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.
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