THE SERIES ... Lakeland concludes it eight-game home stand with a four-game set against the Charlotte Stone Crabs, an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. The series is also a rare occurrence as all four games will begin at the same time – 6:30 p.m. – unlike the St. Lucie series in which all four games had different start times. With this series, the Flying Tigers will complete their season competition against South Division teams, having posted a 22-13 record outside their division.
THE FLYING TIGERS (45-54, 15-16, T-2nd North, 4.5 GB) ... Lakeland broke out the bats to take the last two games of the series against St. Lucie, rapping out 27 base hits in the final pair of contests. After a dropping a doubleheader to the Mets on Friday, Lakeland won 13-1 on 15 hits on Saturday and 3-0 with 12 hits on Sunday and have reached double figures in hits in seven of the last 13 games. In Sunday’s game, Tommy Collier (5.0), Alex Burgos (3.0) and Jose Valdez (1.0) combined for a one-hit shutout of St. Lucie taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning. Lakeland has won four of the last six and 10 of the last 15 games. Jason Krizan has leaped into the top ten hitters in the league with a .284 average and leads all outfielders with a perfect fielding percentage. Wilsen Palacios ranks eighth in the FSL with a 3.42 ERA and is tied for third with 88 strikeouts. Lakeland’s .977 fielding percentage is third best in the league.
THE STONE CRABS (49-53, 20-15, T-1st South, 1.0 game lead) ... Charlotte has also won two straight, winning 11-6 over Tampa on Saturday and 8-2 on Sunday. The two wins snapped a three-game losing streak for the Stone Crabs. Willie Argo is tied for third in the FSL with 26 stolen bases while Kes Carter is tied for second with seven triples. Ryan Carpenter is second in the league with 90 strikeouts, but is second with 13 home runs allowed. The Stone Crabs have the second highest team batting average in the Florida State League with a .269 mark and have scored the third most runs (440) of any league team while stealing the fourth most bases (112 – over twice Lakeland’s total of 54). However, the staff ERA of 4.15 is the highest of any staff in the Florida State League while the team fielding percentage of .970 is second worst in the league.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
7/29 - RHP Jeff Ferrell (4-5, 3.57) ... In his last start on July 24, Ferrell held Bradenton to one run (that coming on a home run) on four hits over 7.0 innings while matching a team-high with nine strikeouts for his first win since June 9. He is 4-3 with a 2.92 ERA in 11 starts since May 15. He did not face Charlotte in the earlier series.
7/30 - TBA
7/31 - RHP Wilsen Palacios (5-6, 3.54 ERA) ... Palacios gave up one run on five hits in 6.0 innings in his last start in the first game of a doubleheader on July 26 against St. Lucie. He has not allowed more than three runs in any of his last nine games in which he has a 3-3 record and a 2.11 ERA. He allowed three runs, two earned, on seven hits in 4.1 innings in a start against Charlotte on April 28, but did factor into the decision.
8/01 - RHP Kevin Eichhorn (1-4, 3.68 ERA) ... Eichhorn no-hit St. Lucie thru 5.0 innings in his last start in the second game of a doubleheader on July 26 and did not allow a run despite a walk and two hit batters. He also did not get the decision as the Tigers lost the game 2-0. Eichhorn was placed on the disabled list just prior to the Flying Tigers’ earlier series with Charlotte.
SEASON SERIES ... The Flying Tigers swept three games from the Stone Crabs back on April 28-30 in Charlotte, winning the first two games 11-4 and 12-3 and then taking game three 7-5 in 10 innings. The series finale was rained out.
MLB REHABBERS ... Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Alex Cobb is currently on the Stone Crabs roster on a rehab assignment. Cobb is recovering from a concussion he received when he was hit in the side of the head with a line drive on June 15. Fellow Rays pitcher Brandon Gomes is working his way back from a right lat strain that has sidelined him since May 8.
RAYS’ FIRST ROUND PICKS ... Third baseman Richie Shaffer was the 25th player picked overall when the Rays made him their top pick in the 2012 draft. The former Clemson ballplayer is rated the No. 9 prospect in the organization by MLB.com. Shortstop Jake Hager was a first round draft pick (32nd player chosen overall) by Tampa Bay in 2011 out of Sierra Vista High School in Nevada. Outfielder Kes Carter was also taken in the first round (56th overall) by the Rays in 2011 out of Western Kentucky. Fellow outfielder Drew Vettleson was a first round pick (42nd overall) by Tampa Bay in 2010 out of Central Kitsap High School in Washington where he threw three no-hitters as ambidexterous pitcher.
SUNSHINE STATE’S BEST ... One week after facing the 2011 Sunshine State Conference Pitcher of the Year in Palm Beach’s Joe Cuda (Eckerd College), the Flying Tigers may face the 2012 SSC honoree in Charlotte’s Sean Bierman who pitched collegiately at University of Tampa. Former Flying Tiger Dean Green was the SSC’s 2011 Player of the Year as a senior at Barry University.
STELLAR STARTERS ... Kevin Eichhorn tossed 5.0 no-hit innings in his start against St. Lucie in the second game of the St. Lucie doubleheader on Friday and was equalled when Tommy Collier also threw 5.0 no-hit innings on Sunday. Lakeland starters have allowed just three runs combined in the last seven games for an 0.82 ERA and have not been scored upon in the last 17.0 innings of work.
SLICK SLADE ... Reliever Slade Smith brings a streak of 9.1 consecutive scoreless innings into this series over his last five relief appearances.
KRACKLIN’ KRIZAN ... Although he was held hitless on Sunday, Jason Krizan is now 12x25 (.480) in his last six games with three hits in a game three times in that span.
LUIS, LUIS ... Luis Sanz is 7x14 (.500) in his last four games and drove in four runs in his last outing on July 27.
TRICKY TRAVIS ... Devon Travis has hits in 15 of his last 16 games and is 26x66 during that streak for a .394 average.
BING, BAM, BOOM ... From June 25 to July 13, Lakeland batters hit a total of one home run. Since then, they have gone deep 11 times in the last 11 games. On Saturday against St. Lucie, Francisco Martinez, Steven Moya, and Devon Travis each hit home runs for the Flying Tigers.
ROSTER MOVES ... Righthanded pitcher Austin Kubitza joined Lakeland on Saturday from the GCL Tigers becoming the second member of the Detroit’s 2013 Draft Class to reach Lakeland (joining Chad Green). Kubitza was a 4th round pick out Rice University where he was 8-4 with a 2.06 ERA as a junior with 134 strikeouts in 109.1 innings pitched. On Monday, Lakeland added Patrick Cooper from Erie and placed Michael Torrealba on the disabled list, retroactive to July 27. A former 28th round pick in 2012, Cooper played briefly for Lakeland last year and was 2-8 with a 5.99 ERA at Erie this season, including an 0-5 record and a 7.03 ERA his last eight starts for the SeaWolves.
THE SKIPPER ... Manager Dave Huppert, a member of the 2012 FSL Hall of Fame Class, is in his 25th season as a minor league manager and is the active winningest manager in the minors with a 1,790-1,637 record entering the Charlotte 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 (Brewers) to a co-championship while his 2007 Clearwater (Phillies) squad won the crown outright. In addition, he coached the Lakewood Blue Claws (Phillies) to the 2006 South Atlantic League title.
UP NEXT ... Lakeland heads back on the bus to play four games at Jupiter on Aug. 2-5. After a day off, the Flying Tigers return to Joker Marchant Stadium on Aug. 7 to open a six-game homestand with three games against Dunedin and three versus Clearwater.
Monday, July 29, 2013
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Mission Notes vs. St. Lucie (July 25-28)
THE SERIES ... Lakeland opens its longest home stand of the year with four games against St. Lucie at Joker Marchant Stadium with all four games have different starting times. The series opens Thursday at 6:30 pm followed by a Friday game at 7:11 pm. Saturday’s contest is set for 6 pm with the finale on Sunday at 1 pm.
THE FLYING TIGERS (43-52, 13-14, T-4th North, 2.5 GB) ... Lakeland split a doubleheader at Bradenton to start the week, losing the first two and then taking the next two behind back-to-back games with 13 hits. The Flying Tigers are 8-3 since July 9.
THE METS (54-42, 17-20, T-2nd South, 1.0 GB) ... St. Lucie got rained out at Daytona on Wednesday and split a double-header with the Cubs on Tuesday, getting shut out 7-0 in the second game. The Cubs are 9-2 their last 11 games. Dustin Lawley leads the league in homers and RBI (any many other categories; see note below) while T.J. Rivera leads with 106 hits. The Mets’ closer, T.J. Chism, is second in the FSL with 15 saves.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS (none have faced the Mets this season)
7/25 - RHP Wilsen Palacios (5-6, 3.54 ERA) ... Palacios had his last start on July 20 against Palm Beach rained out in the middle of the second inning. The Cardinals had scored two runs on two hits and two walks before rained forced the game to be cancelled. Palacios had won his two previous starts and has not allowed more than three runs in any of his eight starts in which he has a 3-2 record and a 2.19 ERA.
7/26 - RHP Kevin Eichhorn (1-4, 4.44 ERA) ... Eichhorn, who was on the disabled list from Apr. 26 to July 21, made his first start on Sunday and was tagged with the loss after allowing four runs on two hits and four walks with three strikeouts in 3.2 innings pitched. He has last his last three starts while allowing 10 earned runs on 18 hits in 12.2 innings.
7/27 - RHP Josh Carr (1-4, 4.50) ... (This is the slot normally occupied by Kyle Ryan, but he was placed on the disabled list on July 23. Carr moving back into the rotation is simply speculation on my part) ... Carr has not started since July 8, but has made two appearances out of the bullpen since then. In his last start on July 8, he allowed one unearned run on three hits to Clearwater in 5.0 innings of work. In his last bullpen stint, he was tagged for three runs on 4.0 hits in 1.1 innings against Bradenton on July 22.
7/28 - RHP Tommy Collier (1-2, 4.66 ERA) ... Collier struck out seven and walked two while holding Bradenton to one run on four hits in his last start on July 23 to notch his first win on the year. He now has allowed just five runs in his last 19.0 innings over four starts for a 2.36 ERA since returning from the disabled list on July 6.
SEASON SERIES ... Lakeland won the first three games of the series played at St. Lucie in the first half, outscoring the Mets 11-3. Game four was rained out. The Flying Tigers starting pitchers surrendered just two runs, both unearned in 20.0 innings in the three games. Tyler Hanover was 6x12 in the series while Jason Krizan and Jeff McVaney each had four hits for Lakeland.
METS’ LAWLEY NAMED FSL PLAYER OF THE WEEK ... St. Lucie’s Dustin Lawley was named the Florida State League Player of the Week for the week ending July 21. Lawley batted .444 (8x18) in five games with a pair of doubles, a homer and six runs batted in. Lawley leads the FSL in home runs (20), RBI (74), extra-base hits (53), and total bases (196) and tied for first in doubles (28). He is second in slugging percentage (.540); tied for fourth in hits (98); and fifth in runs (55).
ROSTER MOVES ... On Wednesday, Lakeland brought infielder Dean Green up from the GCL club where he had been on a Minor League Rehab assignment, activated him from the disabled list, and then sent him to West Michigan. In addition, pitcher Kyle Ryan was placed on the DL after leaving his last start on July 23 at Bradenton after catching a line-drive to end the third inning.
I KNOW YOU ... St. Lucie pitcher Cody Satterwhite was Detroit’s second round pick in 2008 and pitched in 17 games for Lakeland that season.
AWAKEN THE BATS ... The Lakeland offense is getting back in the swing of things (so to speak) as the club has reach double digits in hits in five of the last nine games, including back-to-back contests with 13 hits each. The Flying Tigers are hitting .310 as a team since July 12 with 19 doubles, two triples and six homers (four coming in the last three games alone). However, the hits aren’t producing a lot of runs as the team has scored an average of 5.8 runs per game during that stretch and posted a 6-3 record.
TRACKIN’ TRAVIS ... Devon Travis brings a 12-game hit streak into the St. Lucie series, matching Dean Green for the longest streak on the Flying Tigers this season. Travis is 22x52 during the streak for a hefty .423 mark. He has scored nine times with five doubles, a homer and six RBI. In his last seven games, Travis is 15x32 for a .469 average.
THE KRIZAN GROOVE ... Jason Krizan has been one of the big weapons as late with back-to-back games of three hits each. On Tuesday, he fell a double shy of hitting for the cycle with a single, triple and homer for three runs batted in. He has hits in eight of his last nine games for a 14x39 (.359) clip and has scored six runs and driven in five.
FRANKLY FRANCISCO ... Francisco Martinez has had another hot bat with hits in 14 of his last 16 games for a .354 streak (23x65) with nine runs scored, five doubles, and six runs batted in.
MIGHTY MAC ... Although he was held hitless in Wednesday’s contest, Jeff McVaney has hits in 17 of his last 21 games dating back to June 2, for a .283 average.
AN A FOR AARON ... Aaron Westlake has hits in seven of his nine games since coming off the disabled list on July 12 and is 11x41 (.268) with five runs batted in.
