THE SERIES ... Games one and two of the Dunedin series take place on Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 7-8, at 6:30 p.m. with the finale getting underway at 7:11 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 9.
THE FLYING TIGERS (49-56, 19-18, 2nd, 3.5 GB) ... Lakeland brings a three-game win streak into this series after taking three of four games in Jupiter. The Flying Tigers have won six of their last eight outings and 14 of their last 22 games to move into sole possession of second place. Jason Krizan is 10th in the Florida State League with a .285 batting average and is the third toughest to strike out in the league with 9.84 plate appearances per strikeout. Lakeland and Dunedin are tied for eighth in the FSL with identical .252 team batting averages. The Flying Tigers staff ERA of 3.71 is fifth best in the league.
THE BLUE JAYS (53-55, 16-26, 6th, 9.0 GB) ... Dunedin was swept in four games at home by Palm Beach and has now lost five of its last six games. Having won the first half, the Blue Jays will host games two and three of the FSL playoffs in September against the second-half winner. Jon Berti leads the FSL with 49 stolen bases – 18 more than the second place player and just six fewer than Lakeland has a team. Scott Copeland, who is expected to pitch in game three of this series, ranks third in the league with a 2.59 ERA and is tied for second with nine wins while leading the FSL with 132.0 innings. Austin Bibens-Dirkx, who at 8-4, will start game two, is sixth with a 2.86 ERA and tied for third with 92 strikeouts. The D-Jays closer, Blake McFarland, is fifth in the FSL with 14 saves. Dunedin ranks second in the league with a 3.38 staff ERA.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
8/07 - RHP Wilsen Palacios (5-7, 3.42 ERA) ... Palacios took the loss in his last start on July 26 despite holding the Cardinals to one run on five hits in 6.0 innings of work. The one run is all he has allowed in his last two starts (12.2 innings) and he has not allowed more than three runs in a game in any of his last nine starts for a 3-3 record and a 2.11 ERA. Palacios, who ranks eighth in the league in ERA, is 0-2 with a 4.76 ERA in three previous starts against Dunedin.
8/08 - RHP Kevin Eichhorn (1-5, 3.93) ... Eichhorn also took the loss in his last start on Aug. 2 against Jupiter allowing five runs, three earned, on seven hits in 5.0 innings. Since coming off the disabled list, he is 0-2 with a 4.61 ERA in three starts. Palacios is 1-1 against the Blue Jays in back-to-back starts back in May with a 1.64 ERA. On April 14, he threw 7.0 shutout innings and held the Blue Jays to a pair of hits.
8/09 - LHP Kyle Ryan (10-6, 2.85 ERA) ... Ryan became the FSL’s first 10-game winner of 2013 with a victory in his last start on Aug, 3 at Jupiter. His 2.85 ERA is fifth best in the FSL. He struck out six and held the Cardinals to one unearned run on four hits in 6.0 innings. Ryan has not allowed an earned run in his last 12.0 innings and just two runs total in his last 15.0 innings over three starts. He is 4-1 with a 1.16 ERA in his last six starts since June 27. Ryan is 1-1 with a 3.15 ERA in three previous starts against the Blue Jays.
SEASON SERIES ... Dunedin has gotten the better of Lakeland in the series so far, winning nine of the 12 previous meetings. The Blue Jays have one series sweep versus Lakeland this season, that coming on April 18-19, and have won the other three series, taking two of the three games in each. Steven Moya is 10x24 (.417) versus Dunedin with three doubles and two triples for six runs batted in. The Blue Jays have outscored the Flying Tigers by a 42-27 margin in the 12 games.
TRANSFIXING TRAVIS ... Devon Travis has continued to eat up Florida State League pitchers. Since joining the club on June 30, the Flying Tigers second baseman has hits in all but four of his 28 games played and has two or more hits in 12 games. Since July 9, he has collected at least one hit in 20 of his 22 games played for a 13x22 stretch for a .380 average. Travis has had five doubles and two homers in that stretch with 13 runs scored and 11 runs batted in. His batting average has not dipped below .346 at any point since becoming a Flying Tiger. Combining his games at West Michigan, Travis is leading all Class A hitters with a .359 average.
JONESING ... Corey Jones has hits in his last four games and is 6x12 with a double and a RBI in that quartet of contests.
MARVELOUS MARTINEZ ... Francisco Martinez is 12x37 (.375) his last eight games with a double, triple, and home run for eight runs batted in. The Flying Tigers third baseman has hits in 25 of his last 29 games and is 34x99 (.343) during that stretch with six doubles, a triple, homer, and nine RBI.
SANZ-ITIZED ... Catcher Luis Sanz brings an eight-game hit streak into this series in which he is 12x28 (.429) with six runs scored and six more batted in.
AN A FOR AARON ... Aaron Westlake has hits in each of his last five games for a 6x19 (.316) stint with a pair of doubles and two runs batted in.
WELCOME BACK ... Chad Wright is 6x18 (.333) since coming off the disabled list and getting back on the field on July 30. He has scored in four of his five games played since coming back and has hits in four games as well.
NICE REBOUND ... Nick Avila has bounced back from allowing six runs in 3.0 innings on July 15 with a streak of eight consecutive scoreless innings over his last four appearances with just three hits allowed – all coming in one game.
OLÉ JOSÉ ... Closer José Valdez has three saves and a 0.00 ERA his last four appearances with just a pair of hits allowed. He is 10 for 11 in save opportunities this season and nine for nine since blowing a save in his second appearance of the season on June 24.
NOT JUST LAKELAND ... The Flying Tigers lost their last two home games due to rain. It was the fourth and fifth games that have been cancelled because of the weather and could not be made up. Overall, the Florida State League has had 34 games cancelled due to rain. Daytona leads the way with seven games lost to schedule while Lakeland is second at five games. Charlotte and St. Lucie have each lost four games to the schedule.
DOUBLE THE FUN ... Lakeland has had at least one double in 19 straight games and has had multiple doubles in the last six games (16 total).
WORSEN FOR THE WEEKEND ... Lakeland is a combined 7-22 on Thursdays and Friday, winning just three games on a Thursday and just four on a Friday while losing 11 times on both nights. The best nights of the week for a chance to see a Lakeland win are Tuesdays (9-6) and Wednesdays (8-6). The Flying Tigers are 11-8 on Sundays and 7-8 on both Mondays and Saturdays.
FIRST WINNING MONTH ... Lakeland closed out July with a 13-10 record to post its first winning month of the season.
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 1,793-1,639 record entering the Jupiter 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 ... Lakeland continues its homestand with three games against Clearwater on Aug. 10-12 and then hits the road for three games at Dunedin on Aug. 13-15.
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