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.
Friday, August 30, 2013
Monday, August 26, 2013
Mission Notes vs. Brevard County (Aug. 26-28)
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.
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.
Friday, August 23, 2013
Mission Notes vs. Clearwater (Aug. 23-25)
THE SERIES ... This series is a battle for second place in the North Division as both teams trail Daytona with Lakeland 5.0 games behind and Clearwater a 1/2 game behind Lakeland. All three games at Bright House Field in Clearwater with the first two games Friday and Saturday, Aug. 23-24 at 6:30 p.m. and the finale at 1 pm on Sunday, Aug. 25.
THE FLYING TIGERS (56-63, 26-25, 2nd, 5.0 GB) ... Lakeland will be seeing its first action since splitting a doubleheader to Brevard County on Tuesday, Aug. 20 as the last two dates were rained out. The Flying Tigers have lost three of their last four games and six of their last eight. Lakeland has scored the third fewest runs of any Florida State League team and has hit the fewest homers of any league club. Jason Krizan now ranks fifth in the FSL with a .293 batting average while Aaron Westlake is eighth with a .282 mark. Krizan is also fourth in the league with a .391 on-base percentage and is now second with 10.67 plate appearances per strikeout. Kyle Ryan is tied with Clearwater’s Hoby Milner with a league-best 11 wins and ranks fifth with a 3.16 ERA. He also is fifth with 128.0 innings pitched. Wilsen Palacios is eighth in the FSL with a 3.46 earned run average and is fourth with 100 strikeouts. Jeff Ferrell has moved into the top ten in the league with a 3.49 ERA.
THE THRESHERS (63-61, 28-28, 2nd, 5.5 GB) ... Clearwater saw its six-game win streak snapped on Wednesday, Aug. 21 with a 4-2 loss to Tampa (last night’s game was rained out). The Threshers have outscored their opponents by a 37-17 margin in the last seven games. Cameron Perkins is fourth in the Florida State League with a .294 batting average while Aaron Altherr leads the circuit with 34 doubles and is second with 51 extra base hits and fifth with 195 total bases. Carlos Alonso is third in the FSL with 68 runs scored. Hoby Milner is tied with Lakeland’s Kyle Ryan with a league-high 11 wins and is fifth with 99 strikeouts and third with 132.1 innings pitched. The Threshers are third with a team batting average of .260 and second in runs scored but the staff ERA of 4.05 is highest in the Florida State League.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
8/23 - LHP Kyle Ryan (11-6, 3.16) ... An end-of the year FSL All-Star, Ryan got the win in his last start on Aug. 15 at Dunedin despite tying his season-high with seven runs allowed—six earned—on eight hits in 5.0 innings as he left the game with a 12-7 lead. He is 8-2 in his last 14 starts with a 2.97 ERA. Ryan ranks fifth in the FSL with a 3.16 ERA and is tied for the league leading with 11 wins. He also ranked fifth with 128.0 innings pitched.
8/24 - RHP Tommy Collier (2-3, 4.78 ERA) ... Collier allowed a season-high six runs and nine hits in 5.0 innings in his last start on Aug. 16 at Tampa. He is now 0-1 with a 6.60 ERA in his last three starts since posting his last win on July 28. Collier has worked exactly 5.0 innings in each of his last seven outings.
8/25 - RHP Jeff Ferrell (6-5, 3.49 ERA) ... Ferrell worked one scoreless inning in relief on Aug. 18 at Tampa. Prior to that, he tossed 7.0 shutout innings in a “relief” role, coming on to start the second after MLB rehabbing Octavio Dotel started the game for Lakeland. He is 3-0 with a 2.67 ERA in his last five appearances, including three starts. He has not taken a loss since June 18 against Brevard County.
SEASON SERIES ... Lakeland holds a slim 8-7 lead in the series so far and won the last two meetings, 7-6 in 11 innings on Aug. 11 and 4-0 on Aug. 12. Prior to those two games, the Threshers had won seven of nine games.
FSL ALL-STAR ... Kyle Ryan was named to the Florida State League end-of-the-year All-Star Team on Aug. 22 as the Flying Tigers’ sole representative. Ryan is tied for the league-lead with 11 wins with a 3.16 ERA. St. Lucie’s Dustin Lawley was named the FSL Player of the Year while Jupiter’s Justin Nicolino earned Pitcher of the Year honors. Lawley leads the FSL with 25 home runs, 90 runs batted in, 61 extra-base hits and is second with 67 runs scored and a .512 slugging percentage. Nicolino was 5-2 with a 2.23 and a 1.11 WHIP in 18 starts for the Hammerheads before being promoted in late July.
KEEPING IT REAL ... Jason Krizan is hitting .361 (35x97) since July 15 with 13 runs scored, six doubles, three triples and a home run for 19 runs batted in. He has struck out just eight times in 115 total plate appearances during that stretch.
ALONE AT THE TOP ... Devon Travis now sits atop the Class A (combined) leader board with a .353 combined average over his games played in Lakeland at West Michigan. His .353 average is fourth best among all minor league hitters through Thursday’s games. The Flying Tigers second baseman is batting .356 in 42 games in the Florida State League and hit .352 in 77 games at West Michigan in the Midwest League before joining Lakeland. Travis has a lofty .400 mark in 21 homes games with four of his five homers coming at Joker Marchant Stadium. On the road, he is batting .318 in 21 games.
STEADY AS SHE GOES ... Luis Sanz has hits in 12 of his last 14 games played for a .370 pace (17x46). He has scored nine times in those 14 games and driven in nine runs as well. Sanz likes batting on the road as the Flying Tigers catcher is hitting .299 in 25 road games this season as compared to .217 in 26 games at Joker Marchant Stadium.