RACKIN’ UP THE K’S ... Jeff Ferrell struck out nine batters in his start at Bradenton on July 24, matching Wilsen Palacios’ team high set on May 15 at Palm Beach. Tommy Collier mowed down a personal season-high seven batters the night before in his start. Kyle Ryan punched out four in his limited outing on July 23. Overall, Lakeland starters have struck out 20 batters in the last 15.0 innings of work while allowing just a pair of runs on 12 hits in the three contests.
THE SKIPPER ... Manager Dave Huppert, a member of the 2012 Florida State League Hall of Fame Class, is in his 25th season as a minor league manager and is the active winningest manager in the minors with a 1,788-1,635 record entering the St. Lucie 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 (Brewers) to a co-championship while his 2007 Clearwater (Phillies) squad won the crown outright. In addition, he coached the Lakewood Blue Claws (Phillies) to the 2006 South Atlantic League title.
TIGER GREAT TO APPEAR JULY 27 ... Detroit great Denny McLain, the Majors’ last 30-game winner will be at Joker Marchant Stadium on Saturday, July 27. He will throw out the first pitch and be available during the game to sign autographs for fans for free. McLain went 31-6 in 1968 and posted a 1.96 ERA to earn Cy Young and MVP honors as Detroit led the American League from wire-to-wire.
UP NEXT ... Lakeland continues its longest home stand of the year with four games against the Charlotte Stone Crabs on July 29-August 1.
THE FLYING TIGERS (43-52, 13-14, T-4th North, 2.5 GB) ... Lakeland split a doubleheader at Bradenton to start the week, losing the first two and then taking the next two behind back-to-back games with 13 hits. The Flying Tigers are 8-3 since July 9.
THE METS (54-42, 17-20, T-2nd South, 1.0 GB) ... St. Lucie got rained out at Daytona on Wednesday and split a double-header with the Cubs on Tuesday, getting shut out 7-0 in the second game. The Cubs are 9-2 their last 11 games. Dustin Lawley leads the league in homers and RBI (any many other categories; see note below) while T.J. Rivera leads with 106 hits. The Mets’ closer, T.J. Chism, is second in the FSL with 15 saves.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS (none have faced the Mets this season)
7/25 - RHP Wilsen Palacios (5-6, 3.54 ERA) ... Palacios had his last start on July 20 against Palm Beach rained out in the middle of the second inning. The Cardinals had scored two runs on two hits and two walks before rained forced the game to be cancelled. Palacios had won his two previous starts and has not allowed more than three runs in any of his eight starts in which he has a 3-2 record and a 2.19 ERA.
7/26 - RHP Kevin Eichhorn (1-4, 4.44 ERA) ... Eichhorn, who was on the disabled list from Apr. 26 to July 21, made his first start on Sunday and was tagged with the loss after allowing four runs on two hits and four walks with three strikeouts in 3.2 innings pitched. He has last his last three starts while allowing 10 earned runs on 18 hits in 12.2 innings.
7/27 - RHP Josh Carr (1-4, 4.50) ... (This is the slot normally occupied by Kyle Ryan, but he was placed on the disabled list on July 23. Carr moving back into the rotation is simply speculation on my part) ... Carr has not started since July 8, but has made two appearances out of the bullpen since then. In his last start on July 8, he allowed one unearned run on three hits to Clearwater in 5.0 innings of work. In his last bullpen stint, he was tagged for three runs on 4.0 hits in 1.1 innings against Bradenton on July 22.
7/28 - RHP Tommy Collier (1-2, 4.66 ERA) ... Collier struck out seven and walked two while holding Bradenton to one run on four hits in his last start on July 23 to notch his first win on the year. He now has allowed just five runs in his last 19.0 innings over four starts for a 2.36 ERA since returning from the disabled list on July 6.
SEASON SERIES ... Lakeland won the first three games of the series played at St. Lucie in the first half, outscoring the Mets 11-3. Game four was rained out. The Flying Tigers starting pitchers surrendered just two runs, both unearned in 20.0 innings in the three games. Tyler Hanover was 6x12 in the series while Jason Krizan and Jeff McVaney each had four hits for Lakeland.
METS’ LAWLEY NAMED FSL PLAYER OF THE WEEK ... St. Lucie’s Dustin Lawley was named the Florida State League Player of the Week for the week ending July 21. Lawley batted .444 (8x18) in five games with a pair of doubles, a homer and six runs batted in. Lawley leads the FSL in home runs (20), RBI (74), extra-base hits (53), and total bases (196) and tied for first in doubles (28). He is second in slugging percentage (.540); tied for fourth in hits (98); and fifth in runs (55).
ROSTER MOVES ... On Wednesday, Lakeland brought infielder Dean Green up from the GCL club where he had been on a Minor League Rehab assignment, activated him from the disabled list, and then sent him to West Michigan. In addition, pitcher Kyle Ryan was placed on the DL after leaving his last start on July 23 at Bradenton after catching a line-drive to end the third inning.
I KNOW YOU ... St. Lucie pitcher Cody Satterwhite was Detroit’s second round pick in 2008 and pitched in 17 games for Lakeland that season.
AWAKEN THE BATS ... The Lakeland offense is getting back in the swing of things (so to speak) as the club has reach double digits in hits in five of the last nine games, including back-to-back contests with 13 hits each. The Flying Tigers are hitting .310 as a team since July 12 with 19 doubles, two triples and six homers (four coming in the last three games alone). However, the hits aren’t producing a lot of runs as the team has scored an average of 5.8 runs per game during that stretch and posted a 6-3 record.
TRACKIN’ TRAVIS ... Devon Travis brings a 12-game hit streak into the St. Lucie series, matching Dean Green for the longest streak on the Flying Tigers this season. Travis is 22x52 during the streak for a hefty .423 mark. He has scored nine times with five doubles, a homer and six RBI. In his last seven games, Travis is 15x32 for a .469 average.
THE KRIZAN GROOVE ... Jason Krizan has been one of the big weapons as late with back-to-back games of three hits each. On Tuesday, he fell a double shy of hitting for the cycle with a single, triple and homer for three runs batted in. He has hits in eight of his last nine games for a 14x39 (.359) clip and has scored six runs and driven in five.
FRANKLY FRANCISCO ... Francisco Martinez has had another hot bat with hits in 14 of his last 16 games for a .354 streak (23x65) with nine runs scored, five doubles, and six runs batted in.
MIGHTY MAC ... Although he was held hitless in Wednesday’s contest, Jeff McVaney has hits in 17 of his last 21 games dating back to June 2, for a .283 average.
AN A FOR AARON ... Aaron Westlake has hits in seven of his nine games since coming off the disabled list on July 12 and is 11x41 (.268) with five runs batted in.
RACKIN’ UP THE K’S ... Jeff Ferrell struck out nine batters in his start at Bradenton on July 24, matching Wilsen Palacios’ team high set on May 15 at Palm Beach. Tommy Collier mowed down a personal season-high seven batters the night before in his start. Kyle Ryan punched out four in his limited outing on July 23. Overall, Lakeland starters have struck out 20 batters in the last 15.0 innings of work while allowing just a pair of runs on 12 hits in the three contests.
THE SKIPPER ... Manager Dave Huppert, a member of the 2012 Florida State League Hall of Fame Class, is in his 25th season as a minor league manager and is the active winningest manager in the minors with a 1,788-1,635 record entering the St. Lucie 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 (Brewers) to a co-championship while his 2007 Clearwater (Phillies) squad won the crown outright. In addition, he coached the Lakewood Blue Claws (Phillies) to the 2006 South Atlantic League title.
TIGER GREAT TO APPEAR JULY 27 ... Detroit great Denny McLain, the Majors’ last 30-game winner will be at Joker Marchant Stadium on Saturday, July 27. He will throw out the first pitch and be available during the game to sign autographs for fans for free. McLain went 31-6 in 1968 and posted a 1.96 ERA to earn Cy Young and MVP honors as Detroit led the American League from wire-to-wire.
UP NEXT ... Lakeland continues its longest home stand of the year with four games against the Charlotte Stone Crabs on July 29-August 1.
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Mission Notes vs. Bradenton (July 21-24)
THE SERIES ... All four games of this series will be played at McKechnie Field in Bradenton on July 21-24. The series gets underway on Sunday at 5 p.m. with the next two games on Monday and Tuesday at 6:30 pm. The series finale is a summer camp day game at 10 am on Wednesday.
THE FLYING TIGERS (41-50, 11-12, T-4th North, 3.0 GB) ... Lakeland played just one game against the Cardinals during a recent series as three games were rained out. The one loss snapped a four-game win streak by the Flying Tigers who have won six of the last eight. Lakeland is 18-9 against the South Division. The Flying Tigers are 23-24 on the road with a .251 team batting average and a 3.66 ERA while going 18-26 at home with a .241 team average and a 3.75 ERA. Kyle Ryan ranks seventh in the FSL with a 3.08 ERA and is tied with two others at nine wins to lead in that category and is second with 108.0 innings. Wilsen Palacios, whose start on Saturday was cut short due to rain and will not count in the stats, has dropped to fourth in the FSL with 85 strikeouts. Lakeland is tied with Bradenton for second lowest team batting average (.246) in the FSL while scoring the fewest runs (344) in the league.
THE MARAUDERS (34-62, 8-20, 6th South, 9.5 GB) ... Bradenton split four games with Clearwater on July 17-20. A 9-3 victory in the opener on July 17 snapped a nine-game losing streak by the Marauders who are 4-19 since June 25. The Marauders, who have been shutout 15 times this season, plays better at home than on the road, posting a 22-24 record at McKechnie Field versus a 12-38 away mark. Dan Gamache, who has played in the most games (96) of any player in the league, is tied for second with 97 hits while Taylor Lewis is tied for the league-lead with seven triples. On the downside, Willy Garcia has struck out 113 times, second most in the FSL, while Gamache has been punched out the fourth most times with 102. Bradenton has scored the fourth fewest runs (375) and has the second highest ERA (4.11) of any FSL team. The Marauders were involved in a 19-inning game on July 15, falling 3-2 to Tampa in a game that was tied 2-2 in the eighth. Bradenton had 20 hits in the contest.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
7/21 - Kevin Eichhorn (1-3, 3.48 ERA) ... Eichhorn was activated Sunday morning off the disabled list where he had been since April 26. His last start was back on April 25 at Daytona. In that game he allowed four runs on nine hits, including a pair homers, with four strikeouts and no walks. Eichhorn is 1-1 with a 3.00 in two previous road starts.
7/22 - LHP Kyle Ryan (9-6, 3.08 ERA) ... Ryan is 3-1 with a 1.64 ERA in his last four starts with 16 strikeouts and six walks. In his last start on July 13 at Fort Myers, he struck out five and walked one while holding the Miracle to one run on six hits in 6.0 innings. Ryan is 6-4 on the road this season with a 2.92 ERA. He had a no-decision against Bradenton on June 12, allowing two runs on six hits with six strikeouts in 5.0 innings.
7/23 - RHP Tommy Collier (0-2, 5.25 ERA) ... Collier lost his last start on July 17 at home against Palm Beach, allowing three runs, two earned, on four hits with three strikeouts and one walk in 5.0 innings. He is 0-1 with a 5.79 ERA in three road starts this season. He has not faced Bradenton this season.
7/24 - RHP Jeff Ferrell (3-5, 3.76 ERA) ... Ferrell is 0-1 with a 4.34 ERA over his last five starts with four straight no-decisions. He is 1-3 with a 5.12 ERA in eight road appearances, including six starts, while going 2-2 with a 2.90 ERA in 10 home games with eight starts. Ferrell has not faced Bradenton this season.
SEASON SERIES ... Lakeland won the first three of the four games played earlier this season on June 10-13. The opener was suspended in the fourth inning and the picked up the next night with Lakeland winning 4-1. The Flying Tigers emerged victorious 3-2 in game two as Danny Worth drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth. Steven Moya did the honors in game three with a walk-off homer – the third Lakeland homer of the game – for a 7-6 Lakeland win. Bradenton won 9-5 in 11 innings in the finale as Flying Tiger pitchers walked 13 batters.
CARDINALS 1, FLYING TIGERS 0, MOTHER NATURE 3 ... Lakeland was supposed to play Palm Beach in a four-game series this past few days, but wound up battling Mother Nature – and losing three games to rain. After falling 7-5 in the opening to the Cardinals, the Flying Tigers had the next two night’s games called due to rain. The finale got underway on Saturday, but once again, Mother Nature ruled and rains forced an end to the game in the bottom of the second inning. Since the two teams do not face each other the rest of the season, the three games will not be made up. Lakeland has now lost five games to the schedule this season after losing nine games in 2012.
EIGHT IS GREAT ... Devon Travis has eight hits in the last three games (8x15, .533) to bring his batting average to .407 in his 14 games played with the Flying Tigers. He brings an eight-game hit streak into the Bradenton series and is 15x35 (.429) since July 9 with seven runs scored, three doubles and three runs batted in. In seven road games this season, Travis is 14x33 with a .424 mark.
