THE SERIES ... This four-game series takes place at Space Coast Stadium in Viera and opens with a 5 p.m. doubleheader on Monday, Aug 26. The twinbill was forced when a game, originally scheduled for Aug. 21 in Lakeland, was rained out. The next two nights are single games at 6:35 p.m. on Aug. 27-28. Weather permitting Lakeland will play 10 games in the next seven days.
THE FLYING TIGERS (57-65, 27-27, 3rd, 7.0 GB) ... Lakeland lost its last two games to Clearwater over the weekend after winning 5-1 on Friday night. The Flying Tigers have been in the win column just three times in the last 11 games and have dropped to third place, 1/2 game behind second place Clearwater and 7.0 games behind Daytona with 10 games to play. Two of Lakeland’s last three losses have come in extra innings, including a 5-4 loss to Clearwater on Sunday. Three Lakeland hitters rank in the top ten in the Florida State League in Aaron Westlake (6th, .288); Jason Krizan (7th, .285); and Chad Wright (9th, .282). Krizan also ranks fifth with a .381 slugging percentage and is the second toughest to strike out with 10.49 total plate appearances per whiff. The Flying Tigers also have three pitchers in the top ten in ERA in Kyle Ryan (5th, 3.16) while Wilsen Palacios and Jeff Ferrell are tied for 9th with identical 3.46 earned run averages. Ryan is tied for second with 11 wins and is fifth with 134.0 innings and Palacios is fifth with 100 Ks.
THE MANATEES (64-62, 27-32, 4th, 9.5 GB) ... Brevard County dropped a 6-5 decision to Dunedin on Sunday, but won the first two games by a combined 11-2 score to take the series. The Manatees have won three of the last four and are 6-4 the last 10 games. Cameron Garfield is 9x19 (.474) his last five games. Nick Ramirez remains tied for second in the FSL with 18 homers, but hasn’t gone deep since July 14. He also ranks fourth with 75 runs batted in and is tied for fourth with 122 base hits and 206 total bases. Unfortunately, he has struck out a league-high 161 times. On the mound, Jacob Barnes ranks fourth in the FSL with a 3.02 ERA while Brent Suter is 7th with a 3.40 mark. Closer Tommy Toledo is tied for second with 18 saves.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
8/26 (GM 1) - RHP Wilsen Palacios (6-8, 3.46 ERA) ... Palacios held Tampa to one run on one hit in 5.0 innings in his last start on Aug. 18. It was his 13th consecutive start holding an opponent to three runs or fewer. He has 23 strikeouts in his last 36.2 innings, but has also walked 14 batters over that span.
8/26 (GM 2) - RHP Patrick Cooper (2-1, 2.95 ERA) ... Cooper threw five shutout innings in his last start, holding Brevard County to five hits with a pair of strikeouts in the first game of a doubleheader on Aug. 20. He is 2-1 with a 3.52 ERA in three starts for Lakeland.
8/27 - RHP - Kevin Eichhorn (2-5, 3.52 ERA) ... Eichhorn limited Brevard County to two runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and a pair of walks in his last start in the second game of the Aug. 20 doubleheader. He is 1-1 with a 3.32 ERA his last five outings, including four starts.
8/28 - RHP - Tommy Collier (3-3, 4.42 ERA) ... Collier picked up a win on Aug. 23 at Clearwater, allowing one run on nine hits and four strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work. He had also given up nine hits in his previous star on Aug. 16 which Tampa turned into six runs to hand Collier his only loss since July 17.
SEASON SERIES ... The two teams split a doubleheader on Aug. 20 in Lakeland with the Flying Tigers winning the opener 4-3 in seven innings while the Manatees took the nightcap 3-2 in nine innings. Brevard County won eight of the first nine meetings in the series and has won 10 of the 13 overall. The Manatees have outscored the Flying Tigers by a 62-39 margin and have hit 11 homers in the series as compared to three by Lakeland.
GOING STRONG ... Aaron Westlake brings a five-game win streak into this season in which he is 8x17 (.471) with three runs scored, five doubles and five runs batted in during that stretch. He is abusing righties for a .328 average, five homers and 49 RBI while left-handers are limited the Flying Tigers’ first baseman to a .182 mark with one homer and 10 RBI.
TRACKING TRAVIS ... Devon Travis, who is just 6x38 (.158) his last 11 games, has dropped to ninth in the minors with a combined .346 average in his games played at West Michigan and Lakeland. He is tied for second in all of Class A ball, trailing Rosell Herrera of Ashland who is batting .348 on the year.
NOT CROSSING THE DISH .... Throwing out a 14-run explosion on Aug. 15, Lakeland is averaging just 2.5 runs per game since Aug. 11. However, the Flying Tigers opponents have averaged just 3.5 runs over the same stretch. Lakeland starting pitching has been a big reason opponents have not scored as the staff has posted a 2.12 ERA the last seven games.
LOW SCORES ... Brevard County has scored the fewest runs (483) of any team in the Florida State League, but has hit the second most homers in the league (78 – Fort Myers leads the FSL with 93 round trippers). The Manatees also have the lowest team batting average (.242) of the 12 teams in the league. Lakeland, which has scored the third fewest runs (499), has also hit the second fewest home runs in the FSL (only Jupiter has more homer futility with just 40 dingers). The Flying Tigers team batting average of .255 is sixth best in the Florida State League.
THE GREEN MACHINE IS BACK ... Dean Green returned to the Lakeland roster on Aug. 24 for the first time since being placed on the disabled list (DL) on April 24. Green, who was hitting .333 in 18 games with Lakeland before getting hurt, was assigned to the Gulf Coast League Tigers on July 15 on a minor league rehab assignment and then sent to West Michigan on July 24 when he batted .280 with five homers and 28 RBI in 28 games before his promotion back to Lakeland. In his first action back, Green went 2x4 with two runs scored on Sunday at Clearwater. An opening on the Flying Tiger roster was created when shortstop Dixon Machado was placed back on the DL.
WRIGHT ON INACTIVE LIST ... Outfielder Chad Wright was placed on the Temporary Inactive List on Monday (retroactive to Aug. 25).
THE SKIPPER ... Manager Dave Huppert, a member of the 2012 FSL Hall of Fame Class, is in his 26th season as a minor league manager and is the active winningest manager in the minors with a 1,802-1,658 record entering the Brevard County series. He is just the 21st minor league manager to record 1800 or more wins. 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 closes out the 2013 regular season with six games against Tampa in four days. The series opens on Thursday, Aug. 29 with a single game in Tampa at 12 p.m. and then heads to Lakeland for doubleheaders on Aug. 30 (5 p.m.) and Aug. 31 (4 p.m.) before returning to Tampa for the regular season finale on Sunday, Sept. 1 at 1 p.m.
GLAD THEY’RE GONE ... Lakeland fans may recall the name Javier Baez from his days of hitting .305 with a homer and eight RBI in 15 games against the Flying Tigers. Baez, now playing with AA Tennessee in the Cubs’ organization, is third in the minor leagues with 34 home runs, just three behind the leader, George Springer, of Oklahoma City, who has 37 round trippers. Miguel Sano, who clubbed two massive homers at Joker Marchant Stadium as a member of the Fort Myers Miracle, is fourth in the minors with 33 homers and is now with the AA New Britain team. By the way, the Lakeland record for home runs was set by Ryan Streiby, who clubbed 29 round trippers with the 2008 Flying Tigers. Currently, Steven Moya, leads the 2013 club with 11 homers.
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