THE SERIES ... The Flying Tigers travel to Dunedin for four games beginning with a doubleheader on Tuesday, Aug. 13 at 5 p.m. to make up a rained out game in Lakeland on Aug. 9. Games three and four are Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, at 6:35 p.m. All the games may be heard on the Dunedin website at www.dunedinbluejays.com.
THE FLYING TIGERS (53-57, 23-19, 2nd, 3.5 GB) ... Lakeland took two of the three games against Clearwater including the last two straight. After the Threshers took the opener 4-3 in 11 innings, Francisco Martinez doubled in the winning run in the 11th inning in a 7-6 Lakeland win the next night. Jeff Ferrell tossed seven shutout innings in the finale as Lakeland won 4-0. Lakeland has now won seven of the last eight and 10 of the last 12. The Flying Tigers rank sixth in the FSL with a .256 team batting average and fifth with a 3.68 staff ERA.
THE BLUE JAYS (56-57, 19-28, 6th, 10.0 GB) ... Dunedin is coming off a series sweep of Brevard County. Prior to the Manatees series sweep, the club had dropped six in a row, including a pair of games to Lakeland. Jon Berti continues to lead the Florida State League in stolen bases with 50 – 19 more than the second place player – as well as runs scored with 73. Scott Copeland is third in the league with a 2.78 earned run average and has tossed a league-high 136.0 innings. Austin Bibens-Dirkx is seventh with a 2.91 ERA and tied for third with 95 strikeouts while Blake McFarland is second in the FSL with 16 saves. Dunedin is second in the league with a 3.42 ERA and ninth with a .252 team batting average.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
8/13 (GM1) - RHP Wilsen Palacios (6-7, 3.48 ERA) ... Palacios ranks 10th in the FSL with a 3.48 ERA. He picked up a win in his last start on Aug. 7 against the Blue Jays, allowing three runs on six hits in 6.0 innings. The three runs allowed matched his total for his previous three starts. Palacios, who has not allowed more than three runs in any of his last 10 starts, is 3-1 with a 2.10 ERA in his last four outings. He is 1-2 with a 4.70 ERA in four games against Dunedin.
8/13 (GM2) - RHP Patrick Cooper (1-0, 3.38 ERA) ... Cooper has made one start since joining Lakeland on July 30, going 5.0 innings, allowing four runs, three earned, on eight hits. He has also made one relief appearance, working 3.0 no-hit, scoreless innings on Aug. 5 at Jupiter. Cooper has not faced the Blue Jays this season.
8/14 - RHP Kevin Eichhorn (2-5, 4.02 ERA) ... Eichhorn got his first win since April 14 with 6.0 innings of work on Aug. 8 against Dunedin. He held the Blue Jays to three runs on seven hits. Eichhorn is 2-1 with a 2.65 ERA against Dunedin this season.
8/15 - LHP Kyle Ryan (10-6, 2.85 ERA) ... Ryan is tied for the league-lead with 10 wins and ranks fifth with a 2.85 earned run average. He held Clearwater to three runs, two earned, in 6.0 innings pitched in his last start on Aug. 10. He is 7-2 with a 2.42 ERA in his last 13 starts since May 21 and is 4-1 with a 1.46 ERA over his last seven starts. Ryan is 1-1 with a 3.15 in three starts versus Dunedin in 2013.
SEASON SERIES ... Dunedin holds a 9-5 advantage in the series, but Lakeland has won three of the last four games including the last two in Lakeland by scores of 19-6 and 4-3. The 19 runs in the first game on Aug. 7 was the most scored by Lakeland since shutting out the Kissimmee Astros 21-0 back on April 29, 1996. Devon Travis sparked Lakeland with a 4x5 night with a pair of homers and seven runs batted in while Aaron Westlake also hit two home runs for four RBI.
PIERRE HITS FOR THE CYCLE ... Dunedin’s Gustavo Pierre hit for the cycle on Aug. 10 leading the Blue Jays to a 7-6 win over Brevard County. Pierre doubled in the first, tripled in third, and bunted his way on for a single in the fifth. He capped his standout night with a lead-off homer in the 7th. Pierre is the first player to hit for the cycle in the Florida State League since Daytona’s Brett Jackson accomplished the feat in 2010. Hitting for the cycle made Pierre an easy choice for the Florida State League Player of the Week. For the week ending Aug. 11, Pierre hit .478 going 7x18 with seven runs batted in.
KRIZAN ON A ROLL ... Jason Krizan has hits in his last six games and is 9x21 (.429) during that stretch with a pair of doubles and seven runs batted in. His season batting average of .288 is tenth best in the Florida State League while his 10.03 total plate appearances per strikeout is third best in the league.
WRIGHT IS ALRIGHT ... Chad Wright brings a five-game hit streak into this series in which he is 10x20 (.500) with eight runs scored, two doubles and two runs batted in. He has hits in nine of his ten games since returning for the DL on July 30 and is 16x38 (.422) with 12 runs scored during that stretch. His 9.36 total plate appearances per strikeout is fourth best in the Florida State League.
MOYA OF THAT ... Steven Moya saw his six-game hit streak snapped on Monday. During the six games, Moya was 10x25 (.400) with seven runs scored, three doubles, a triple, a homer, and eight runs batted in.
SANZ-SATIONAL ... Catcher Luis Sanz has hits in nine of his last 10 games for a 14x35 (.400) clip with seven runs batted in.
LIGHT UP THE BAT SIGNAL ... The Lakeland offense is hitting .313 over the last 13 games since July 27. Seven times, the club has reached double digits in hits and has had 10 or more hits in 18 of the 32 games in the second half. The Flying Tigers are hitting .300 in August – second highest of any FSL team – after hitting .277 in July.
NEW BACKSTOP ... John Murrian was promoted to AAA Toledo on Tuesday to take a catching spot vacated when Bryan Holaday was picked up by the big club. Holaday takes a catching spot which opened when Alex Avila was placed on the 7-day disabled list with a concussion. Taking Murrian’s place on the Lakeland roster is Adolfo Reina, who was added from West Michigan. Reina, who was hitting .196 in 54 games with the Whitecaps, played in 49 games with the Flying Tigers last season, batting .298 with three homers and 17 runs batted in.
DOTEL BEGINS REHAB ASSIGNMENT ... Detroit Tigers pitcher Octavio Dotel joined Lakeland on Monday to begin a Major League rehab assignment. He was placed on the Detroit disabled list on April 20 with elbow inflammation. Dotel started on the hill for the Flying Tigers on Monday and worked a 1-2-3 first inning with one strikeout.
NONE FOR NICK ... Nick Avila has not allowed a run over his last 10.0 innings over six relief appearances.
BLANKS FOR FERRELL ... Jeff Ferrell made his first bullpen appearance for the Flying Tigers since April 16 when he came on in relief of Octavio Dotel, who started on Monday as part of a rehab assignment. Ferrell responded by tossing 7.0 shutout innings against Clearwater with four hits allowed on six strikeouts.
THE SKIPPER ... Manager Dave Huppert, a member of the 2012 FSL 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 1,798-1,650 record entering the Dunedin 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 ... The Flying Tigers play at Tampa for one contest on Aug. 16 before returning to Lakeland on Aug. 17 at 4 pm for the continuation of the July 4 suspended game which will is scheduled for nine innings (and then a 7-inning game) before returning to Tampa on Aug. 18.
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