CRUISIN’ KRIZAN ... Jason Krizan has hits in his last five games including two hits in each of his last two games. He is 7x22 (.318) in those five games with a pair of doubles and has drawn a walk in each of the last four games. Krizan is the third toughest batter in the Florida State League to strike out with 9.59 plate appearances per strikeout.
JOLLY JEFF ... Jeff McVaney has hits in each of last four games and is 6x14 (.429) during that stretch with five runs scored and three more driven in.
UNLUCKY SEVEN ... Francisco Martinez saw his six-game hit streak come to a close in his last game on July 17. He is now 12x31 (.387) with five runs scored in his last seven games and has hits in 10 of his last 12 games for a 18x48 clip (.375) since July 6. Steven Moya also had a six-game hit streak snapped in his last game on July 17. He is now 13x28 (.464) with eight runs scored, four doubles, a triple, a homer, and five runs driven in.
WELCOME BACK ... Aaron Westlake is 6x23 (.261) with three runs scored and two more driven in since coming off the DL on July 12.
ROSTER SHUFFLE ... Pitcher Joe Rogers went back on the disabled list on Friday. The Winter Haven High graduate was originally on the DL from April 12-June 23 and had pitched just one game (April 7) in front of the hometown fans with his other six appearances coming on the road. Catcher Tim Remes joined Lakeland for the Palm Beach series, but was sent back to the GCL on Sunday to make room for pitcher Kevin Eichhorn was activated Sunday off the disabled list where he had been since April 26.
THE SKIPPER ... Manager Dave Huppert, a member of the 2012 Florida State League Hall of Fame Class, is in his 25th season as a minor league manager and is the active winningest manager in the minors with a 1,786-1,633 record entering the Bradenton 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 (Brewers) to a co-championship while his 2007 Clearwater (Phillies) squad won the crown outright. In addition, he coached the Lakewood Blue Claws (Phillies) to the 2006 South Atlantic League title.
UP NEXT ... Lakeland returns home after the Bradenton Series for an eight game homestand – the longest homestand of the year. The Flying Tigers will play St. Lucie July 25-28 and then face Charlotte July 29-August 1
THE FLYING TIGERS (41-50, 11-12, T-4th North, 3.0 GB) ... Lakeland played just one game against the Cardinals during a recent series as three games were rained out. The one loss snapped a four-game win streak by the Flying Tigers who have won six of the last eight. Lakeland is 18-9 against the South Division. The Flying Tigers are 23-24 on the road with a .251 team batting average and a 3.66 ERA while going 18-26 at home with a .241 team average and a 3.75 ERA. Kyle Ryan ranks seventh in the FSL with a 3.08 ERA and is tied with two others at nine wins to lead in that category and is second with 108.0 innings. Wilsen Palacios, whose start on Saturday was cut short due to rain and will not count in the stats, has dropped to fourth in the FSL with 85 strikeouts. Lakeland is tied with Bradenton for second lowest team batting average (.246) in the FSL while scoring the fewest runs (344) in the league.
THE MARAUDERS (34-62, 8-20, 6th South, 9.5 GB) ... Bradenton split four games with Clearwater on July 17-20. A 9-3 victory in the opener on July 17 snapped a nine-game losing streak by the Marauders who are 4-19 since June 25. The Marauders, who have been shutout 15 times this season, plays better at home than on the road, posting a 22-24 record at McKechnie Field versus a 12-38 away mark. Dan Gamache, who has played in the most games (96) of any player in the league, is tied for second with 97 hits while Taylor Lewis is tied for the league-lead with seven triples. On the downside, Willy Garcia has struck out 113 times, second most in the FSL, while Gamache has been punched out the fourth most times with 102. Bradenton has scored the fourth fewest runs (375) and has the second highest ERA (4.11) of any FSL team. The Marauders were involved in a 19-inning game on July 15, falling 3-2 to Tampa in a game that was tied 2-2 in the eighth. Bradenton had 20 hits in the contest.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
7/21 - Kevin Eichhorn (1-3, 3.48 ERA) ... Eichhorn was activated Sunday morning off the disabled list where he had been since April 26. His last start was back on April 25 at Daytona. In that game he allowed four runs on nine hits, including a pair homers, with four strikeouts and no walks. Eichhorn is 1-1 with a 3.00 in two previous road starts.
7/22 - LHP Kyle Ryan (9-6, 3.08 ERA) ... Ryan is 3-1 with a 1.64 ERA in his last four starts with 16 strikeouts and six walks. In his last start on July 13 at Fort Myers, he struck out five and walked one while holding the Miracle to one run on six hits in 6.0 innings. Ryan is 6-4 on the road this season with a 2.92 ERA. He had a no-decision against Bradenton on June 12, allowing two runs on six hits with six strikeouts in 5.0 innings.
7/23 - RHP Tommy Collier (0-2, 5.25 ERA) ... Collier lost his last start on July 17 at home against Palm Beach, allowing three runs, two earned, on four hits with three strikeouts and one walk in 5.0 innings. He is 0-1 with a 5.79 ERA in three road starts this season. He has not faced Bradenton this season.
7/24 - RHP Jeff Ferrell (3-5, 3.76 ERA) ... Ferrell is 0-1 with a 4.34 ERA over his last five starts with four straight no-decisions. He is 1-3 with a 5.12 ERA in eight road appearances, including six starts, while going 2-2 with a 2.90 ERA in 10 home games with eight starts. Ferrell has not faced Bradenton this season.
SEASON SERIES ... Lakeland won the first three of the four games played earlier this season on June 10-13. The opener was suspended in the fourth inning and the picked up the next night with Lakeland winning 4-1. The Flying Tigers emerged victorious 3-2 in game two as Danny Worth drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth. Steven Moya did the honors in game three with a walk-off homer – the third Lakeland homer of the game – for a 7-6 Lakeland win. Bradenton won 9-5 in 11 innings in the finale as Flying Tiger pitchers walked 13 batters.
CARDINALS 1, FLYING TIGERS 0, MOTHER NATURE 3 ... Lakeland was supposed to play Palm Beach in a four-game series this past few days, but wound up battling Mother Nature – and losing three games to rain. After falling 7-5 in the opening to the Cardinals, the Flying Tigers had the next two night’s games called due to rain. The finale got underway on Saturday, but once again, Mother Nature ruled and rains forced an end to the game in the bottom of the second inning. Since the two teams do not face each other the rest of the season, the three games will not be made up. Lakeland has now lost five games to the schedule this season after losing nine games in 2012.
EIGHT IS GREAT ... Devon Travis has eight hits in the last three games (8x15, .533) to bring his batting average to .407 in his 14 games played with the Flying Tigers. He brings an eight-game hit streak into the Bradenton series and is 15x35 (.429) since July 9 with seven runs scored, three doubles and three runs batted in. In seven road games this season, Travis is 14x33 with a .424 mark.
CRUISIN’ KRIZAN ... Jason Krizan has hits in his last five games including two hits in each of his last two games. He is 7x22 (.318) in those five games with a pair of doubles and has drawn a walk in each of the last four games. Krizan is the third toughest batter in the Florida State League to strike out with 9.59 plate appearances per strikeout.
JOLLY JEFF ... Jeff McVaney has hits in each of last four games and is 6x14 (.429) during that stretch with five runs scored and three more driven in.
UNLUCKY SEVEN ... Francisco Martinez saw his six-game hit streak come to a close in his last game on July 17. He is now 12x31 (.387) with five runs scored in his last seven games and has hits in 10 of his last 12 games for a 18x48 clip (.375) since July 6. Steven Moya also had a six-game hit streak snapped in his last game on July 17. He is now 13x28 (.464) with eight runs scored, four doubles, a triple, a homer, and five runs driven in.
WELCOME BACK ... Aaron Westlake is 6x23 (.261) with three runs scored and two more driven in since coming off the DL on July 12.
ROSTER SHUFFLE ... Pitcher Joe Rogers went back on the disabled list on Friday. The Winter Haven High graduate was originally on the DL from April 12-June 23 and had pitched just one game (April 7) in front of the hometown fans with his other six appearances coming on the road. Catcher Tim Remes joined Lakeland for the Palm Beach series, but was sent back to the GCL on Sunday to make room for pitcher Kevin Eichhorn was activated Sunday off the disabled list where he had been since April 26.
THE SKIPPER ... Manager Dave Huppert, a member of the 2012 Florida State League Hall of Fame Class, is in his 25th season as a minor league manager and is the active winningest manager in the minors with a 1,786-1,633 record entering the Bradenton 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 (Brewers) to a co-championship while his 2007 Clearwater (Phillies) squad won the crown outright. In addition, he coached the Lakewood Blue Claws (Phillies) to the 2006 South Atlantic League title.
UP NEXT ... Lakeland returns home after the Bradenton Series for an eight game homestand – the longest homestand of the year. The Flying Tigers will play St. Lucie July 25-28 and then face Charlotte July 29-August 1
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Mission Notes vs. Palm Beach (July 17-20)
THE SERIES ... All four games of this series will be played July 17-20 at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland. Games one and two will be played on Wednesday and Thursday at 6:30 p.m. with game three taking place Friday at 7:11 p.m. The series finale is slated for Saturday at 6 p.m.
THE FLYING TIGERS (41-49, 11-11, T-4th, 3.5 GB) ... Lakeland comes into this series riding a four-game win streak after sweeping Fort Myers on the road and has now won six of its last seven games. Four of those six wins have been of the come-from-behind variety including overcoming an 8-1 deficit in the Miracle series finale on July 15. The surge has propelled the Flying Tigers into a tie with Clearwater for fourth place in the North Division, just 3.5 games behind first place Daytona. Kyle Ryan tops the Florida State League with nine victories and is now fifth with a 3.08 ERA while ranking second with 108.0 innings pitched. Wilsen Palacios is tied for the league-lead with 85 strikeouts and ranks tenth with a 3.54 mark. The Flying Tigers went 53x161 in four games against the Miracle for a .329 average with 12 doubles, a triple and three homers. Lakeland’s recent offensive success has helped move the team out of the cellar in term’s of batting average and it now ranks 10th overall.
THE CARDINALS (44-48, 15-9, 1st, 1.5 game lead) ... Palm Beach swept a doubleheader from Brevard County on Monday and is 7-2 the last nine games with a 14-6 mark since June 24. The Cardinals sit atop the South Division with a 15-9 record, leading both St. Lucie and Charlotte which are tied for second, 1.5 games back. Jonathan Rodriguez is tied for second in the FSL with 26 doubles, one behind Aaron Altherr of Clearwater. Colin Walsh leads the FSL with 57 walks, is second with 58 runs scored and six triples. Ronnie Shaban is second in the league with 13 saves. The Cardinals are third in the league with a .262 team batting average.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
7/17 - RHP Tommy Collier (0-1, 5.68 ERA) ... Collier is 0-1 with a 2.00 ERA since returning from the disabled list on July 6. He did not factor into the decision in his last start on July 11 versus Daytona despite holding the Cubs to one run on three hits in 5.0 innings pitched.
7/18 - RHP Wilsen Palacios (5-6, 3.54 ERA) ... Palacios tossed 6.2 shutout innings and struck out five while holding the Miracle to four hits in getting his second straight win on July 12. He has not allowed more than three earned runs in any of his last eight starts and had given up 12 earned runs in 49.1 innings during the stretch for a 3-2 record and a 2.19 earned run average. Palacios beat Palm Beach on May 15 by tossing 6.0 shutout innings on three hits with a season-high nine strikeouts.
7/19 - LHP Kyle Ryan (9-6, 3.08 ERA) ... Ryan is 3-1 with a 1.64 ERA in his last four starts with 16 strikeouts and six walks. In his last start on July 13 at Fort Myers, he struck out five and walked one while holding the Miracle to one run on six hits in 6.0 innings worked. Palm Beach beat Ryan 4-2 in the earlier series finale on May 16 getting all four runs in the first four innings off Ryan who walked three and struck out three.
7/20 - RHP Jeff Ferrell (3-5, 3.76 ERA) ... Ferrell is 0-1 with a 4.34 ERA over his last five starts with four straight no-decisions. The Miracle jumped on Ferrell for five runs, four earned, on six hits in 3.0 innings in his last start on July 14 at Fort Myers. He is 2-2 with a 2.90 ERA in eight starts and two relief appearances at home while posting a 1-3 record and a 5.12 ERA in six starts and two relief appearances on the road. Ferrell has not faced Palm Beach.
SEASON SERIES ... The two clubs split an earlier four-game series on May 13-16 in Palm Beach. The Cardinals shutout Lakeland 7-0 in the series opener while the Flying Tigers took the next two games 6-1 and 5-1. Palm Beach came back to edge Lakeland 3-2 in the finale. Both teams scored 13 runs over the four games. Jason Krizan was 7x18 in the series with three doubles for Lakeland.
FAMILIAR NAME ... Palm Beach pitcher Jay Voss played for the Flying Tigers in 2010 and 2011.
RARE SHUTOUT ... Lakeland opened its recent series at Fort Myers by blanking the Miracle 5-0 behind 6.2 strong innings by Wilsen Palacios. It was the first time this season Fort Myers had been shutout at home and just the second time the Miracle had been held scoreless all year.
