to clear the bases with three unearned runs.
THROWIN’ STRIKES ... Will Clinard has struck out eight batters in his last 10 innings with no walks in his last five appearances.
GROUNDED ... Michael Hernandez has gone hitless in his last five games (0x17) with nine strikeouts ... Patrick Leyland is 4x32 (.125) since May 16 ... Tyler Hanover is 4x24 (.167) his last seven games, but has walked six times in that span ... Brandon Loy is 1x13 his last four games.
DL ADDS ONE ... Aaron Westlake became the latest Flying Tiger to join the walking wounded as he was placed on the disabled list on May 29 where he joins seven other Lakeland players. Taking his roster spot is Jesus Ustariz who joins the club for a second time. Ustariz was on the Lakeland roster from April 23-29, but did not see any action.
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 1,765-1,615 record entering the Tampa 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 ... Following Friday’s home game, Lakeland hits the road for seven games, playing at Tampa on June 1-2 and then at St. Lucie on June 3-6 before playing at Tampa once again on June 7.
STREAKING ... Jordan Lennerton put together a 17-game hit streak at AAA Toledo. The former Flying Tiger first baseman was 30x66 for a .455 average from May 11-29 with five doubles and six homers for 18 RBI ... Hernan Perez has an active 13-game hit streak at AA Erie in which the former Lakeland second baseman is 20x54 for a .370 clip with 10 runs scored. He started the streak on May 18.
THE ORGANIZATION ... Detroit (29-23); Toledo (17-38); Erie (31-21); Lakeland (20-32); West Michigan (26-25)
No comments:
Post a Comment