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.
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