MIGHTY MART ... Francisco Martinez brings a six-game hit streak into this series in which he is 12x27 (.444) with five runs scored. He has hits in 10 of his last 11 games and is 18x44 (.409) since July 6.
STOIC STEVEN ... Steven Moya also comes into the series with a six-game hit streak and is 13x24 (.542) with eigth runs scored, four doubles, a triple, a homer, and five runs driven in.
TRIUMPHANT TRAVIS ... Devon Travis has had three hits in each of his last two games (6x11) and carries a seven-hit streak into the Palm Beach series. He is 13x31 (.419) since July 9 with six runs scored, three doubles and a pair of runs batted in. Travis hit his first homer as a Lakeland Flying Tiger on July 14.
JUMP ON ‘EM ... While Lakeland has shown the ability to rally from behind in recent games, Palm Beach has posted a league-worst 23-19 record when the other team scores first.
GREEN BEGINS REHAB ... First baseman Dean Green was activated off the the disabled list on Monday and assigned to the Gulf Coast League Tigers to begin Minor League Rehab Assignment. Green was hitting .333 in 18 games for Lakeland to start the season before going on the DL on April 23 after a collision on the basepaths.
HOMER TIME ... From June 25-July 13, Lakeland hit just one home run. Devon Travis changed that on Sunday, hitting his first round-tripper as a Flying Tiger. On Monday, both Corey Jones and Steven Moya went yard for Lakeland.
THE SKIPPER ... Manager Dave Huppert, a member of the 2012 Florida State League Hall of Fame Class, is in his 25th season as a minor league manager and is the active winningest manager in the minors with a 1,786-1,632 record entering the Palm Beach 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 (Brewers) to a co-championship while his 2007 Clearwater (Phillies) squad won the crown outright. In addition, he coached the Lakewood Blue Claws (Phillies) to the 2006 South Atlantic League title.
CASALI DRIVES IN SEVEN ... Former Flying Tiger Curt Casali hit a grand slam on July 15, helping the Charlotte Stone Crabs to a 11-0 win over Clearwater. His bases-loaded homer, capped with a bases-clearing double, helped him drive in a career-high seven runs for the Tampa Bay Rays’ affiliate.
LENNERTON AT THE FUTURES GAME ... Former Flying Tiger Jordan Lennerton got two trips to the plate as a starter for the World Futures team on Sunday. The Toledo first baseman walked in his first trip in the second inning and then drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning. For the record, the US Futures team won 4-2. Lennerton was also selected to the International League All-Star game which will be contested Wednesday night, July 16.
UP NEXT ... Lakeland gets back on the bus for a four-game at Bradenton on July 21-24. Following that series, the Flying Tigers return to Joker Marchant Stadium for an eight-game homestand, July 25-August 1, the longest stretch of home games this season.
THE FLYING TIGERS (41-49, 11-11, T-4th, 3.5 GB) ... Lakeland comes into this series riding a four-game win streak after sweeping Fort Myers on the road and has now won six of its last seven games. Four of those six wins have been of the come-from-behind variety including overcoming an 8-1 deficit in the Miracle series finale on July 15. The surge has propelled the Flying Tigers into a tie with Clearwater for fourth place in the North Division, just 3.5 games behind first place Daytona. Kyle Ryan tops the Florida State League with nine victories and is now fifth with a 3.08 ERA while ranking second with 108.0 innings pitched. Wilsen Palacios is tied for the league-lead with 85 strikeouts and ranks tenth with a 3.54 mark. The Flying Tigers went 53x161 in four games against the Miracle for a .329 average with 12 doubles, a triple and three homers. Lakeland’s recent offensive success has helped move the team out of the cellar in term’s of batting average and it now ranks 10th overall.
THE CARDINALS (44-48, 15-9, 1st, 1.5 game lead) ... Palm Beach swept a doubleheader from Brevard County on Monday and is 7-2 the last nine games with a 14-6 mark since June 24. The Cardinals sit atop the South Division with a 15-9 record, leading both St. Lucie and Charlotte which are tied for second, 1.5 games back. Jonathan Rodriguez is tied for second in the FSL with 26 doubles, one behind Aaron Altherr of Clearwater. Colin Walsh leads the FSL with 57 walks, is second with 58 runs scored and six triples. Ronnie Shaban is second in the league with 13 saves. The Cardinals are third in the league with a .262 team batting average.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
7/17 - RHP Tommy Collier (0-1, 5.68 ERA) ... Collier is 0-1 with a 2.00 ERA since returning from the disabled list on July 6. He did not factor into the decision in his last start on July 11 versus Daytona despite holding the Cubs to one run on three hits in 5.0 innings pitched.
7/18 - RHP Wilsen Palacios (5-6, 3.54 ERA) ... Palacios tossed 6.2 shutout innings and struck out five while holding the Miracle to four hits in getting his second straight win on July 12. He has not allowed more than three earned runs in any of his last eight starts and had given up 12 earned runs in 49.1 innings during the stretch for a 3-2 record and a 2.19 earned run average. Palacios beat Palm Beach on May 15 by tossing 6.0 shutout innings on three hits with a season-high nine strikeouts.
7/19 - LHP Kyle Ryan (9-6, 3.08 ERA) ... Ryan is 3-1 with a 1.64 ERA in his last four starts with 16 strikeouts and six walks. In his last start on July 13 at Fort Myers, he struck out five and walked one while holding the Miracle to one run on six hits in 6.0 innings worked. Palm Beach beat Ryan 4-2 in the earlier series finale on May 16 getting all four runs in the first four innings off Ryan who walked three and struck out three.
7/20 - RHP Jeff Ferrell (3-5, 3.76 ERA) ... Ferrell is 0-1 with a 4.34 ERA over his last five starts with four straight no-decisions. The Miracle jumped on Ferrell for five runs, four earned, on six hits in 3.0 innings in his last start on July 14 at Fort Myers. He is 2-2 with a 2.90 ERA in eight starts and two relief appearances at home while posting a 1-3 record and a 5.12 ERA in six starts and two relief appearances on the road. Ferrell has not faced Palm Beach.
SEASON SERIES ... The two clubs split an earlier four-game series on May 13-16 in Palm Beach. The Cardinals shutout Lakeland 7-0 in the series opener while the Flying Tigers took the next two games 6-1 and 5-1. Palm Beach came back to edge Lakeland 3-2 in the finale. Both teams scored 13 runs over the four games. Jason Krizan was 7x18 in the series with three doubles for Lakeland.
FAMILIAR NAME ... Palm Beach pitcher Jay Voss played for the Flying Tigers in 2010 and 2011.
RARE SHUTOUT ... Lakeland opened its recent series at Fort Myers by blanking the Miracle 5-0 behind 6.2 strong innings by Wilsen Palacios. It was the first time this season Fort Myers had been shutout at home and just the second time the Miracle had been held scoreless all year.
MIGHTY MART ... Francisco Martinez brings a six-game hit streak into this series in which he is 12x27 (.444) with five runs scored. He has hits in 10 of his last 11 games and is 18x44 (.409) since July 6.
STOIC STEVEN ... Steven Moya also comes into the series with a six-game hit streak and is 13x24 (.542) with eigth runs scored, four doubles, a triple, a homer, and five runs driven in.
TRIUMPHANT TRAVIS ... Devon Travis has had three hits in each of his last two games (6x11) and carries a seven-hit streak into the Palm Beach series. He is 13x31 (.419) since July 9 with six runs scored, three doubles and a pair of runs batted in. Travis hit his first homer as a Lakeland Flying Tiger on July 14.
JUMP ON ‘EM ... While Lakeland has shown the ability to rally from behind in recent games, Palm Beach has posted a league-worst 23-19 record when the other team scores first.
GREEN BEGINS REHAB ... First baseman Dean Green was activated off the the disabled list on Monday and assigned to the Gulf Coast League Tigers to begin Minor League Rehab Assignment. Green was hitting .333 in 18 games for Lakeland to start the season before going on the DL on April 23 after a collision on the basepaths.
HOMER TIME ... From June 25-July 13, Lakeland hit just one home run. Devon Travis changed that on Sunday, hitting his first round-tripper as a Flying Tiger. On Monday, both Corey Jones and Steven Moya went yard for Lakeland.
THE SKIPPER ... Manager Dave Huppert, a member of the 2012 Florida State League Hall of Fame Class, is in his 25th season as a minor league manager and is the active winningest manager in the minors with a 1,786-1,632 record entering the Palm Beach 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 (Brewers) to a co-championship while his 2007 Clearwater (Phillies) squad won the crown outright. In addition, he coached the Lakewood Blue Claws (Phillies) to the 2006 South Atlantic League title.
CASALI DRIVES IN SEVEN ... Former Flying Tiger Curt Casali hit a grand slam on July 15, helping the Charlotte Stone Crabs to a 11-0 win over Clearwater. His bases-loaded homer, capped with a bases-clearing double, helped him drive in a career-high seven runs for the Tampa Bay Rays’ affiliate.
LENNERTON AT THE FUTURES GAME ... Former Flying Tiger Jordan Lennerton got two trips to the plate as a starter for the World Futures team on Sunday. The Toledo first baseman walked in his first trip in the second inning and then drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning. For the record, the US Futures team won 4-2. Lennerton was also selected to the International League All-Star game which will be contested Wednesday night, July 16.
UP NEXT ... Lakeland gets back on the bus for a four-game at Bradenton on July 21-24. Following that series, the Flying Tigers return to Joker Marchant Stadium for an eight-game homestand, July 25-August 1, the longest stretch of home games this season.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Mission Notes vs. Fort Myers (July 12-15)
THE SERIES ... All four games of this series will be played at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers on Friday-Monday, July 12-15. The opener is Friday at 7:05 pm with Saturday’s game getting underway at 6:05 pm. Sunday’s game is set for a 4:05 pm first pitch with the finale on Monday at 7:05 pm. All four games will be broadcast by the Miracle. Visit the Lakeland Flying Tigers website and click on “AUDIO” next to the line-up to hear the broadcasts.
THE FLYING TIGERS (37-49; 7-11, 6th, 4.5 GB) ... Lakeland used a pair of late inning rallies to take two of three games from Daytona and is now 6-6 over the last 12 games. Kyle Ryan has an 8-6 record and a 3.18 ERA to rank eighth in the Florida State League rankings. His eight wins is tied with three others for tops in the FSL while his 102.0 innings is second most. Wilsen Palacios remains tied with Hoby Milner of Clearwater with the league lead of 80 strikeouts. Lakeland’s team batting average of .241 is tied for last in the league while the team’s 312 runs scored is fewest among the 12 league teams.
THE MIRACLE (55-31; 10-9, 3rd, 2.5 GB) ... Fort Myers dropped a pair of games on Thursday, falling 6-1 in the completion of a suspended game from Wednesday. The Miracle were downed 6-2 in the second game which was a seven-inning contest. The club has dropped three of their last four and four of the last six contests. At 55-31 overall, the Miracle have the best record of any full-season minor league club. Miguel Sano, at AA New Britain since June 12, still leads the FSL with a .330 average and a .424 on-base percentage, but has not matched the success a step up the ladder, hitting just .198 since his promotion. Kennys Vargas is eighth in the FSL with a .300 average while leading the league with 67 runs batted in. He is also second with 90 hits, third with 25 doubles, and tied for third with 40 hits. Taylor Rogers is fourth in the FSL with a 2.94 ERA to go with his 7-3 record while Matthew Summers is ninth with a 3.20 ERA. The Miracle lead the league with a .281 team batting average, 457 runs scored (39 more than the second place team), and 76 home runs (13 more than the number two team and 46 more than Lakeland).
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
7/12 - RHP Wilsen Palacios (4-6, 3.80 ERA) ... Palacios gave up six hits and allowed two runs in getting the win in his last start against Clearwater on July 7. He has not allowed more than three runs in any of his last seven starts and has given up 12 earned run over 42.2 innings during the stretch for a 2-2 record and a 2.53 ERA. Palacios took the loss on May 21 in game one versus the Miracle allowing five runs, four earned, on eight hits in 5.0 innings.
7/13 - LHP Kyle Ryan (8-6, 3.18 ERA) ... Ryan took the loss in his last start on July 8 after allowing five runs, three earned, on seven hits in 4.0 innings. In two previous starts he had tossed back to back scoreless stints of six innings each. Ryan picked up a win on May 21 in game two against Fort Myers, holding the Miracle to two runs on four hits with five strikeouts in 6,2 innings worked.
7/14 - RHP Jeff Ferrell (3-5, 3.45 ERA) ... Ferrell is 0-1 in his last four starts with a 3.46 ERA. In his last start on July 9, he allowed just two runs on five hits over 6.2 innings against Daytona. Ferrell allowed one unearned run in 6.0 innings for the win versus Ft. Myers on May 22.
7/15 - TBA
SEASON SERIES ... Lakeland and Fort Myers split a four-game series on May 21-23 in Lakeland with the two clubs each taking one-half of a doubleheader on May 21. The Miracle took game one of the twinbill 5-3 with the Flying Tigers getting a 3-2 victory in the nightcap. Lakeland came back the next night with a 4-1 win while Fort Myers emerged with a 6-1 win in the series finale.