SHUTTING ‘EM DOWN ... Nick Avila has not allowed a run to score in his previous 10.0 innings over six appearances ... Patrick Cooper tossed 5.0 shutout innings in his last start on Aug. 20 against Brevard County ... closer Jose Valdez has not been scored upon since July 26. He has a stretch of seven scoreless outings (5.2 innings) and has 13 saves this season in 14 opportunities. His only blown save was back on June 24 in is second outing as a Flying Tiger.
IT’S RAINING AGAIN ... Lakeland had two games rained out during its most recent home stand with one game (Aug. 21) to be made up Aug. 26 at Brevard County. The second game (Aug. 22) was lost to the schedule as any possible make-up date would force the Flying Tigers to play four doubleheaders in a seven-day stretch which is against league rules. Lakeland has now lost 17 openings to rain.
RAINY DAYS (BUT NOT MONDAYS) GET ME DOWN ... Overall, Lakeland has had 17 games delayed at some point during the game by rain this season. Fourteen games have been postponed while six games have lost to schedule. At home, eight games have had rain delays; 12 have been postponed and five cancelled. As for the Mondays, Lakeland is 8-8.
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 1,801-1,656 record entering the Clearwater 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 ... Following this series, Lakeland continues its road tip on Monday, Aug. 26 at 5 pm with a doubleheader at Brevard County to make up a game rained out in Lakeland on Aug. 21. The series continues with games at Space Coast Stadium on Aug. 27-28 at 6:35 both nights.
TWO DATES, FOUR GAMES LEFT AT HOME ... Lakeland fans have just two more chances to see the Flying Tigers in action this season at home as the club closes out their 2013 home season with a pair of dates with Tampa on Aug. 30-31. Thanks to Mother Nature’s antics, both dates will be doubleheaders. The twinbill on Friday, Aug. 30 gets under at 5 pm with the final doubleheader slated for Saturday, Aug. 31 at 4 pm.
THE FLYING TIGERS (56-63, 26-25, 2nd, 5.0 GB) ... Lakeland will be seeing its first action since splitting a doubleheader to Brevard County on Tuesday, Aug. 20 as the last two dates were rained out. The Flying Tigers have lost three of their last four games and six of their last eight. Lakeland has scored the third fewest runs of any Florida State League team and has hit the fewest homers of any league club. Jason Krizan now ranks fifth in the FSL with a .293 batting average while Aaron Westlake is eighth with a .282 mark. Krizan is also fourth in the league with a .391 on-base percentage and is now second with 10.67 plate appearances per strikeout. Kyle Ryan is tied with Clearwater’s Hoby Milner with a league-best 11 wins and ranks fifth with a 3.16 ERA. He also is fifth with 128.0 innings pitched. Wilsen Palacios is eighth in the FSL with a 3.46 earned run average and is fourth with 100 strikeouts. Jeff Ferrell has moved into the top ten in the league with a 3.49 ERA.
THE THRESHERS (63-61, 28-28, 2nd, 5.5 GB) ... Clearwater saw its six-game win streak snapped on Wednesday, Aug. 21 with a 4-2 loss to Tampa (last night’s game was rained out). The Threshers have outscored their opponents by a 37-17 margin in the last seven games. Cameron Perkins is fourth in the Florida State League with a .294 batting average while Aaron Altherr leads the circuit with 34 doubles and is second with 51 extra base hits and fifth with 195 total bases. Carlos Alonso is third in the FSL with 68 runs scored. Hoby Milner is tied with Lakeland’s Kyle Ryan with a league-high 11 wins and is fifth with 99 strikeouts and third with 132.1 innings pitched. The Threshers are third with a team batting average of .260 and second in runs scored but the staff ERA of 4.05 is highest in the Florida State League.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
8/23 - LHP Kyle Ryan (11-6, 3.16) ... An end-of the year FSL All-Star, Ryan got the win in his last start on Aug. 15 at Dunedin despite tying his season-high with seven runs allowed—six earned—on eight hits in 5.0 innings as he left the game with a 12-7 lead. He is 8-2 in his last 14 starts with a 2.97 ERA. Ryan ranks fifth in the FSL with a 3.16 ERA and is tied for the league leading with 11 wins. He also ranked fifth with 128.0 innings pitched.
8/24 - RHP Tommy Collier (2-3, 4.78 ERA) ... Collier allowed a season-high six runs and nine hits in 5.0 innings in his last start on Aug. 16 at Tampa. He is now 0-1 with a 6.60 ERA in his last three starts since posting his last win on July 28. Collier has worked exactly 5.0 innings in each of his last seven outings.
8/25 - RHP Jeff Ferrell (6-5, 3.49 ERA) ... Ferrell worked one scoreless inning in relief on Aug. 18 at Tampa. Prior to that, he tossed 7.0 shutout innings in a “relief” role, coming on to start the second after MLB rehabbing Octavio Dotel started the game for Lakeland. He is 3-0 with a 2.67 ERA in his last five appearances, including three starts. He has not taken a loss since June 18 against Brevard County.
SEASON SERIES ... Lakeland holds a slim 8-7 lead in the series so far and won the last two meetings, 7-6 in 11 innings on Aug. 11 and 4-0 on Aug. 12. Prior to those two games, the Threshers had won seven of nine games.
FSL ALL-STAR ... Kyle Ryan was named to the Florida State League end-of-the-year All-Star Team on Aug. 22 as the Flying Tigers’ sole representative. Ryan is tied for the league-lead with 11 wins with a 3.16 ERA. St. Lucie’s Dustin Lawley was named the FSL Player of the Year while Jupiter’s Justin Nicolino earned Pitcher of the Year honors. Lawley leads the FSL with 25 home runs, 90 runs batted in, 61 extra-base hits and is second with 67 runs scored and a .512 slugging percentage. Nicolino was 5-2 with a 2.23 and a 1.11 WHIP in 18 starts for the Hammerheads before being promoted in late July.
