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).
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