FRANKLY FRANCISCO ... Francisco Martinez has had three games with two hits each in his last seven games and is 9x25 (.360) during that stretch with three doubles and four runs batted in.
DEVELISH DEVON ... Devon Travis went 3x4 on Thursday in Lakeland’s 2-1 loss to Daytona. It was his second game with three hits since joining the Flying Tigers on June 30. The second baseman has hits in seven of his nine games played so far.
MIXIN’ WITH DIXON ... Dixon Machado rejoined Lakeland on Thursday after spending seven games with the Gulf Coast League Tigers. He is working his way back to AA Erie after coming off the disabled list where he had been since April 4 with a hamstring problem. To make room on the Lakeland roster, Rashad Brown was sent down to the GCL Tigers.
NEW CREW MEMBERS ... Lakeland added a pair of players on Friday in activating Aaron Westlake from the disabled list and welcoming the first member of Detroit’s 2013 Draft Class to reach Lakleand, Chad Green from the GCL. Westlake, who had been on the DL from May 29-July 5, played for the GCL Tigers since being activated, batting .182 in six games. Green was Detroit’s 10th round pick in this year’s draft out of the University of Louisville where he was 10-4 with a 2.42 ERA in 18 starts for the Cardinals. He was 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in two starts for the GCL Tigers. To make room on the roster, Jared Reaves was sent to West Michigan and Hudson Randall was placed on the DL.
WHITHER THE HOMER ... No Flying Tiger has hit a home run since Steven Moya went deep on June 29 in the first inning of the first of a doubleheader against Brevard County. That is the only homer for Lakeland in the last 14 games.
THE SKIPPER ... Manager Dave Huppert, a member of the 2012 Florida State League Hall of Fame Class, is in his 25th season as a minor league manager and is the active winningest manager in the minors with a 1,782-1,632 record entering the Fort Myers 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 (Brewers) to a co-championship while his 2007 Clearwater (Phillies) squad won the crown outright. In addition, he coached the Lakewood Blue Claws (Phillies) to the 2006 South Atlantic League title.
PEREZ HEADS BACK TO THE SHOW ... Last season, Hernan Perez got a sip of coffee with Detroit in the big leagues, getting a call-up from Lakeland for a pair of games. The former Flying Tigers’ second baseman was brought back to the parent club on Tuesday to fill in when Omar Infante was placed on the disabled list. Perez was hitting .300 with 28 doubles, four homers and 24 stolen bases at AA Erie at the time of his promotion.
BRIGHT FUTURE? ... Don’t look now, but the Gulf Coast League Tigers have one of the best records in the minor leagues right now. Through their first 13 games, the GCL club has an impressive 10-3 record and sports a .769 winning percentage – third best in the minors.
ORGANIZATION NOTES ... Lakeland’s Devon Travis has a combined .356 average in his 86 games with West Michigan and Lakeland. That total is best among full season players in the Detroit organization. Lakeland’s Jose Valdez has a combined 20 saves with the WhiteCaps and Flying Tigers - a total that is tops in the organization. Wilsen Palacios’ FSL leading 80 strikeouts is third best among Detroit minor leaguers. Former Lakeland players, Tyler Collins, Ben Guez and Jordan Lennerton are all tied with 13 home runs, second most in the organization while Nick Castellanos is next with 11. Drew VerHagen’s combined ERA of 2.47 with Lakeland and Erie, is tops among full season Detroit minor leaguers.
UP NEXT ... Lakeland returns to Joker Marchant Stadium to host Palm Beach in a four-game series July 17-20.
THE FLYING TIGERS (37-49; 7-11, 6th, 4.5 GB) ... Lakeland used a pair of late inning rallies to take two of three games from Daytona and is now 6-6 over the last 12 games. Kyle Ryan has an 8-6 record and a 3.18 ERA to rank eighth in the Florida State League rankings. His eight wins is tied with three others for tops in the FSL while his 102.0 innings is second most. Wilsen Palacios remains tied with Hoby Milner of Clearwater with the league lead of 80 strikeouts. Lakeland’s team batting average of .241 is tied for last in the league while the team’s 312 runs scored is fewest among the 12 league teams.
THE MIRACLE (55-31; 10-9, 3rd, 2.5 GB) ... Fort Myers dropped a pair of games on Thursday, falling 6-1 in the completion of a suspended game from Wednesday. The Miracle were downed 6-2 in the second game which was a seven-inning contest. The club has dropped three of their last four and four of the last six contests. At 55-31 overall, the Miracle have the best record of any full-season minor league club. Miguel Sano, at AA New Britain since June 12, still leads the FSL with a .330 average and a .424 on-base percentage, but has not matched the success a step up the ladder, hitting just .198 since his promotion. Kennys Vargas is eighth in the FSL with a .300 average while leading the league with 67 runs batted in. He is also second with 90 hits, third with 25 doubles, and tied for third with 40 hits. Taylor Rogers is fourth in the FSL with a 2.94 ERA to go with his 7-3 record while Matthew Summers is ninth with a 3.20 ERA. The Miracle lead the league with a .281 team batting average, 457 runs scored (39 more than the second place team), and 76 home runs (13 more than the number two team and 46 more than Lakeland).
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
7/12 - RHP Wilsen Palacios (4-6, 3.80 ERA) ... Palacios gave up six hits and allowed two runs in getting the win in his last start against Clearwater on July 7. He has not allowed more than three runs in any of his last seven starts and has given up 12 earned run over 42.2 innings during the stretch for a 2-2 record and a 2.53 ERA. Palacios took the loss on May 21 in game one versus the Miracle allowing five runs, four earned, on eight hits in 5.0 innings.
7/13 - LHP Kyle Ryan (8-6, 3.18 ERA) ... Ryan took the loss in his last start on July 8 after allowing five runs, three earned, on seven hits in 4.0 innings. In two previous starts he had tossed back to back scoreless stints of six innings each. Ryan picked up a win on May 21 in game two against Fort Myers, holding the Miracle to two runs on four hits with five strikeouts in 6,2 innings worked.
7/14 - RHP Jeff Ferrell (3-5, 3.45 ERA) ... Ferrell is 0-1 in his last four starts with a 3.46 ERA. In his last start on July 9, he allowed just two runs on five hits over 6.2 innings against Daytona. Ferrell allowed one unearned run in 6.0 innings for the win versus Ft. Myers on May 22.
7/15 - TBA
SEASON SERIES ... Lakeland and Fort Myers split a four-game series on May 21-23 in Lakeland with the two clubs each taking one-half of a doubleheader on May 21. The Miracle took game one of the twinbill 5-3 with the Flying Tigers getting a 3-2 victory in the nightcap. Lakeland came back the next night with a 4-1 win while Fort Myers emerged with a 6-1 win in the series finale.
FRANKLY FRANCISCO ... Francisco Martinez has had three games with two hits each in his last seven games and is 9x25 (.360) during that stretch with three doubles and four runs batted in.
DEVELISH DEVON ... Devon Travis went 3x4 on Thursday in Lakeland’s 2-1 loss to Daytona. It was his second game with three hits since joining the Flying Tigers on June 30. The second baseman has hits in seven of his nine games played so far.
MIXIN’ WITH DIXON ... Dixon Machado rejoined Lakeland on Thursday after spending seven games with the Gulf Coast League Tigers. He is working his way back to AA Erie after coming off the disabled list where he had been since April 4 with a hamstring problem. To make room on the Lakeland roster, Rashad Brown was sent down to the GCL Tigers.
NEW CREW MEMBERS ... Lakeland added a pair of players on Friday in activating Aaron Westlake from the disabled list and welcoming the first member of Detroit’s 2013 Draft Class to reach Lakleand, Chad Green from the GCL. Westlake, who had been on the DL from May 29-July 5, played for the GCL Tigers since being activated, batting .182 in six games. Green was Detroit’s 10th round pick in this year’s draft out of the University of Louisville where he was 10-4 with a 2.42 ERA in 18 starts for the Cardinals. He was 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in two starts for the GCL Tigers. To make room on the roster, Jared Reaves was sent to West Michigan and Hudson Randall was placed on the DL.
WHITHER THE HOMER ... No Flying Tiger has hit a home run since Steven Moya went deep on June 29 in the first inning of the first of a doubleheader against Brevard County. That is the only homer for Lakeland in the last 14 games.
THE SKIPPER ... Manager Dave Huppert, a member of the 2012 Florida State League Hall of Fame Class, is in his 25th season as a minor league manager and is the active winningest manager in the minors with a 1,782-1,632 record entering the Fort Myers 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 (Brewers) to a co-championship while his 2007 Clearwater (Phillies) squad won the crown outright. In addition, he coached the Lakewood Blue Claws (Phillies) to the 2006 South Atlantic League title.
PEREZ HEADS BACK TO THE SHOW ... Last season, Hernan Perez got a sip of coffee with Detroit in the big leagues, getting a call-up from Lakeland for a pair of games. The former Flying Tigers’ second baseman was brought back to the parent club on Tuesday to fill in when Omar Infante was placed on the disabled list. Perez was hitting .300 with 28 doubles, four homers and 24 stolen bases at AA Erie at the time of his promotion.
BRIGHT FUTURE? ... Don’t look now, but the Gulf Coast League Tigers have one of the best records in the minor leagues right now. Through their first 13 games, the GCL club has an impressive 10-3 record and sports a .769 winning percentage – third best in the minors.
ORGANIZATION NOTES ... Lakeland’s Devon Travis has a combined .356 average in his 86 games with West Michigan and Lakeland. That total is best among full season players in the Detroit organization. Lakeland’s Jose Valdez has a combined 20 saves with the WhiteCaps and Flying Tigers - a total that is tops in the organization. Wilsen Palacios’ FSL leading 80 strikeouts is third best among Detroit minor leaguers. Former Lakeland players, Tyler Collins, Ben Guez and Jordan Lennerton are all tied with 13 home runs, second most in the organization while Nick Castellanos is next with 11. Drew VerHagen’s combined ERA of 2.47 with Lakeland and Erie, is tops among full season Detroit minor leaguers.
UP NEXT ... Lakeland returns to Joker Marchant Stadium to host Palm Beach in a four-game series July 17-20.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Mission Notes vs. Daytona (July 9-11)
THE SERIES ... All three games of this series will be played in Lakeland at Joker Marchant Stadium. Games one and two of this on Tuesday and Wednesday will get underway at 6:30 pm. The series finale is Thursday at 10:30 am as the Flying Tigers host area summer campers in Parks and Recreation Day.
THE FLYING TIGERS (35-48; 5-10, 6th, 5.5 GB) ... Lakeland was swept in a doubleheader by Clearwater on Monday, falling 5-3 and 1-0 in a pair of seven-inning contests. The Threshers took three of four in the series from the Flying Tigers, which are now 4-5 the last nine games. Lakeland has been shutout in three of its last six games and has been held scoreless seven times this season while posting three shutouts as a team. Kyle Ryan is ninth in the Florida State League with a 3.18 ERA. His eight wins is tied with three others for most in the league and he is tied for four others with the league-lead with 17 games started while his 102.0 innings pitched is second most in the league. Wilsen Palacios has 80 strikeouts and is tied for the FSL lead with Hoby Milner of Clearwater. Jason Krizan remains the fifth toughest batter to strike out in the league with 9.31 total plate appearances per strikeout. Flying Tigers pitchers have posted a 2.03 ERA in the last four games – second best earned run average for the month among Florida State League teams.
THE CUBS (46-36; 11-5, 1st, 2.0 game lead) ... Daytona’s Matt Loosen no-hit Dunedin on Monday as the Cubs blanked the Blue Jays 7-0. Loosen struck out nine in tossing the first nine-inning no-hitter in 17 years for the Cubs and the first in the Florida State League since Chris Corrigan of Palm Beach no-hit Charlotte on Aug. 29, 2012. The Cubs, which have posted a 12-3 record since June 18, has been on this tear without some of the their top players that have since been promoted: John Andreoli (6th in the FSL at .318, third with 23 stolen bases, and fifth with a .394 on-base percentage); Javier Baez (FSL-best 58 runs scored, tied for FSL lead with 17 homers, fourth with a .535 slugging percentage, and tied for fourth with 57 RBI); and John Berti (FSL-best 37 stolen bases). Dustin Geiger is still with the team and is second in the league with 65 RBI and tied for third with 86 hits. Clearwater has won nine games by shutout this season and has been blanked just once.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
7/09 - RHP Jeff Ferrell (3-5, 3.52) ... Ferrell worked a season-high 7.1 innings on June 29 against Brevard County and held the Manatees to three runs on seven hits, but did not factor into the decision. He is 0-1 with a 3.72 ERA his last three starts after having back-to-back scoreless outings for a pair of wins. Ferrell is 0-2 with a 5.74 in three previous starts against Daytona.
7/10 - RHP Hudson Randall (1-8, 6.94) ... Brevard County jumped on Randall for six runs and six hits in 1.2 innings in a suspended start on June 30. He has lost his last three starts after allowing 23 hits and 18 earned runs for a 13.89 ERA. In his three prior starts, Randall did not give up an earned run. He is 0-2 versus Daytona with a 8.31 ERA after allowing four runs in each of his two previous starts against the Cubs.