KEEPING IT REAL ... Jason Krizan is hitting .361 (35x97) since July 15 with 13 runs scored, six doubles, three triples and a home run for 19 runs batted in. He has struck out just eight times in 115 total plate appearances during that stretch.
ALONE AT THE TOP ... Devon Travis now sits atop the Class A (combined) leader board with a .353 combined average over his games played in Lakeland at West Michigan. His .353 average is fourth best among all minor league hitters through Thursday’s games. The Flying Tigers second baseman is batting .356 in 42 games in the Florida State League and hit .352 in 77 games at West Michigan in the Midwest League before joining Lakeland. Travis has a lofty .400 mark in 21 homes games with four of his five homers coming at Joker Marchant Stadium. On the road, he is batting .318 in 21 games.
STEADY AS SHE GOES ... Luis Sanz has hits in 12 of his last 14 games played for a .370 pace (17x46). He has scored nine times in those 14 games and driven in nine runs as well. Sanz likes batting on the road as the Flying Tigers catcher is hitting .299 in 25 road games this season as compared to .217 in 26 games at Joker Marchant Stadium.
SHUTTING ‘EM DOWN ... Nick Avila has not allowed a run to score in his previous 10.0 innings over six appearances ... Patrick Cooper tossed 5.0 shutout innings in his last start on Aug. 20 against Brevard County ... closer Jose Valdez has not been scored upon since July 26. He has a stretch of seven scoreless outings (5.2 innings) and has 13 saves this season in 14 opportunities. His only blown save was back on June 24 in is second outing as a Flying Tiger.
IT’S RAINING AGAIN ... Lakeland had two games rained out during its most recent home stand with one game (Aug. 21) to be made up Aug. 26 at Brevard County. The second game (Aug. 22) was lost to the schedule as any possible make-up date would force the Flying Tigers to play four doubleheaders in a seven-day stretch which is against league rules. Lakeland has now lost 17 openings to rain.
RAINY DAYS (BUT NOT MONDAYS) GET ME DOWN ... Overall, Lakeland has had 17 games delayed at some point during the game by rain this season. Fourteen games have been postponed while six games have lost to schedule. At home, eight games have had rain delays; 12 have been postponed and five cancelled. As for the Mondays, Lakeland is 8-8.
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 1,801-1,656 record entering the Clearwater 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 ... Following this series, Lakeland continues its road tip on Monday, Aug. 26 at 5 pm with a doubleheader at Brevard County to make up a game rained out in Lakeland on Aug. 21. The series continues with games at Space Coast Stadium on Aug. 27-28 at 6:35 both nights.
TWO DATES, FOUR GAMES LEFT AT HOME ... Lakeland fans have just two more chances to see the Flying Tigers in action this season at home as the club closes out their 2013 home season with a pair of dates with Tampa on Aug. 30-31. Thanks to Mother Nature’s antics, both dates will be doubleheaders. The twinbill on Friday, Aug. 30 gets under at 5 pm with the final doubleheader slated for Saturday, Aug. 31 at 4 pm.
Monday, August 19, 2013
Mission Notes vs. Brevard County (Aug. 20-22)
THE SERIES ... The Flying Tigers have Monday, Aug. 19 as an off day before opening a 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 pm. Following this homestand, Lakeland has just two home dates (four games) left on Aug. 30-31.
THE FLYING TIGERS (55-62, 25-24, 2nd, 5.0 GB) ... Lakeland is looking to snap out of a funk that has seen the team drop five of the last six games including two games to Tampa over the weekend (the suspended game won by the Flying Tigers on Saturday—and all of its statistics—actually counts as having taken place on July 4 when the game began). Lakeland has scored two or fewer runs in each of those five losses while the one win was a 14-9 victory on Aug. 15 at Dunedin. Clearwater has won five straight and now is just 1/2 game behind Lakeland in the standings. Jason Krizan is sixth in the Florida State League with a .295 batting average and fourth with a .392 on-base percentage.
THE MANATEES (61-60, 5th, 8.5 GB) ... Brevard County lost two of three games to Daytona over the weekend and has now lost six of its last nine games. Nick Ramirez is tied for second in the Florida State League with 18 home runs, but has not gone deep since July 14. He also ranks third with 201 total bases; fourth with 74 runs batted in; fifth with 44 extra-base hits and has struck out a league-high 156 strikeouts. Brett Suter is fourth in the FSL with a 3.14 ERA while Tommy Toledo is tied for third with 16 saves. The Manatees are hitting .241 as a team, the lowest team batting average in the Florida State League, and have scored the fewest runs of any league team. Ironically, the club has hit the second most homers in the FSL.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
8/20 (GM1) - RHP Kevin Eichhorn (2-5, 3.59 ERA) ... Eichhorn did not factor into the decision in his last outing on Aug. 14 despite allowing just one run on three hits with six strikeouts. He came on in relief in that game of Octavio Dotel, who made a MLB rehab start, and was tagged with four runs on five hits in just 0.2 innings. Eichhorn is 1-1 with a 3.47 in his last four appearances (including three starts).
8/20 (GM2) - TBA
8/21 - LHP Kyle Ryan (11-6, 3.16) ... Ryan got the win in his last start on Aug. 15 at Dunedin despite tying his season-high with seven runs allowed—six earned—on eight hits in 5.0 innings as he left the game with a 12-7 lead. He is 8-2 in his last 14 starts with a 2.97 ERA. Ryan ranks fifth in the FSL with a 3.16 ERA and is tied for the league leading with 11 wins. He also ranked fifth with 128.0 innings pitched.
