THE SERIES ... Lakeland will play four games over three nights against Tampa with the opener taking place Friday, Aug. 16 at 7 p.m. at George Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. The two teams return to Joker Marchant Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 16 at 4 p.m. for the continuation of the suspended July 4 game that saw just two batters come to the plate before rains halted play. Since the game did get underway, it must be played to nine innings. A seven-inning second game will follow. The two clubs head back over I-4 for a 1 p.m. game Sunday in Tampa.
THE FLYING TIGERS (54-60, 23-19, 2nd, 4.0 GB) ... The Lakeland offense exploded for 20 hits in downing Dunedin 14-9 on Thursday to snap a three-game losing skid. The 20 hits was the most for a Flying Tigers team since May 1, 2011 when Lakeland had 21 hits in a 14-5 win over Brevard County. The 14 runs matched the total the Flying Tigers had scored in the previous five games combined. Jason Krizan has climbed to seventh in the Florida State League with a .290 batting average and is fourth with a .390 on-base percentage. He remains as the third toughest to strikeout with 10.18 plate appearances per whiff. Chad Wright is fifth with 8.73 plate appearances per strikeout. Kyle Ryan has a FSL-best 11 wins (11-5) and is fourth with a 3.15 ERA while ranking third with 128.0 innings pitched. Wilsen Palacios is fifth with 97 strikeouts.
THE YANKEES (50-68, 22-28, 5th, 8.0 GB) ... Tampa has lost two in a row and tasted victory just once in its last nine games – that coming on Aug. 13. Bryan Mitchell leads the Florida State League with 104 strikeouts and is fourth with 126.2 innings pitched, but is 4-11 with a 5.12 ERA to show for his efforts. The Yankees have allowed the second most runs in the league and scored the fifth fewest. The Tampa hitters are patient at the plate, drawing the third most walks in the league. Catcher Jeff Farnham is 11x27 (.407) his last seven games played while second baseman Robert Refsnyder is 13x34 (.2832) the last 10 games. The Yankees are 30-28 at home in 2013 and 20-40 on the road.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
8/16 - RHP Tommy Collier (2-2, 4.09 ERA) ... Collier has two no decisions in the last two starts despite allowing a combined total of five runs over the two games with nine strikeouts. His last win came on July 29 when he threw 5.0 no-hit innings against St. Lucie. Collier has worked exactly 5.0 innings in each of his last six starts.
8/17 (susp. game) - TBA
8/17 (reg. game) - RHP Jeff Ferrell (6-5, 3.52 ERA) ... Ferrell allowed just four hits and struck out six in tossing 7.0 shutout innings of relief in his last outing on Aug. 12 against Clearwater (coming on to start the second inning after MLB rehabber Octavio Dotel started on the mound). He is 3-0 with a 3.32 ERA in his last four outings (three starts plus the relief outing). He also struck out 22 in those four games.
8/18 - RHP Wilsen Palacios (6-8, 3.53 ERA) ... Palacios took the loss in his last start on Aug. 13 against Dunedin in game one of a doubleheader allowing three runs on five hits with six strikeouts in tossing Lakeland’s first complete game of the year (albeit seven innings). He is 3-2 with a 2.56 ERA in his last five starts.
SEASON SERIES ... Lakeland has a 7-4 advantage in the series and has won the last four games. All games have been low scoring affairs with neither team reaching double digits in runs. Lakeland has scored more than four runs in a game just once in the series while Tampa has eclipsed four runs just three times. The Yankees hold a 34-32 runs scored advantage.
UPON FURTHER REVIEW ... Aaron Westlake had a career night in Lakeland’s 14-9 win over Dunedin on Thursday, going 6-for-6 with three singles, two doubles and a home run for five runs batted in. Originally, he was only credited with five hits, but a scoring decision after the game changed a Tampa error into another single for Westlake. It is just the second six-hit game in the Florida State League this season. The other coming off the bat of Bradenton’s Willy Garcia on June 24. Westlake had five hits in a game against Clearwater on May 9 after a call was also reversed in that game giving him a fifth hit.
NOT THE ONLY HOT BAT... Chad Jones had four hits of own against Dunedin on Thursday, collecting two singles and two doubles for three RBI. Jason Krizan, Steven Moya, and Jeff McVaney each had two hits in the game with Moya and Adolfo Reina each driving in a pair of runs as well.
NOT BAD, CHAD ... Chad Jones brings a seven-game hitting streak into this series, going 12x24 (.500) during the stretch with five runs scored, four doubles and three runs batted in.
MORE THAN A BACKSTOP ... Catcher Luis Sanz has hits in 10 of his last 11 games going 15x37 for a .405 mark since July 17. He has had two hits in a game five times during the stretch and has scored eight times in those 11 games with eight more runs knocked in.
STILL A FORCE ... Devon Travis is fifth in all of minor league baseball with a combined .354 batting average between Lakeland and West Michigan. His .354 mark tops all Class A players (low-A and advanced-A). He has 14 multi-hit games as a Flying Tiger and has been held hitless just seven times in is 37 games with Lakeland.
OTHERS WITH MULTI-HIT GAMES ... Chad Wright leads Lakeland with 28 games with two or more hits while Jason Krizan is second with 26. Steven Moya is third with 23 multi-hit games, including a team-high eight games with three or more hits. Jeff McVaney has 21 multi-hit games while Francisco Martinez has 20 games with two or more hits.
ANYONE SAY DOUBLE? ... Lakeland had a string of 26 consecutive games with a double come to a close on Aug. 14 as Dunedin held the club to six singles. Lakeland made up for lost time the next night as Aaron Westlake and Corey Jones each had two doubles and Steven Moya added a fifth two-bagger as the club had a quintet of doubles for the third time this season.
THROWIN’ BLANKS ... Nick Avila has not allowed a run in his last six outings (10.0 innings) ... Alex Burgos has not surrendered an earned run his last four appearances (8.2 innings) ... Jose Valdez has not given up a run in his last six relief appearances (5.1 innings) and is 11-for-12 in save opportunities this season.
NEXT ONE’S A BIGGIE ... With the Flying Tigers’ next win, manager Dave Huppert will notch his 1,800 career victory and become the 21st minor league manager to reach the milestone. The all-time record for wins by a minor league manager is held by Stan Wasiak who coached from 1950-1986, including two stints in the Florida State League. He coached the Daytona Beach Dodgers from 1970-72 and the Vero Beach Dodgers from 1980-1986 when he retired.
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 1,799-1,653 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 ... The Flying Tigers have Monday, Aug. 19 as an off day before opening three-night, four-game homestand against Brevard County. The two clubs will play a doubleheader on Tuesday, Aug. 20 at 5 pm to make up a rained out game from July 1. The Aug. 21 and 22 games will be at 6:30 p.m.
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