7/11 - RHP Tommy Collier (0-1, 7.07) ... Collier was activated off the disabled list on July 6 and wasted no time getting back into the rotation, making his first start since April 15 that evening. Taking the hill at Clearwater, he gave up just one run and four hits in 4.0 innings, but took the loss as Lakeland was shutout. He has not faced Daytona previously.
SEASON SERIES ... To say the Cubs have the Flying Tigers’ number is an understatement as Daytona holds a 12-3 advantage in the series and has outscored Lakeland 81-56 in the 15 games. Daytona has batted .291 in the series while the Cubs’ pitching has limited Lakeland to .217 at the plate. The Cubs won eight of the first nine games and four of the last six.
MIGHTY MARTINEZ ... Francisco Martinez has hits in four consecutive games and is 6x14 (.429) in those games with two doubles and three runs batted in.
ONE AT A TIME ... Jeff McVaney has picked up one hit in each of his last nine games and is 9x32 (.281) during the streak. McVaney leads the team with 38 runs scored, 81 hits, 16 doubles, five triples, 33 runs batted in, 122 total bases and 11 stolen bases. He is tied with Steven Moya for the team lead with five home runs.
CLAWLESS ... Lakeland managed just seven hits in the Monday doubleheader loss to Clearwater and has scored just 11 runs in the last six games. The Flying Tigers have gone 36x174 at the plate for a .207 average in those six games ... Tyler Hanover is 2x27 (.074) his last eight games ... Corey Jones is 5x31 (.161) his last 10 games ... Jason Krizan singled on Monday to snap a 0x14 streak and is now 1x17 (.059) his last six games ... Steven Moya is 0x10 the last three games and 1x19 (.053) the last five games ... John Murrian is 0x12 the last four games and 3x29 (.103) in his last nine games played.
PERFECT ARM ... Joe Rogers has not allowed a run in his last four outings (5.2 innings) and zero earned runs all season (6.2 innings).
BACK AT IT ... Brennan Smith did not allow an earned run in his first three appearances. He was then was tagged for 12 runs in 2.0 innings over his next three outings, but has come back with 4.0 shutout frames over his last two games.
IN THE GROOVE ... Closer Jose Valdez is 1-0 with two saves in his last three games with a 2.25 ERA allowing just one run and one hit with seven strikeouts and one walk in those three appearances.
THE SKIPPER ... Manager Dave Huppert, a member of the 2012 Florida State League Hall of Fame Class, is in his 25th season as a minor league manager and is the active winningest manager in the minors with a 1,780-1,631 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 (Brewers) to a co-championship while his 2007 Clearwater (Phillies) squad won the crown outright. In addition, he coached the Lakewood Blue Claws (Phillies) to the 2006 South Atlantic League title.
GARCIA HITS FOR THE CYCLE ... Former Flying Tiger Avisail Garcia tripled in last at bat on July to become the first Toledo Mud Hen player to hit for the cycle since Ryan Raburn accomplished the rare feat in 2007. Garcia doubled in his first at bat and led off the third inning with a homer to center field. He singled in the fifth frame and then struck out in the seventh inning. Garcia then capped his night with a triple to center field to score a pair of runs in the eighth. The former Lakeland rightfielder finished 4x5 on the night with four runs scored and three RBI.
VerHAGEN PICKS UP EL HONOR ... Another former Flying Tiger, Drew VerHagen, now playing for the Erie SeaWolves, was named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Week for July 1-7. The 6’6” righty, was 2-0 for the week and tossed 17 scoreless innings – the final nine coming in a shutout victory on July 6 at Altoona. He struck out six versus the Curve and walked just one. In both of his starts, he allowed three hits in each. VerHagen is 2-2 with a 1.65 ERA in four starts at Erie since his promotion from Lakeland.
UP NEXT ... Lakeland hits the road for a four-game set against the Miracle in Ft. Myers on July 12-15. The next Flying Tigers home series is July 17-20 against the Palm Beach Cardinals.
THE ORGANIZATION ... Detroit (49-39, 1st place) ... Toledo (39-54) ... Erie (46-42) ... Lakeland (35-48) ... West Michigan (41-47) ... Connecticut (6-15) ... GCL Tigers (8-2).
THE FLYING TIGERS (35-48; 5-10, 6th, 5.5 GB) ... Lakeland was swept in a doubleheader by Clearwater on Monday, falling 5-3 and 1-0 in a pair of seven-inning contests. The Threshers took three of four in the series from the Flying Tigers, which are now 4-5 the last nine games. Lakeland has been shutout in three of its last six games and has been held scoreless seven times this season while posting three shutouts as a team. Kyle Ryan is ninth in the Florida State League with a 3.18 ERA. His eight wins is tied with three others for most in the league and he is tied for four others with the league-lead with 17 games started while his 102.0 innings pitched is second most in the league. Wilsen Palacios has 80 strikeouts and is tied for the FSL lead with Hoby Milner of Clearwater. Jason Krizan remains the fifth toughest batter to strike out in the league with 9.31 total plate appearances per strikeout. Flying Tigers pitchers have posted a 2.03 ERA in the last four games – second best earned run average for the month among Florida State League teams.
THE CUBS (46-36; 11-5, 1st, 2.0 game lead) ... Daytona’s Matt Loosen no-hit Dunedin on Monday as the Cubs blanked the Blue Jays 7-0. Loosen struck out nine in tossing the first nine-inning no-hitter in 17 years for the Cubs and the first in the Florida State League since Chris Corrigan of Palm Beach no-hit Charlotte on Aug. 29, 2012. The Cubs, which have posted a 12-3 record since June 18, has been on this tear without some of the their top players that have since been promoted: John Andreoli (6th in the FSL at .318, third with 23 stolen bases, and fifth with a .394 on-base percentage); Javier Baez (FSL-best 58 runs scored, tied for FSL lead with 17 homers, fourth with a .535 slugging percentage, and tied for fourth with 57 RBI); and John Berti (FSL-best 37 stolen bases). Dustin Geiger is still with the team and is second in the league with 65 RBI and tied for third with 86 hits. Clearwater has won nine games by shutout this season and has been blanked just once.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
7/09 - RHP Jeff Ferrell (3-5, 3.52) ... Ferrell worked a season-high 7.1 innings on June 29 against Brevard County and held the Manatees to three runs on seven hits, but did not factor into the decision. He is 0-1 with a 3.72 ERA his last three starts after having back-to-back scoreless outings for a pair of wins. Ferrell is 0-2 with a 5.74 in three previous starts against Daytona.
7/10 - RHP Hudson Randall (1-8, 6.94) ... Brevard County jumped on Randall for six runs and six hits in 1.2 innings in a suspended start on June 30. He has lost his last three starts after allowing 23 hits and 18 earned runs for a 13.89 ERA. In his three prior starts, Randall did not give up an earned run. He is 0-2 versus Daytona with a 8.31 ERA after allowing four runs in each of his two previous starts against the Cubs.
7/11 - RHP Tommy Collier (0-1, 7.07) ... Collier was activated off the disabled list on July 6 and wasted no time getting back into the rotation, making his first start since April 15 that evening. Taking the hill at Clearwater, he gave up just one run and four hits in 4.0 innings, but took the loss as Lakeland was shutout. He has not faced Daytona previously.
SEASON SERIES ... To say the Cubs have the Flying Tigers’ number is an understatement as Daytona holds a 12-3 advantage in the series and has outscored Lakeland 81-56 in the 15 games. Daytona has batted .291 in the series while the Cubs’ pitching has limited Lakeland to .217 at the plate. The Cubs won eight of the first nine games and four of the last six.
MIGHTY MARTINEZ ... Francisco Martinez has hits in four consecutive games and is 6x14 (.429) in those games with two doubles and three runs batted in.
ONE AT A TIME ... Jeff McVaney has picked up one hit in each of his last nine games and is 9x32 (.281) during the streak. McVaney leads the team with 38 runs scored, 81 hits, 16 doubles, five triples, 33 runs batted in, 122 total bases and 11 stolen bases. He is tied with Steven Moya for the team lead with five home runs.
CLAWLESS ... Lakeland managed just seven hits in the Monday doubleheader loss to Clearwater and has scored just 11 runs in the last six games. The Flying Tigers have gone 36x174 at the plate for a .207 average in those six games ... Tyler Hanover is 2x27 (.074) his last eight games ... Corey Jones is 5x31 (.161) his last 10 games ... Jason Krizan singled on Monday to snap a 0x14 streak and is now 1x17 (.059) his last six games ... Steven Moya is 0x10 the last three games and 1x19 (.053) the last five games ... John Murrian is 0x12 the last four games and 3x29 (.103) in his last nine games played.
PERFECT ARM ... Joe Rogers has not allowed a run in his last four outings (5.2 innings) and zero earned runs all season (6.2 innings).
BACK AT IT ... Brennan Smith did not allow an earned run in his first three appearances. He was then was tagged for 12 runs in 2.0 innings over his next three outings, but has come back with 4.0 shutout frames over his last two games.
IN THE GROOVE ... Closer Jose Valdez is 1-0 with two saves in his last three games with a 2.25 ERA allowing just one run and one hit with seven strikeouts and one walk in those three appearances.
THE SKIPPER ... Manager Dave Huppert, a member of the 2012 Florida State League Hall of Fame Class, is in his 25th season as a minor league manager and is the active winningest manager in the minors with a 1,780-1,631 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 (Brewers) to a co-championship while his 2007 Clearwater (Phillies) squad won the crown outright. In addition, he coached the Lakewood Blue Claws (Phillies) to the 2006 South Atlantic League title.
GARCIA HITS FOR THE CYCLE ... Former Flying Tiger Avisail Garcia tripled in last at bat on July to become the first Toledo Mud Hen player to hit for the cycle since Ryan Raburn accomplished the rare feat in 2007. Garcia doubled in his first at bat and led off the third inning with a homer to center field. He singled in the fifth frame and then struck out in the seventh inning. Garcia then capped his night with a triple to center field to score a pair of runs in the eighth. The former Lakeland rightfielder finished 4x5 on the night with four runs scored and three RBI.
VerHAGEN PICKS UP EL HONOR ... Another former Flying Tiger, Drew VerHagen, now playing for the Erie SeaWolves, was named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Week for July 1-7. The 6’6” righty, was 2-0 for the week and tossed 17 scoreless innings – the final nine coming in a shutout victory on July 6 at Altoona. He struck out six versus the Curve and walked just one. In both of his starts, he allowed three hits in each. VerHagen is 2-2 with a 1.65 ERA in four starts at Erie since his promotion from Lakeland.
UP NEXT ... Lakeland hits the road for a four-game set against the Miracle in Ft. Myers on July 12-15. The next Flying Tigers home series is July 17-20 against the Palm Beach Cardinals.
THE ORGANIZATION ... Detroit (49-39, 1st place) ... Toledo (39-54) ... Erie (46-42) ... Lakeland (35-48) ... West Michigan (41-47) ... Connecticut (6-15) ... GCL Tigers (8-2).
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Mission Notes vs. Clearwater (July 6-8)
THE SERIES ... Games one and two of this series will be played in Clearwater on Saturday, July 6, at 6:30 pm and Sunday, July 7, at 1 pm. The series heads to Lakeland for a doubleheader on Monday, July 8, at 5 pm. The twinbill was necessitated by a June 21 rainout.
THE FLYING TIGERS (34-45; 4-7, T5th, 4.0 GB) ... Lakeland has won three of its last five games, but has played just one contest in the month of July. The lone game was a 3-2 victory on July 3 at Tampa. Drew VerHagen, now at AA Erie, is fourth in the Florida State League with a 2.81 ERA while Kyle Ryan ranks seventh with a 3.03 mark. Ryan, who is second with 98.0 innings pitched, is tied with two other hurlers for the league-lead with eight wins while Wilsen Palacios is tied with Clearwater’s Hoby Milner with a FSL-best 77 strikeouts. Jason Krizan remains ranked in the top five with 9.85 at bats per strikeout. Lakeland, which has scored the fewest runs of any league team, has the second lowest team batting average (.243) in the FSL and has hit the second fewest homers of any squad in the league.
THE THRESHERS (41-39; 6-6, 3rd, 2.5 GB) ... Clearwater got by Dunedin on Friday by a 2-1 score in 11 innings. It was the sixth consecutive game by the Threshers decided by one run and the team is 4-2 in those six contests with three of those four wins coming in extra innings. On Friday, the Threshers welcomed back Cameron Perkins from the disabled list where he been for over a month. The rightfielder, who is second in the league with a .333 average, responded by hitting a walk-off single. Aaron Altherr leads the FSL with 25 doubles; is fourth with 39 extra base hits; fifth with 144 total bases; but has the second most strikeouts (96) among league batters. Carlos Alonso is second in the league with 52 runs scored. Hoby Milner is tied with Lakeland’s Wilsen Palacios for the FSL-lead with 77 strikeouts while Nick Hernandez is third with 74 K’s. The Threshers have the third best team batting average (.267) in the league and have scored the third most runs while hitting 61 homers which is tied for Brevard County for second most in the FSL.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
7/06 - Jeff Ferrell (3-5, 3.52) ... Ferrell worked a season-high 7.1 innings on June 29 against Brevard County and held the Manatees to three runs on seven hits, but did not factor into the decision. He is 0-1 with a 3.72 ERA his last three starts after having back-to-back scoreless outings for a pair of wins. Ferrell has made one previous start against Clearwater, allowing eight hits and four runs with five strikeouts a no-decision on May 11 at Bright House Networks Stadium.