8/22 - RHP Tommy Collier (2-3, 4.78 ERA) ... Collier allowed a season-high six runs and nine hits in 5.0 innings in his last start on Aug. 16 at Tampa. He is now 0-1 with a 6.60 ERA in his last three starts since posting his last win on July 28. Collier has worked exactly 5.0 innings in each of his last seven outings.
SEASON SERIES ... Lakeland has managed just two wins in 11 tries against Brevard County, the last coming on June 29 in a 5-4, 11-inning contest. The Manatees have posted three shutouts in the series, including an 8-0, six-inning blanking in a rain-shortened game on June 30—the two clubs’ last meeting. Brevard County has outscored Lakeland 56-33 in the series and has hit 11 homers in the 11 games as compared to three by Lakeland.
STRONG ARMS ... Since May 21, the Lakeland trio of Jeff Ferrell, Wilsen Palacio and Kyle Ryan has combined for a 18-9 record and a 2.90 ERA. The threesome rank in the top four in the Florida State League in terms of earned run average during that time with Ferrell (6-2) and Palacios (4-5) tied for second with a 2.86 mark and Ryan (8-2) close behind with a 2.97 ERA.
STEADY DOES IT ... Jason Krizan has hits in 11 of his last 12 games, including the last five, and is 16x40 (.400) during that stretch dating back to Aug. 4.
TRAVIS HANGS AT #5 ... Devon Travis enters this series tied with Jupiter’s Brett Keys for fifth among all minor league batters with a combined .353 batting average between Lakeland and West Michigan. The duo sit atop all Class A players (advanced A and low A).
RARE PINCH-HITTER ... Aaron Westlake stepped to the plate to pinch hit for catcher Adolfo Reina on Saturday in the suspended July 4 game. With bases loaded, Westlake cleared them with a triple to lift Lakeland to a 10-8 victory. It was just the second pinch-hit appearance by a Flying Tiger this season. Ironically, Westlake was the first Flying Tiger to be pinch hit for when he left the May 11 game for catcher Luis Sanz after an injury.
SNAPPED ... Chad Jones saw his seven-game hitting streak snapped on August 16 in his only appearance during the Tampa series. During the streak, he was 12x24 (.500) with five runs scored, four doubles and three runs batted in. He is now 12x27 (.444) his last eight games played.
NEW CREW MEMBER ... Lakeland added another pitcher on Saturday as former Flying Tiger Michael Morrison rejoined the club from AA Erie. Morrison, who played in Lakeland in 2010 and 2011, was 3-3 with a 7.13 ERA in 30 relief appearances for the SeaWolves.
FINALLY PLAYED ... Way back on July 4, the Flying Tigers were set to entertain the Yankees in a celebration of our nation’s birthday. What they got instead was a lot of rain, forcing the game to be delayed for three hours and nine minutes before getting underway only to be suspended after just two batters. When the game resumed on Aug. 17, Mother Nature was again an uninvited guest, causing another 2:02 in delays for a total of 5:11. The game itself took 3:08 to play (much of it played in the rain) forcing the second game, which would have started at 10 pm to postponded to Aug. 31, as the two clubs were scheduled to meet the next day 1 pm.
LOTSA BASEBALL AT THE END ... With the postponement of the second game to Aug. 31, the Flying Tigers will close out the season with six games against the Tampa Yankees in four days, including back-to-back doubleheaders at home on Friday, Aug. 30 at 5 pm and Saturday, Aug. 31 at 4 pm. The Flying Tigers are 4-10 in doubleheaders this season. They have won both games of a twin bill just once while being swept in four dual events. The have split two doubleheaders.
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 1,800-1,655 record entering the Tampa 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.
MINOR LEAGUES, SMALL WORLD ... Lakeland manager Dave Huppert won his 1,800th game on Aug. 17. One of the managers he is ahead of on the list of winningest minor league managers is Doc Edwards who was Huppert’s coach at Rochester, the Orioles’ AAA affiliate. In 1981, Rochester battled Pawtuckett for 33 innings—the longest game in professional baseball history—with Huppert catching 31 innings of the game. Also in that game were future MLB Hall of Famers Cal Ripken (Rochester) and Wade Boggs (Pawtuckett). The fourth winningest manager in the minor leagues is former Lakeland skipper John Lipon who racked up 2,185 wins, including 379 in five seasons with Lakeland from 1988-92.
UP NEXT ... Following this series, Lakeland heads west to play three games against Clearwater on Aug. 23-25 and then travels to the east coast for a final rematch against Brevard County on Aug. 27-29.
THE FLYING TIGERS (55-62, 25-24, 2nd, 5.0 GB) ... Lakeland is looking to snap out of a funk that has seen the team drop five of the last six games including two games to Tampa over the weekend (the suspended game won by the Flying Tigers on Saturday—and all of its statistics—actually counts as having taken place on July 4 when the game began). Lakeland has scored two or fewer runs in each of those five losses while the one win was a 14-9 victory on Aug. 15 at Dunedin. Clearwater has won five straight and now is just 1/2 game behind Lakeland in the standings. Jason Krizan is sixth in the Florida State League with a .295 batting average and fourth with a .392 on-base percentage.
THE MANATEES (61-60, 5th, 8.5 GB) ... Brevard County lost two of three games to Daytona over the weekend and has now lost six of its last nine games. Nick Ramirez is tied for second in the Florida State League with 18 home runs, but has not gone deep since July 14. He also ranks third with 201 total bases; fourth with 74 runs batted in; fifth with 44 extra-base hits and has struck out a league-high 156 strikeouts. Brett Suter is fourth in the FSL with a 3.14 ERA while Tommy Toledo is tied for third with 16 saves. The Manatees are hitting .241 as a team, the lowest team batting average in the Florida State League, and have scored the fewest runs of any league team. Ironically, the club has hit the second most homers in the FSL.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
8/20 (GM1) - RHP Kevin Eichhorn (2-5, 3.59 ERA) ... Eichhorn did not factor into the decision in his last outing on Aug. 14 despite allowing just one run on three hits with six strikeouts. He came on in relief in that game of Octavio Dotel, who made a MLB rehab start, and was tagged with four runs on five hits in just 0.2 innings. Eichhorn is 1-1 with a 3.47 in his last four appearances (including three starts).
