THE SERIES ... Lakeland hits the road for six games beginning with three games at Daytona on June 23 (5:35) and June 24-25 (7:05). The series will be broadcast on the Cubs website at www.daytonacubs.com.
THE FLYING TIGERS (1-1, T-3rd 0.5 GB) ... Steven Moya clubbed a pair of homers as Lakeland outlasted Clearwater 13-11 in a wild game on Saturday. With the Threshers leading 3-0, Lakeland put up a seven-spot in the fourth for a 7-3 lead. Moya led off the fourth with a solo run as Lakeland’s lead ran to 9-4. Clearwater answered with their own seven-run frame in the sixth for an 11-9 lead. Moya’s second homer – a three-run shot – keyed a four-run seventh lifting Lakeland to the win. The Flying Tigers victory was aided by a Threshers pitching staff that walked 14 batters. The win snapped a five-game losing streak for Lakeland which has the second lowest batting average of .247 in the FSL.
THE CUBS (2-1, T-1st, 0.5 game lead) ... Daytona took two of three from Dunedin and has won four of its last five games. John Andreoli is seventh in the FSL with a .320 batting average and ranks fourth with 21 stolen bases. Javier Baez leads the league with six triples; is second with 15 homers, 50 runs scored and 140 total bases; and ranks fourth with 36 extra-base hits. Dustin Geiger leads the FSL with 58 runs batted in while Zeke DeVoss has drawn a league-high 39 walks. Daytona has the second highest staff ERA with a 4.33 mark and tied for second with seven shutouts.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
6/23 - RHP Wilsen Palacios (3-4, 3.82) ... Palacios did not factor into the decision is his last start, going 7.0 innings at Brevard County on June 17, holding the Manatees to one run on five hits with seven Ks and one walk. He is 1-0 with a 1.54 ERA in his last four appearances (three starts) with 23 strikeouts and seven walks. Palacios was tagged with the loss on May 4 against the Cubs, giving up four runs in 6.0 innings.
6/24 - RHP Jeff Ferrell (3-5, 3.55) ... Ferrell took the loss in his last start on June 18 at Brevard County after allowing three earned runs on six hits with four strikeouts and no walks in 6.0 innings. He is 3-2 with a 1.82 ERA in his last five starts and is 0-2 with a 7.45 ERA in two previous starts against the Cubs this season.
6/25 - Hudson Randall (1-6, 5.70) ... Randall had his worst outing of the season in his last start on June 19 at Brevard County surrendering eight runs on 11 hits. Prior to that start, he had not allowed an earned run over 18.0 innings over his three previous starts. Randall took the loss in his only previous start against Daytona on May 18, giving up four runs on a season-high 11 hits.
SEASON SERIES ... The Cubs have Lakeland’s number in 2013 winning nine of the 12 games played, but the two clubs have split their six games played at Jackie Robinson Ballpark with Lakeland winning two of the last three contests.
A CLOSER FOR A CLOSER ... Lakeland said goodbye to Melvin Mercedes and his 11 saves on Saturday as the Flying Tigers closer earned a promotion to AA Erie. Taking his place in in the bullpen is Jose Valdez who joins Lakeland from West Michigan where he was second in the Midwest League with 16 saves. The 2012 GCL Tigers Pitcher of the Year wasted no time in earning his stripes with the Flying Tigers recording a 1-2-3 ninth on Saturday to earn the save.
HANDY HANOVER ... Tyler Hanover has hits in his last six games in which he is 8x25 (.320) with five runs scored. He is hitting .355 with runners on base with five doubles and 11 runs batted in, but just .190 with runners in scoring position with two outs. He has batted leadoff in 23 games and hit .250 in those games. When he was slotted in the seventh spot in the line-up, however, he was 14x39 with a .359 average. Over his 47 games played for Lakeland, he has played 24 games at second, 16 games at third, two at short and four in the outfield.
LOY IN THE MIDDLE ... Brandon Loy also had hits in his last six games and is 10x23 (.435) with four doubles and five runs scored. He hits .305 versus lefties and .188 vs. righthanders. Loy has played 39 games at short for the Flying Tigers and 23 games at second.
BACK OUTSTANDING IN HIS FIELD ... Jason Krizan is 7x18 (.389) his last five games and has a pair of doubles and five runs batted in his last three games. He has batted in the #6 spot in the line-up in 23 games and put up a .264 mark (19x72) those games. He has dropped down one spot to #7 in 12 games and has hit .424 (14x33) in those games.
RIGHT WITH WRIGHT ... Chad Wright has had four games in the last five with two base hits each and is 9x19 (.475) during that stretch with a double and four runs scored. He is hitting .296 off righies, but just .122 against lefthanders. Hitting lead-off in 36 games, he was .223 (31x139) with a .306 on-base percentage. Dropping down a spot to #2 in 21 games, he has hit .333 (38x84) with a .404 on-base percentage. He drew 14 walks as the lead-off hitter and 10 at the number two slot.
JAZZY JEFF ... Jeff McVaney has two hits in each of the last two games and has scored five runs the last three contests. He has played all three outfield positions this season with 110 at bats in both left and right fields. As a left fielder, he hits .236 with five doubles, 1 homer and 7 RBI. Moving to right field, he hit 100 points better (.336) with seven doubles, four triples, three homers and 20 RBI.
MORE OF MOYA ... With a solo shot and a three-run blast last night, Steven Moya became the first Flying Tiger to hit two homers in a game since James Robbins hit a pair on May 24, 2012. He is 5x9 the last two games with three runs scored and five RBI.
FINDING HIS GROOVE ... John Murrian is 10x30 in his last nine games for a .333 clip with four runs scored and five more driven in.
GROUNDED ... Harold Castro is 5x27 (.185) his last eight games ... Michael Hernandez is 9x58 (.155) since May 24 with 20 strikeouts ... Francisco Martinez is 6x35 (.171) in his last eight games and 1x11 his last two games ... Luis Sanz is 4x21 (.167) his last five games and has struck out eight times in his last six games.
WILL THE REAL BRENNAN SMITH PLEASE STAND UP? ... After working 5.0 scoreless innings in his first three outings, Brennan Smith has pitched just 2.0 in his last three appearances, allowing 12 earned runs, including five last night without recording an out.
WHITHER THE ARMS? ... After allowing just one earned run over a span of seven games, Flying Tigers starters have surrendered 25 earned runs in the last eight games for a 5.72 ERA. The bullpen had a streak of 17 games in which they allowed just a total of five earned runs, but have been tagged for 22 runs in the last five games for a 8.87 ERA.
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 1,776-1,632 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 ... Following the Daytona series, Lakeland travels to Dunedin for three games on June 26-28.
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