7/07 - Hudson Randall (1-8, 6.94) ... Brevard County jumped on Randall for six runs and six in 1.2 innings in a suspended start on June 30. He has lost his last three starts after allowing 23 hits and 18 earned runs for a 13.89 ERA. In his three prior starts, Randall did not give up an earned run. He has not faced Clearwater this season.
7/08 (GM 1) - RHP Josh Carr (0-2, 4.95) ... Carr took the loss in his last start on June 26 at Dunedin, giving up three runs, two earned, on seven hits in 5.0 innings. He has a 0-0 record and a 6.00 ERA in just three previous home innings and is 0-2 with a 4.76 ERA in four previous road appearances, including three starts. Carr allowed three runs on eight hits in 4.0 innings in his only previous start against the Threshers on June 20.
7/08 (GM 2) - TBA
SEASON SERIES ... Lakeland has won five of the eight games in the series, but all three of Clearwater’s wins have been in the last four meetings. The last match-up was a wild one with the Flying Tigers winning 13-11 behind a pair of homers by Steven Moya and 14 walks by Thresher pitchers.
MOTHER NATURE IN CONTROL ... The Flying Tigers have lost three battles with Mother Nature this month. Lakeland’s game with Brevard County was rained out on July 1 and will be made up as part of a doubleheader on August 20 at 5 pm. After 2:39 of delays in front of an Independence Day crowd, the Flying Tigers took the field to play Tampa. After a walk and a single, the skies once again rained down and play was suspended. An attempt at continuation on July 5 was postponed due to wet grounds. The July 4 suspended game will be picked up on August 17 at 4 pm and played to nine innings with a seven-inning contest to follow. The July 5 rain out will be made up as a doubleheader (both seven-inning games) on August 30 at 5 pm. This all means that three of the final six regular season home dates of the season for Lakeland will be doubleheaders.
HEADED THE OTHER DIRECTION ... From June 12-27, Tyler Hanover put together a 12-game hit streak in which he was 12x37 for a .324 clip. Since then, he is 0x15 in his last four games.
MINI-STREAK ... Jeff McVaney has hit successfully in each of his last five games for a 5x18 (.277) streak. He is batting .325 when playing right field; .229 when in left, and .172 in center.
UPON FURTHER REVIEW ... Jared Reaves’ debut with the Flying Tigers was made a little less brilliant with an official scorer’s decision after the Tampa game at George Steinbrenner Field. Originally, Reaves was credited with a double and three singles in five at bats, but the double was changed to a fielding error after the game, making the second baseman 3x5 with a pair of runs scored in his first mission with Lakeland.
DOUBLE DOWN ... Newcomer Devon Travis was quickly inserted into his first game on June 30 as a pinch-runner when Brandon Loy was hit by a pitch and was unable to continue (later to be placed on the disabled list). Travis doubled in only at bat in that game, but doubled his hit output with a pair of singles in his first start as a Flying Tiger on July 3 at Tampa with a run scored.
TWO-FER FEST STOPPED ... Steven Moya saw his streak of four games with two hits each stopped in his last game and is now 8x21 (.381) his last five games. He is 18x46 (.391) since June 20 with five doubles, a triple, and four homers for 13 runs batted in.
ROSTER MOVES ... Aaron Westlake was activated off the disabled list on July 5 and joins Dixon Machado on a minor league rehab assignment with the Gulf Coast League Tiger. On Saturday, Lakeland activated Tommy Collier off the DL where he had been since April 16. In addition, the club added RHP Montreal Robertson from West Michigan where he was 2-3 with a 4.81 in seven starts. Leaving Lakeland are Matt Davenport who was sent to the GCL and Anibal Sanchez who was recalled by Detroit.
SLICK FIELDERS ... Clearwater has committed the fewest errors of any team in the Florida State League and tops the league with a .982 fielding percentage. Lakeland is the fourth best fielding team in the FSL with 65 errors and a .978 fielding percentage. The Threshers’ Carlos Alonso tops all league second baseman with a 1.000 fielding percentage with zero errors on the season in 315 total fielding chances. Lakeland’s Chad Wright, presently on the disabled list, leads all FSL outfielders with a perfect fielding percentage with no errors in 143 chances.
THE SKIPPER ... Manager Dave Huppert, a member of the 2012 Florida State League Hall of Fame Class, is in his 25th season as a minor league manager and is the active winningest manager in the minors with a 1,779-1,628 record entering the Clearwater 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 (Brewers) to a co-championship while his 2007 Clearwater (Phillies) squad won the crown outright. In addition, he coached the Lakewood Blue Claws (Phillies) to the 2006 South Atlantic League title.
UP NEXT ... Lakeland will host the Daytona Cubs in a three-game series on July 9-11. The first two games on Tuesday and Wednesday are slated for 6:30 pm starts while the series finale on Thursday is at 10:30 am as the Flying Tigers host area summer campers for Parks and Recreation Day.
THE FLYING TIGERS (34-45; 4-7, T5th, 4.0 GB) ... Lakeland has won three of its last five games, but has played just one contest in the month of July. The lone game was a 3-2 victory on July 3 at Tampa. Drew VerHagen, now at AA Erie, is fourth in the Florida State League with a 2.81 ERA while Kyle Ryan ranks seventh with a 3.03 mark. Ryan, who is second with 98.0 innings pitched, is tied with two other hurlers for the league-lead with eight wins while Wilsen Palacios is tied with Clearwater’s Hoby Milner with a FSL-best 77 strikeouts. Jason Krizan remains ranked in the top five with 9.85 at bats per strikeout. Lakeland, which has scored the fewest runs of any league team, has the second lowest team batting average (.243) in the FSL and has hit the second fewest homers of any squad in the league.
THE THRESHERS (41-39; 6-6, 3rd, 2.5 GB) ... Clearwater got by Dunedin on Friday by a 2-1 score in 11 innings. It was the sixth consecutive game by the Threshers decided by one run and the team is 4-2 in those six contests with three of those four wins coming in extra innings. On Friday, the Threshers welcomed back Cameron Perkins from the disabled list where he been for over a month. The rightfielder, who is second in the league with a .333 average, responded by hitting a walk-off single. Aaron Altherr leads the FSL with 25 doubles; is fourth with 39 extra base hits; fifth with 144 total bases; but has the second most strikeouts (96) among league batters. Carlos Alonso is second in the league with 52 runs scored. Hoby Milner is tied with Lakeland’s Wilsen Palacios for the FSL-lead with 77 strikeouts while Nick Hernandez is third with 74 K’s. The Threshers have the third best team batting average (.267) in the league and have scored the third most runs while hitting 61 homers which is tied for Brevard County for second most in the FSL.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
7/06 - Jeff Ferrell (3-5, 3.52) ... Ferrell worked a season-high 7.1 innings on June 29 against Brevard County and held the Manatees to three runs on seven hits, but did not factor into the decision. He is 0-1 with a 3.72 ERA his last three starts after having back-to-back scoreless outings for a pair of wins. Ferrell has made one previous start against Clearwater, allowing eight hits and four runs with five strikeouts a no-decision on May 11 at Bright House Networks Stadium.
7/07 - Hudson Randall (1-8, 6.94) ... Brevard County jumped on Randall for six runs and six in 1.2 innings in a suspended start on June 30. He has lost his last three starts after allowing 23 hits and 18 earned runs for a 13.89 ERA. In his three prior starts, Randall did not give up an earned run. He has not faced Clearwater this season.
7/08 (GM 1) - RHP Josh Carr (0-2, 4.95) ... Carr took the loss in his last start on June 26 at Dunedin, giving up three runs, two earned, on seven hits in 5.0 innings. He has a 0-0 record and a 6.00 ERA in just three previous home innings and is 0-2 with a 4.76 ERA in four previous road appearances, including three starts. Carr allowed three runs on eight hits in 4.0 innings in his only previous start against the Threshers on June 20.
7/08 (GM 2) - TBA
SEASON SERIES ... Lakeland has won five of the eight games in the series, but all three of Clearwater’s wins have been in the last four meetings. The last match-up was a wild one with the Flying Tigers winning 13-11 behind a pair of homers by Steven Moya and 14 walks by Thresher pitchers.
MOTHER NATURE IN CONTROL ... The Flying Tigers have lost three battles with Mother Nature this month. Lakeland’s game with Brevard County was rained out on July 1 and will be made up as part of a doubleheader on August 20 at 5 pm. After 2:39 of delays in front of an Independence Day crowd, the Flying Tigers took the field to play Tampa. After a walk and a single, the skies once again rained down and play was suspended. An attempt at continuation on July 5 was postponed due to wet grounds. The July 4 suspended game will be picked up on August 17 at 4 pm and played to nine innings with a seven-inning contest to follow. The July 5 rain out will be made up as a doubleheader (both seven-inning games) on August 30 at 5 pm. This all means that three of the final six regular season home dates of the season for Lakeland will be doubleheaders.
HEADED THE OTHER DIRECTION ... From June 12-27, Tyler Hanover put together a 12-game hit streak in which he was 12x37 for a .324 clip. Since then, he is 0x15 in his last four games.
MINI-STREAK ... Jeff McVaney has hit successfully in each of his last five games for a 5x18 (.277) streak. He is batting .325 when playing right field; .229 when in left, and .172 in center.
UPON FURTHER REVIEW ... Jared Reaves’ debut with the Flying Tigers was made a little less brilliant with an official scorer’s decision after the Tampa game at George Steinbrenner Field. Originally, Reaves was credited with a double and three singles in five at bats, but the double was changed to a fielding error after the game, making the second baseman 3x5 with a pair of runs scored in his first mission with Lakeland.
DOUBLE DOWN ... Newcomer Devon Travis was quickly inserted into his first game on June 30 as a pinch-runner when Brandon Loy was hit by a pitch and was unable to continue (later to be placed on the disabled list). Travis doubled in only at bat in that game, but doubled his hit output with a pair of singles in his first start as a Flying Tiger on July 3 at Tampa with a run scored.
TWO-FER FEST STOPPED ... Steven Moya saw his streak of four games with two hits each stopped in his last game and is now 8x21 (.381) his last five games. He is 18x46 (.391) since June 20 with five doubles, a triple, and four homers for 13 runs batted in.
ROSTER MOVES ... Aaron Westlake was activated off the disabled list on July 5 and joins Dixon Machado on a minor league rehab assignment with the Gulf Coast League Tiger. On Saturday, Lakeland activated Tommy Collier off the DL where he had been since April 16. In addition, the club added RHP Montreal Robertson from West Michigan where he was 2-3 with a 4.81 in seven starts. Leaving Lakeland are Matt Davenport who was sent to the GCL and Anibal Sanchez who was recalled by Detroit.
SLICK FIELDERS ... Clearwater has committed the fewest errors of any team in the Florida State League and tops the league with a .982 fielding percentage. Lakeland is the fourth best fielding team in the FSL with 65 errors and a .978 fielding percentage. The Threshers’ Carlos Alonso tops all league second baseman with a 1.000 fielding percentage with zero errors on the season in 315 total fielding chances. Lakeland’s Chad Wright, presently on the disabled list, leads all FSL outfielders with a perfect fielding percentage with no errors in 143 chances.
THE SKIPPER ... Manager Dave Huppert, a member of the 2012 Florida State League Hall of Fame Class, is in his 25th season as a minor league manager and is the active winningest manager in the minors with a 1,779-1,628 record entering the Clearwater 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 (Brewers) to a co-championship while his 2007 Clearwater (Phillies) squad won the crown outright. In addition, he coached the Lakewood Blue Claws (Phillies) to the 2006 South Atlantic League title.
UP NEXT ... Lakeland will host the Daytona Cubs in a three-game series on July 9-11. The first two games on Tuesday and Wednesday are slated for 6:30 pm starts while the series finale on Thursday is at 10:30 am as the Flying Tigers host area summer campers for Parks and Recreation Day.
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Mission Notes vs. Tampa (July 3-5)
THE SERIES ... Game one of this series is slated for Wednesday, July 3 at Tampa at 7 pm. Games two and three are in Lakeland July 4-5. The Independence Day Game is scheduled for 5 pm with the series final Friday, July 5 at 7:11 p.m.
THE FLYING TIGERS (33-45; 3-7, 6th, 4.0 GB) ... Lakeland has split its last four games, but is 3-11 dating back to June 13. Jeff McVaney has played the second most games (78) of any Florida State League player and is second with 302 at bats on the season while Jason Krizan remains in the top five with 9.69 plate appearances per strikeouts. Kyle Ryan has moved into the top ten in the league with a 3.23 ERA and is tied for eight others for second most with seven victories. He is also second in the league with 92.0 innings pitched. Wilsen Palacios is tied for the FSL-league with 77 strikeouts and fifth with 8.54 strikeouts per nine innings.