8/20 (GM2) - TBA
8/21 - LHP Kyle Ryan (11-6, 3.16) ... Ryan got the win in his last start on Aug. 15 at Dunedin despite tying his season-high with seven runs allowed—six earned—on eight hits in 5.0 innings as he left the game with a 12-7 lead. He is 8-2 in his last 14 starts with a 2.97 ERA. Ryan ranks fifth in the FSL with a 3.16 ERA and is tied for the league leading with 11 wins. He also ranked fifth with 128.0 innings pitched.
8/22 - RHP Tommy Collier (2-3, 4.78 ERA) ... Collier allowed a season-high six runs and nine hits in 5.0 innings in his last start on Aug. 16 at Tampa. He is now 0-1 with a 6.60 ERA in his last three starts since posting his last win on July 28. Collier has worked exactly 5.0 innings in each of his last seven outings.
SEASON SERIES ... Lakeland has managed just two wins in 11 tries against Brevard County, the last coming on June 29 in a 5-4, 11-inning contest. The Manatees have posted three shutouts in the series, including an 8-0, six-inning blanking in a rain-shortened game on June 30—the two clubs’ last meeting. Brevard County has outscored Lakeland 56-33 in the series and has hit 11 homers in the 11 games as compared to three by Lakeland.
STRONG ARMS ... Since May 21, the Lakeland trio of Jeff Ferrell, Wilsen Palacio and Kyle Ryan has combined for a 18-9 record and a 2.90 ERA. The threesome rank in the top four in the Florida State League in terms of earned run average during that time with Ferrell (6-2) and Palacios (4-5) tied for second with a 2.86 mark and Ryan (8-2) close behind with a 2.97 ERA.
STEADY DOES IT ... Jason Krizan has hits in 11 of his last 12 games, including the last five, and is 16x40 (.400) during that stretch dating back to Aug. 4.
TRAVIS HANGS AT #5 ... Devon Travis enters this series tied with Jupiter’s Brett Keys for fifth among all minor league batters with a combined .353 batting average between Lakeland and West Michigan. The duo sit atop all Class A players (advanced A and low A).
RARE PINCH-HITTER ... Aaron Westlake stepped to the plate to pinch hit for catcher Adolfo Reina on Saturday in the suspended July 4 game. With bases loaded, Westlake cleared them with a triple to lift Lakeland to a 10-8 victory. It was just the second pinch-hit appearance by a Flying Tiger this season. Ironically, Westlake was the first Flying Tiger to be pinch hit for when he left the May 11 game for catcher Luis Sanz after an injury.
SNAPPED ... Chad Jones saw his seven-game hitting streak snapped on August 16 in his only appearance during the Tampa series. During the streak, he was 12x24 (.500) with five runs scored, four doubles and three runs batted in. He is now 12x27 (.444) his last eight games played.
NEW CREW MEMBER ... Lakeland added another pitcher on Saturday as former Flying Tiger Michael Morrison rejoined the club from AA Erie. Morrison, who played in Lakeland in 2010 and 2011, was 3-3 with a 7.13 ERA in 30 relief appearances for the SeaWolves.
FINALLY PLAYED ... Way back on July 4, the Flying Tigers were set to entertain the Yankees in a celebration of our nation’s birthday. What they got instead was a lot of rain, forcing the game to be delayed for three hours and nine minutes before getting underway only to be suspended after just two batters. When the game resumed on Aug. 17, Mother Nature was again an uninvited guest, causing another 2:02 in delays for a total of 5:11. The game itself took 3:08 to play (much of it played in the rain) forcing the second game, which would have started at 10 pm to postponded to Aug. 31, as the two clubs were scheduled to meet the next day 1 pm.
LOTSA BASEBALL AT THE END ... With the postponement of the second game to Aug. 31, the Flying Tigers will close out the season with six games against the Tampa Yankees in four days, including back-to-back doubleheaders at home on Friday, Aug. 30 at 5 pm and Saturday, Aug. 31 at 4 pm. The Flying Tigers are 4-10 in doubleheaders this season. They have won both games of a twin bill just once while being swept in four dual events. The have split two doubleheaders.
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 1,800-1,655 record entering the Tampa 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.
MINOR LEAGUES, SMALL WORLD ... Lakeland manager Dave Huppert won his 1,800th game on Aug. 17. One of the managers he is ahead of on the list of winningest minor league managers is Doc Edwards who was Huppert’s coach at Rochester, the Orioles’ AAA affiliate. In 1981, Rochester battled Pawtuckett for 33 innings—the longest game in professional baseball history—with Huppert catching 31 innings of the game. Also in that game were future MLB Hall of Famers Cal Ripken (Rochester) and Wade Boggs (Pawtuckett). The fourth winningest manager in the minor leagues is former Lakeland skipper John Lipon who racked up 2,185 wins, including 379 in five seasons with Lakeland from 1988-92.
UP NEXT ... Following this series, Lakeland heads west to play three games against Clearwater on Aug. 23-25 and then travels to the east coast for a final rematch against Brevard County on Aug. 27-29.
Friday, August 16, 2013
Mission Notes vs. Tampa (Aug. 16-18)
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.
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.
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Mission Notes vs. Dunedin (Aug. 13-15)
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.
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.
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Mission Notes vs. Clearwater (Aug. 10-12)
THE SERIES ... All three games of this series will be played at Lakeland’s Joker Marchant Stadium. Game one is Saturday at 6 p.m. with game two Sunday at 1 p.m. The series finale is set for Monday at 6:30 p.m.
