THE SERIES ... The Flying Tigers, which were eliminated from the second half pennant race on Tuesday, close out the 2013 season with six games against the Tampa Yankees. The first game of the series was Thursday in Tampa at noon with the series heading to Lakeland for a pair of doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday at 5 p.m. and 4 p.m., respectively. The season finale will be Sunday, back in Tampa, at 1 p.m.
THE FLYING TIGERS (61-66, 31-28, 2nd, 8.0 GB) ... Lakeland hit five homers in the last two games to pick up a pair of wins at Brevard County and Tampa. Devon Travis led the surge with a homer in each of the last two games while Jeff McVaney, Jason Krizan, and Aaron Westlake each went deep. The Flying Tigers have now won four of their last five. Westlake has climbed to fourth in the Florida State League with a .294 batting average with Jason Krizan (7th, .283) and Chad Wright (9th, .282) also in the top ten. Krizan ranks fourth in the league with a .384 on-base percentage, is third with 60 walks, and is the second toughest to strikeout with 10.53 plate appearances per whiff. Kyle Ryan is tied for the league-lead with 12 wins; fourth with a 3.17 and fifth with 142.0 innings pitched. Wilsen Palacios is fifth with a 3.24 ERA and 103 strikeouts while Jeff Ferrell is ninth with a 3.46 ERA.
THE YANKEES (56-75, 28-35, 4th, 13.0 GB) ... With the loss yesterday to Lakeland, Tampa has lost five of its last eight. The Yankee offense has produced just one or two runs in five of those games and crossed the plate three times in two other games. Yankee pitchers have allowed the most runs in the league and the staff ERA is second highest in the FSL. The Tampa defense also committed the most errors of any league team, hence the team’s fielding percentage is worst in the FSL. Robert Refsnyder is eighth in the FSL with a .283 batting average and second with a .408 on-base percentage while ranking second with 77 walks.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
8/30 (GM 1) - RHP Jeff Ferrell (6-5, 3.46 ERA) ... Ferrell allowed four runs, two earned, on seven hits with four strikeouts in his last start on Clearwater on Aug. 25 was not a factor into the decision. He is 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA in his last three starts with 11 strikeouts and zero walks.
8/30 (GM 2) - RHP Nick Avila (3-2, 3.81) ... Avila picked up a win in relief in his last outing on Aug. 26 at Brevard County after allowing one run on four hits in 2.0 innings. This is his first start since taking the hill in game one of a doubleheader against Bradenton on June 13.
8/30 (GM 1) - RHP Wilsen Palacios (6-8, 3.24 ERA) ... Palacios did not get a win in his last start on Aug. 26 despite tossing 8.0 shutout innings in game one of a doubleheader at Brevard County. He has allowed just one run his last two starts and has not allowed more then three runs in any of his last 14 starts
8/31 (GM 2) - TBA
9/01 - RHP Kevin Eichhorn (2-5, 3.32 ERA) ... Eichhorn surrendered just one run on five hits in his last start on Aug. 27, but did not factor into the decision. He has not allowed more than three runs in any of his last six outings (five starts) and is 1-1 since July 27.
SEASON SERIES ... With the win on Thursday, Lakeland holds an 9-6 advantage in the series. The Flying Tigers won eight of ten played in the middle of the series including five straight from June 6-9 and July 3-4.
WELCOME BACK ... Dean Green rejoined Lakeland on Aug. 25 and has made his presence known, going 6x24 (.250) with six runs scored, a homer and three runs batted in.
CRAZY COREY ... Corey Jones brings a four-game hit streak into the first doubleheader of the series with six hits in 14 at bats for a .429 clip.
AN EVEN DOZEN ... Kyle Ryan tossed eight strong innings at Tampa on Thursday to tie for the FSL lead with 12 wins. He is just the 15th Lakeland pitcher to win 12 or more games in a season and the first since Jared Wesson went 15-10 in 2011. Mike Chris holds the Lakeland Tigers record with an 18-5 record in 1977.
ON THE FLIP SIDE ... For one pitcher to win, another must lose and for Lakeland, no pitcher lost more games than Ricky Barlow, who dropped 17 games against just one win in 1984.
AWESOME AARON ... Aaron Westlake had an eight-game hit streak snapped on Aug. 28, but roared back with four hits the next night to give him 16 hits in his last 37 at bats for a .432 average. He has scored five runs during that stretch with seven doubles and a home run for six RBI.
MINOR LEADERS ... Devon Travis is sixth in minor league baseball with a combined .344 average between West Michigan and Lakeland. Jose Valdez is tied for third with 32 saves in 34 opportunities for the Flying Tigers and the Whitecaps.
100 AND COUNTING ... Wilsen Palacios leads the Flying Tigers with 103 strikeouts this season. He is just the 33rd Lakeland pitcher since 1978 to reach the century mark in strikeouts and the first since the 2010 season when Mark Sorensen (113), Charlie Furbush (109) and Adam Wilk (100) all recorded triple digits in punch outs.
THE CLOSER ... Jose Valdez didn’t join Lakeland until mid-June and since then has record 16 saves on the season just the 14th Lakeland closer since 1978 to post 15 or more saves in a season. The Lakeland record for saves is held by Chris Homer who had 29 saves in 2005.
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 1,806-1,659 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.
TIGER PROSPECTS NAMED TO AFL ... Current Flying Tigers second baseman Devon Travis is one of six Detroit prospects to be named to play in the Arizona Fall League. Travis will be joined on the Mesa Solar Sox by former Lakelanders Tyler Collins and Will Clinard, both currently playing at AA Erie, along with Toledo’s Kyle Lobstein and West Michigan’s Corey Knebel. Flying Tiger pitcher coach, Mike Maroth, will serve in the same capacity for Mesa. One more Tigers prospect will be named to the roster before the season opens on Oct. 8.
CASTELLANOS NAMED AN ALL-STAR TEAM ... Detroit Tigers’ top prospect Nick Castellanos has been selected to the International League Postseason All-Star team. The 21-year-old is the youngest IL postseason All-Star and the first outfielder from Triple-A Toledo to earn the honor since Jeff Frazier in 2010. Castellanos is batting .275 with 16 home runs and 71 RBIs at Toledo this year with seven games remaining in the team’s season.
FSL PLAYOFFS ... The Flying Tigers won’t get a chance to defend their 2012 Florida State League championship as the team was eliminated from the second half pennant race on Tuesday with Daytona clinching the second half title. The Cubs will face the first half winners, the Dunedin Blue Jays, in a best-of-three playoff beginning Sept. 3 in Daytona. Games two and three (if necessary) will be played in Dunedin on Sept. 4-5. On the other side of the bracket, the Fort Myers Miracle, which won the first half in the South Division, will take the Charlotte Stone Crabs. Game one is at Charlotte with games two and three (if necessary) in Fort Myers. The two winners of the Divisional Playoffs will then meet in a best-of-three battle for the league crown. The South Division winner will have the home field advantage in the championship round.
No comments:
Post a Comment