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.
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