THE FLYING TIGERS (51-56, 21-18, 2nd, 2.5 GB) ... Lakeland brings a five-game win streak into this series after taking two from Dunedin at home on Wednesday and Thursday (Friday’s game was rained out). The Flying Tigers have won eight of their last ten outings and 16 of their last 24 games. Lakeland batters have stuck out the fewest times of any Florida State League team.
THE THRESHERS (55-56, 20-23, T-4th, 5.5 GB) ... Clearwater split two games in a recent home series against Dunedin with the third game rained out. The Threshers took the opener 6-5 in 10 innings with the Cubs extracting revenge in an 11-0 blowout the next night. Clearwater has now lost five of its last seven contests. Aaron Altherr is tied for the FSL lead with 32 doubles and is second with 48 extra-base hits while Carlos Alonso is third with 63 runs scored. Hoby Milner is tied with two others, including Lakeland’s Kyle Ryan, for the league lead with 10 wins while Perci Garner is tied for third with 95 strikeouts and is fourth with 119.2 innings pitched. Clearwater’s staff earned run average of 4.15 is highest in the league. One reason may be the fact that the Threshers have the top defense in the league with a .978 fielding percentage.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
8/10 - 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 given up just two runs total in his last 15.0 innings in three starts and is 4-1 with a 1.16 ERA in his last six starts since June 27. Ryan is 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA in four starts against Clearwater with 19 strikeouts and just four walks in 22.0 innings.
8/11 - RHP Tommy Collier (2-2, 4.15 ERA) ... Collier gave up three runs on nine hits in his last start on Aug. 4 against Jupiter with four strikeouts and three walks. He is 2-2 with a 2.48 ERA in his last six starts since returning off the disabled list on July 6 and has lasted exactly 5.0 innings in each of his last five starts. Collier is 0-1 with a 2.25 ERA in his one previous start against the Threshers.
8/12 - RHP Jeff Ferrell (5-5, 3.77 ERA) ... Ferrell got the win in his last start on Aug, 5 against Jupiter despite allowing five runs on seven hits in 5.0 innings. He is just 2-0 in his last seven starts dating back to June 24 with a 4.07 ERA. During that stretch of seven games, he worked 6.0 or more innings in five starts. Ferrell is 0-0 with a 9.00 is his one previous start versus Clearwater.
SEASON SERIES ... Lakeland and Clearwater have battled 12 times this season with each club emerging as victors six times. The Flying Tigers won the first four while the Threshers have won six of the last eight. Lakeland has batted .298 in the series with Jeff McVaney leading the way with 13 hits in the 12 games. Tyler Hanover has 12 hits in 10 games and Jason Krizan also has 12 hits in his 12 games played versus Clearwater.
DEVINE DEVON ... Although he has “cooled off” a little in his last four games (5x18, .278), Devon Travis is still hitting for a .383 average in his 30 games played for the Flying Tigers. Against Dunedin on August 7, he went 4x5, including a pair of homers, for three runs scored and a career-high seven runs batted in. He is now batting .390 versus lefthanders and .380 against righties. Throw in his .352 average in 77 games at West Michigan and Travis has a .361 average – a mark that is fourth best among all minor league hitters this season. Heading into this series, he tops all Class A hitters.
VERILY VALDEZ ... Jose Valdez posted his 11th save in 12 opportunities with 1.0 inning pitched on Thursday. Coupled with 16 saves at West Michigan and Valdez is tied for third among all minor league relievers with 27 saves.
AMAZIN’ JASON ... Jason Krizan has seven hits his last four games (7x14) with two hits in a game three times. He has driven in at least one run in six straight games for a total of 11 RBI since July 30. Krizan is tied for eighth in the Florida State League with a .288 batting average.
FRANKLY FRANCISCO ... Francisco Martinez has seven hits in his last four games as well with five runs scored and seven more runs batted in. He has three doubles and a triple in the four games as well. He is batting .307 in 23 home games and .303 in 28 road games.
SNAPPED ... Luis Sanz saw his eight-game hit streak come to a close on August 7 as he was held hitless in three at bats. He was 12x28 during the streak for a .429 clip with six runs scored and six RBI. Sanz is batting .300 (21x70) in 22 away games, but is hitting .200 (15x75) in 23 home games.
A TWO-FER NIGHT ... Chad Wright has had two or more hits in 10 of his last 18 games and has scored at least one run in 10 of the last 11 games, including a four-tally night on August 7 against Dunedin.
STAY-CATION ... Dixon Machado is batting .271 (13x48) in 12 games played at Joker Marchant Stadium but just .155 (9x58) in 13 road games.
BOMBS AWAY ... Devon Travis and Aaron Westlake each clubbed a pair of homers on August 7 as the Flying Tigers thrashed the Blue Jays 19-6, scoring the most runs since a 21-0 blanking of the Kissimmee Astros on April 29, 1996. Travis finished with four hits on the night for a career-high seven runs batted in. Westlake added four RBI while Steven Moya had three hits and three runs knocked in. Francisco Martinez got into the act with three hits of his own as Lakeland totalled 15 hits on the night, including five doubles, a triple, and the aforementioned four homers.
NEXT LEVEL POWER ... Four former Flying Tigers rank 2nd through 5th among Detroit minor leaguers in home runs. Tyler Collins is second with 17 homers for Double-A Erie while a trio of Toledo hitters are next in Ben Guez (16), Jordan Lennerton (15) and Nick Castellanos (13).
DRIVE ‘EM IN ... Flying Tiger Devon Travis is fifth in the Detroit organization with a combined 61 runs batted in while Erie’s Tyler Collins is third with 67 RBI and Toledo’s Nick Castellanos is fourth with 64 runs driven in.
