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.
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