THE YANKEES (33-45; 5-5, 3rd, 2.0 GB) ... Tampa has lost two straight and three of its last four games and had the last two regularly scheduled games rained out. Brian Gamel, who is 8x17 his last four games, is fifth in the FSL with 22 runs batted in while Bryan Mitchell is fifth with 85.1 innings pitched and Corey Black is third with a .229 opponents batting average. Black leads the FSL starters with 10.21 strikeouts per nine innings. The Yankees have scored the fifth most runs in the league, but have allowed the second most runs.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
7/01 - RHP Josh Carr (0-2, 4.95) ... Carr was tagged with the loss in his last start on June 26 at Dunedin, giving up three runs, two earned, on seven hits in 5.0 innings. He has a 0-0 record and a 6.00 ERA in just three previous home innings and is 0-2 with a 4.76 ERA in four previous road appearances, including three starts. Carr lost to the Yankees in his first start as a Flying Tiger on June 2 in Tampa. He allowed four runs on seven hits in that game with one strikeout and three walks.
7/02 - LHP Kyle Ryan (7-5, 3.23) ... Ryan tossed 6.0 shutouts innings on June 27 at Dunedin to get the win, blanking the Blue Jays on seven hits with five strikeouts and one walk. The game was his third scoreless start this season or six or more innings. He is 2-1 with a 2.16 ERA in three starts versus the Yankees and is 4-1 with a 2.94 ERA in his last seven starts overall. Ryan is 3-1 with a 2.98 in seven home starts and 4-4 with a 3.44 ERA in eight road games.
7/03 - RHP Wilsen Palacios (3-6, 3.90) ... Palacios took the loss in his last start on June 28 at Dunedin despite holding the Blue Jays to three run seven hits with six strikeouts and one walk. He has allowed three runs in each of his last two starts (both losses) after allowing just four earned runs total in his four previous starts (0-1). Palacios is 2-3 with a 2.70 ERA in his last eight starts.
SEASON SERIES ... The Flying Tigers have won six of the ten games played despite being outscored in the series, 32-29. Five games in the series have been decided by two or fewer runs. Lakeland has won six of the last eight games played in the series after Tampa took the opening two outings. The Flying Tigers are 2-3 in Tampa and 4-1 against the Yankees at Joker Marchant Stadium.
NEW YANKS ... Of their 14 position players on the Yankees roster, over a third of them (5 of 14) have played less than ten games for Tampa.
ROSTER MOVES ... The front office door to Joker Marchant Stadium must be a revolving one with all the activity in the past week. Lakeland added two new players over the weekend as Devon Travis joined the club from West Michigan and Rashad Brown came up from the Gulf Coast League. Travis, a 13th round pick in 2012 out of FSU, was the MVP of the Midwest League All-Star game and was batting .352 for the Whitecaps with six homers and 42 RBI. Brown, a 26th round pick in 2012 out of high school, was batting .381 in five games in the Gulf Coast League. Meanwhile on Monday, Detroit hurler Anibal Sanchez joined the club on a rehab assignment (see following note). Then, on Tuesday, Lakeland added Jared Reaves, who has named to the New York-Penn League Midseason All-Star Team a year ago, from West Michigan. Roster spots were created when Chad Wright and Brandon Loy were placed on the disabled list and Harold Castro was sent to West Michigan. The fun continued on Wednesday as Luis Sanz rejoined the club from Erie; Drew Longley was sent back to the GCL; and Dixon Machado came off the disabled list to begin a Minor League rehab assignment with Lakeland.
SANCHEZ JOINS CLUB ON REHAB ... Detroit starter Anibal Sanchez has joined the Lakeland club on a Major League rehab assignment. Sanchez has not pitched for Detroit since June 15 due to a right shoulder sprain. His stay in Lakeland was expected to be a short one, but may now be extended after he left his first appearance on July 1 for the Flying Tigers after 23 pitches when he took a line-drive off his left leg during a 23-pitch stint for Lakeland on July 1.
DEUCES WILD ... Steven Moya has had two hits in each of his last four games for an 8x16 streak with two doubles, a triple and a homer for five runs batted in and two runs scored. Dating back to June 20, Moya is 18x41 (.439) with five doubles, a triple, four homers and 13 RBI with another eight runs scored. He has a .477 on-base percentage and a .902 slugging percentage during those ten games.
WELCOME TO THE CLUB ... Devon Travis joined Lakeland on Monday from West Michigan and was quickly inserted into the action as a pinch-runner when Brandon Loy was hit with a pitch in the third inning and had to leave the game (and later placed on the disabled list). His first at bat as a Flying Tiger came in the fifth and he doubled to center.
ANOTHER FINE DEBUT ... Rashad Brown walked across the tarmac on June 29 to join Lakeland from the Gulf Coast League and then promptly singled in his first at bat as a Flying Tiger. He also singled in the ninth to finish 2x5 on the night with a walk.
DL LIST GROWS BY TWO ... Chad Wright was placed on the disabled list for Lakeland on July 1, retroactive to June 29, where he joined six other Flying Tigers players. Later that night, Brandon Loy was hit by a pitch either in the hand or wrist and left the game only to join Wright and the others on the DL. Lakeland now has seven players on the disabled list while five others have spent time on the list this season.
BIG FOURTH CROWD? ... The Fourth of July crowd is traditionally one of the largest of the year for Lakeland, but the players may have stage fright. This season, Lakeland is 3-8 in games in which it plays in front of crowds of 1,000 or more. Last season, the Flying Tigers had 17 crowds in excess of 1,000 and posted a 10-7 mark. In 2011, Lakeland was 4-12, giving the club a 17-27 record in front of large crowds the last three years.
THE SKIPPER ... Manager Dave Huppert, a member of the 2012 Florida State League Hall of Fame Class, is in his 25th season as a minor league manager and is the active winningest manager in the minors with a 1,778-1,628 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 (Brewers) to a co-championship while his 2007 Clearwater (Phillies) squad won the crown outright. In addition, he coached the Lakewood Blue Claws (Phillies) to the 2006 South Atlantic League title.
UP NEXT ... Following the Tampa series, Lakeland plays two games in Clearwater on July 6-7 before returning to Joker Marchant Stadium on Monday, July 8 for a doubleheader against the Threshers. The twin bill is a make of a rained-out game from June 21.
THE FLYING TIGERS (33-45; 3-7, 6th, 4.0 GB) ... Lakeland has split its last four games, but is 3-11 dating back to June 13. Jeff McVaney has played the second most games (78) of any Florida State League player and is second with 302 at bats on the season while Jason Krizan remains in the top five with 9.69 plate appearances per strikeouts. Kyle Ryan has moved into the top ten in the league with a 3.23 ERA and is tied for eight others for second most with seven victories. He is also second in the league with 92.0 innings pitched. Wilsen Palacios is tied for the FSL-league with 77 strikeouts and fifth with 8.54 strikeouts per nine innings.
THE YANKEES (33-45; 5-5, 3rd, 2.0 GB) ... Tampa has lost two straight and three of its last four games and had the last two regularly scheduled games rained out. Brian Gamel, who is 8x17 his last four games, is fifth in the FSL with 22 runs batted in while Bryan Mitchell is fifth with 85.1 innings pitched and Corey Black is third with a .229 opponents batting average. Black leads the FSL starters with 10.21 strikeouts per nine innings. The Yankees have scored the fifth most runs in the league, but have allowed the second most runs.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
7/01 - RHP Josh Carr (0-2, 4.95) ... Carr was tagged with the loss in his last start on June 26 at Dunedin, giving up three runs, two earned, on seven hits in 5.0 innings. He has a 0-0 record and a 6.00 ERA in just three previous home innings and is 0-2 with a 4.76 ERA in four previous road appearances, including three starts. Carr lost to the Yankees in his first start as a Flying Tiger on June 2 in Tampa. He allowed four runs on seven hits in that game with one strikeout and three walks.
7/02 - LHP Kyle Ryan (7-5, 3.23) ... Ryan tossed 6.0 shutouts innings on June 27 at Dunedin to get the win, blanking the Blue Jays on seven hits with five strikeouts and one walk. The game was his third scoreless start this season or six or more innings. He is 2-1 with a 2.16 ERA in three starts versus the Yankees and is 4-1 with a 2.94 ERA in his last seven starts overall. Ryan is 3-1 with a 2.98 in seven home starts and 4-4 with a 3.44 ERA in eight road games.
7/03 - RHP Wilsen Palacios (3-6, 3.90) ... Palacios took the loss in his last start on June 28 at Dunedin despite holding the Blue Jays to three run seven hits with six strikeouts and one walk. He has allowed three runs in each of his last two starts (both losses) after allowing just four earned runs total in his four previous starts (0-1). Palacios is 2-3 with a 2.70 ERA in his last eight starts.
SEASON SERIES ... The Flying Tigers have won six of the ten games played despite being outscored in the series, 32-29. Five games in the series have been decided by two or fewer runs. Lakeland has won six of the last eight games played in the series after Tampa took the opening two outings. The Flying Tigers are 2-3 in Tampa and 4-1 against the Yankees at Joker Marchant Stadium.
NEW YANKS ... Of their 14 position players on the Yankees roster, over a third of them (5 of 14) have played less than ten games for Tampa.
ROSTER MOVES ... The front office door to Joker Marchant Stadium must be a revolving one with all the activity in the past week. Lakeland added two new players over the weekend as Devon Travis joined the club from West Michigan and Rashad Brown came up from the Gulf Coast League. Travis, a 13th round pick in 2012 out of FSU, was the MVP of the Midwest League All-Star game and was batting .352 for the Whitecaps with six homers and 42 RBI. Brown, a 26th round pick in 2012 out of high school, was batting .381 in five games in the Gulf Coast League. Meanwhile on Monday, Detroit hurler Anibal Sanchez joined the club on a rehab assignment (see following note). Then, on Tuesday, Lakeland added Jared Reaves, who has named to the New York-Penn League Midseason All-Star Team a year ago, from West Michigan. Roster spots were created when Chad Wright and Brandon Loy were placed on the disabled list and Harold Castro was sent to West Michigan. The fun continued on Wednesday as Luis Sanz rejoined the club from Erie; Drew Longley was sent back to the GCL; and Dixon Machado came off the disabled list to begin a Minor League rehab assignment with Lakeland.
SANCHEZ JOINS CLUB ON REHAB ... Detroit starter Anibal Sanchez has joined the Lakeland club on a Major League rehab assignment. Sanchez has not pitched for Detroit since June 15 due to a right shoulder sprain. His stay in Lakeland was expected to be a short one, but may now be extended after he left his first appearance on July 1 for the Flying Tigers after 23 pitches when he took a line-drive off his left leg during a 23-pitch stint for Lakeland on July 1.
DEUCES WILD ... Steven Moya has had two hits in each of his last four games for an 8x16 streak with two doubles, a triple and a homer for five runs batted in and two runs scored. Dating back to June 20, Moya is 18x41 (.439) with five doubles, a triple, four homers and 13 RBI with another eight runs scored. He has a .477 on-base percentage and a .902 slugging percentage during those ten games.
WELCOME TO THE CLUB ... Devon Travis joined Lakeland on Monday from West Michigan and was quickly inserted into the action as a pinch-runner when Brandon Loy was hit with a pitch in the third inning and had to leave the game (and later placed on the disabled list). His first at bat as a Flying Tiger came in the fifth and he doubled to center.
ANOTHER FINE DEBUT ... Rashad Brown walked across the tarmac on June 29 to join Lakeland from the Gulf Coast League and then promptly singled in his first at bat as a Flying Tiger. He also singled in the ninth to finish 2x5 on the night with a walk.
DL LIST GROWS BY TWO ... Chad Wright was placed on the disabled list for Lakeland on July 1, retroactive to June 29, where he joined six other Flying Tigers players. Later that night, Brandon Loy was hit by a pitch either in the hand or wrist and left the game only to join Wright and the others on the DL. Lakeland now has seven players on the disabled list while five others have spent time on the list this season.
BIG FOURTH CROWD? ... The Fourth of July crowd is traditionally one of the largest of the year for Lakeland, but the players may have stage fright. This season, Lakeland is 3-8 in games in which it plays in front of crowds of 1,000 or more. Last season, the Flying Tigers had 17 crowds in excess of 1,000 and posted a 10-7 mark. In 2011, Lakeland was 4-12, giving the club a 17-27 record in front of large crowds the last three years.
THE SKIPPER ... Manager Dave Huppert, a member of the 2012 Florida State League Hall of Fame Class, is in his 25th season as a minor league manager and is the active winningest manager in the minors with a 1,778-1,628 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 (Brewers) to a co-championship while his 2007 Clearwater (Phillies) squad won the crown outright. In addition, he coached the Lakewood Blue Claws (Phillies) to the 2006 South Atlantic League title.
UP NEXT ... Following the Tampa series, Lakeland plays two games in Clearwater on July 6-7 before returning to Joker Marchant Stadium on Monday, July 8 for a doubleheader against the Threshers. The twin bill is a make of a rained-out game from June 21.
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