LET’S PLAY TWO (A LOT) ... It’s an Ernie Banks type of a close to the regular season with the Flying Tigers as the club has four doubleheaders currently scheduled over the final three weeks of the season. The first takes place Tuesday, Aug. 13 at Dunedin as the two clubs make up Friday’s night rain out in Lakeland. The second twin-bill takes place Saturday, Aug. 17 in Lakeland as the Flying Tigers and Yankees pick up their suspended game from July 4. The third doubleheader is also in Lakeland against Brevard, a make-up of a rained out game on July 1. The fourth two-fer is at home, again against Tampa, making up a July 5 rain out.
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 1,796-1,649 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 ... The Flying Tigers head to Dunedin for four games on April 13-15 and then play at Tampa for one contest on Aug. 16 before returning to Lakeland on Aug. 17 for one game.
THE FLYING TIGERS (51-56, 21-18, 2nd, 2.5 GB) ... Lakeland brings a five-game win streak into this series after taking two from Dunedin at home on Wednesday and Thursday (Friday’s game was rained out). The Flying Tigers have won eight of their last ten outings and 16 of their last 24 games. Lakeland batters have stuck out the fewest times of any Florida State League team.
THE THRESHERS (55-56, 20-23, T-4th, 5.5 GB) ... Clearwater split two games in a recent home series against Dunedin with the third game rained out. The Threshers took the opener 6-5 in 10 innings with the Cubs extracting revenge in an 11-0 blowout the next night. Clearwater has now lost five of its last seven contests. Aaron Altherr is tied for the FSL lead with 32 doubles and is second with 48 extra-base hits while Carlos Alonso is third with 63 runs scored. Hoby Milner is tied with two others, including Lakeland’s Kyle Ryan, for the league lead with 10 wins while Perci Garner is tied for third with 95 strikeouts and is fourth with 119.2 innings pitched. Clearwater’s staff earned run average of 4.15 is highest in the league. One reason may be the fact that the Threshers have the top defense in the league with a .978 fielding percentage.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
8/10 - 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 given up just two runs total in his last 15.0 innings in three starts and is 4-1 with a 1.16 ERA in his last six starts since June 27. Ryan is 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA in four starts against Clearwater with 19 strikeouts and just four walks in 22.0 innings.
8/11 - RHP Tommy Collier (2-2, 4.15 ERA) ... Collier gave up three runs on nine hits in his last start on Aug. 4 against Jupiter with four strikeouts and three walks. He is 2-2 with a 2.48 ERA in his last six starts since returning off the disabled list on July 6 and has lasted exactly 5.0 innings in each of his last five starts. Collier is 0-1 with a 2.25 ERA in his one previous start against the Threshers.
8/12 - RHP Jeff Ferrell (5-5, 3.77 ERA) ... Ferrell got the win in his last start on Aug, 5 against Jupiter despite allowing five runs on seven hits in 5.0 innings. He is just 2-0 in his last seven starts dating back to June 24 with a 4.07 ERA. During that stretch of seven games, he worked 6.0 or more innings in five starts. Ferrell is 0-0 with a 9.00 is his one previous start versus Clearwater.
SEASON SERIES ... Lakeland and Clearwater have battled 12 times this season with each club emerging as victors six times. The Flying Tigers won the first four while the Threshers have won six of the last eight. Lakeland has batted .298 in the series with Jeff McVaney leading the way with 13 hits in the 12 games. Tyler Hanover has 12 hits in 10 games and Jason Krizan also has 12 hits in his 12 games played versus Clearwater.
DEVINE DEVON ... Although he has “cooled off” a little in his last four games (5x18, .278), Devon Travis is still hitting for a .383 average in his 30 games played for the Flying Tigers. Against Dunedin on August 7, he went 4x5, including a pair of homers, for three runs scored and a career-high seven runs batted in. He is now batting .390 versus lefthanders and .380 against righties. Throw in his .352 average in 77 games at West Michigan and Travis has a .361 average – a mark that is fourth best among all minor league hitters this season. Heading into this series, he tops all Class A hitters.
VERILY VALDEZ ... Jose Valdez posted his 11th save in 12 opportunities with 1.0 inning pitched on Thursday. Coupled with 16 saves at West Michigan and Valdez is tied for third among all minor league relievers with 27 saves.
AMAZIN’ JASON ... Jason Krizan has seven hits his last four games (7x14) with two hits in a game three times. He has driven in at least one run in six straight games for a total of 11 RBI since July 30. Krizan is tied for eighth in the Florida State League with a .288 batting average.
FRANKLY FRANCISCO ... Francisco Martinez has seven hits in his last four games as well with five runs scored and seven more runs batted in. He has three doubles and a triple in the four games as well. He is batting .307 in 23 home games and .303 in 28 road games.
SNAPPED ... Luis Sanz saw his eight-game hit streak come to a close on August 7 as he was held hitless in three at bats. He was 12x28 during the streak for a .429 clip with six runs scored and six RBI. Sanz is batting .300 (21x70) in 22 away games, but is hitting .200 (15x75) in 23 home games.
A TWO-FER NIGHT ... Chad Wright has had two or more hits in 10 of his last 18 games and has scored at least one run in 10 of the last 11 games, including a four-tally night on August 7 against Dunedin.
STAY-CATION ... Dixon Machado is batting .271 (13x48) in 12 games played at Joker Marchant Stadium but just .155 (9x58) in 13 road games.
BOMBS AWAY ... Devon Travis and Aaron Westlake each clubbed a pair of homers on August 7 as the Flying Tigers thrashed the Blue Jays 19-6, scoring the most runs since a 21-0 blanking of the Kissimmee Astros on April 29, 1996. Travis finished with four hits on the night for a career-high seven runs batted in. Westlake added four RBI while Steven Moya had three hits and three runs knocked in. Francisco Martinez got into the act with three hits of his own as Lakeland totalled 15 hits on the night, including five doubles, a triple, and the aforementioned four homers.
NEXT LEVEL POWER ... Four former Flying Tigers rank 2nd through 5th among Detroit minor leaguers in home runs. Tyler Collins is second with 17 homers for Double-A Erie while a trio of Toledo hitters are next in Ben Guez (16), Jordan Lennerton (15) and Nick Castellanos (13).
DRIVE ‘EM IN ... Flying Tiger Devon Travis is fifth in the Detroit organization with a combined 61 runs batted in while Erie’s Tyler Collins is third with 67 RBI and Toledo’s Nick Castellanos is fourth with 64 runs driven in.
LET’S PLAY TWO (A LOT) ... It’s an Ernie Banks type of a close to the regular season with the Flying Tigers as the club has four doubleheaders currently scheduled over the final three weeks of the season. The first takes place Tuesday, Aug. 13 at Dunedin as the two clubs make up Friday’s night rain out in Lakeland. The second twin-bill takes place Saturday, Aug. 17 in Lakeland as the Flying Tigers and Yankees pick up their suspended game from July 4. The third doubleheader is also in Lakeland against Brevard, a make-up of a rained out game on July 1. The fourth two-fer is at home, again against Tampa, making up a July 5 rain out.
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 1,796-1,649 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 ... The Flying Tigers head to Dunedin for four games on April 13-15 and then play at Tampa for one contest on Aug. 16 before returning to Lakeland on Aug. 17 for one game.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Mission Notes vs. Dunedin (Aug. 7-9)
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.
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.
Friday, August 2, 2013
Mission Notes vs. Jupiter (Aug. 2-5)
THE SERIES ... Lakeland will play all four games of this series at Jupiter’s Roger Dean Stadium on August 2-5. Game time for Friday and Saturday is 6:35 p.m. with Sunday’s game slated for a 5:05 p.m. first pitch. The series finale on Monday is set for 6:35 p.m. The games will be carried live on the Hammerheads’ website.
THE FLYING TIGERS (46-55, 16-17, T-2nd North, 4.0 GB) ... Lakeland split a pair of games with Charlotte and lost two games to rain earlier this week. The Stone Crabs took the opener 6-3 after scoring three runs in the top of the ninth while Lakeland came back to win game two of the series 8-4 behind a combined seven hits by Devon Travis and Dixon Machado. The final two games were rained out and lost to the schedule as the two clubs do not face each other this season. Lakeland has now won three of the last four games and five of the last eight. Kyle Ryan and Wilsen Palacios rank sixth and eighth, respectively, with ERAs of 3.00 and 3.42 on the year. Ryan is also tied with a league-high nine saves while Palacios is tied with two others for fifth with 88 strikeouts.
THE HAMMERHEADS (56-52, 20-20, 5th South, 2.5 game lead) ... Jupiter fell 5-4 to Brevard County in 10 innings on Wednesday and is 4-6 in its last 10 games after having a seven-game win streak snapped on July 22. The Hammerheads are led by the top hitter in the Florida State League in Brent Keys who is hitting .351 on the season. Keys has been on fire the last two weeks, putting together a 30x68 effort for a blistering .441 average. It is no surprise that he also leads the FSL with a .425 on-base percentage and is tied for fourth with 105 hits. A Hammerhead also leads the FSL in ERA as Justin Nicolino, who was promoted to AA Jacksonville in mid-July, has a league-best 2.23 ERA. Jose Urena is one of four pitchers tied for the FSL lead with nine wins while closer Nick Wittgren has a league-leading 20 saves. Jupiter does its magic with the pitching as the club leads the league with a 3.10 staff ERA.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
8/02 - RHP Kevin Eichhorn (1-4, 3.68) ... Eichhorn tossed five no-hit, shutout innings in his last start on July 26 against St. Lucie, but Lakeland was shutout 2-0. Eichhorn, who was on the disabled list from May 26-July 19, is looking for his first win since May 14 when he threw 7.0 shutout innings of two-hit ball at Dunedin.
8/03 - LHP Kyle Ryan (9-6, 3.00 ERA) ... Ryan was activated off the DL on August 2 after missing one start with a blister. In his last start on July 22 at Bradenton, he worked through the third inning and held the Marauders scoreless on four hits and four strikeouts. He is 3-1 his last five starts with a 1.80 ERA and 20 strikeouts and six walks. Ryan took the loss in a start against Jupiter on May 5, giving up three runs on three hits with four Ks and three walks.
8/04 - RHP Tommy Collier (2-2, 3.97 ERA) ... Collier no-hit St. Lucie over 5.0 innings in his last start on July 28. He struck out six in that game and walked two in picking up his second straight win. Collie is 2-2 with a 1.88 ERA in five starts since coming the disabled list. He has not faced Jupiter previously.
8/5 - Jeff Ferrell (4-5, 3.49 ERA) ... Ferrell did not factor into the decision in his last start on July 29 against Charlotte after holding the Stone Crabs to three runs, two earned, on five hits with five strikeouts. Ferrell is 1-1 with a 3.56 ERA in his last seven starts with the win on July 24 at Bradenton. He did not get the decision in his start versus Jupiter on May 6 despite holding the Hammerheads to one run on three hits in 5.0 innings.
SEASON SERIES ... Jupiter took three of the four games played May 5-8 in Lakeland and outscored the Flying Tigers 17-8 in the four games. The Hammerheads won the first three games by scores of 3-2, 3-1, and 9-2 while the Flying Tigers avoided the sweep with a 3-2 in game four on a Jason Krizan walk-off triple.
LOCAL PRODUCT ... Hammerhead second baseman Yordy Cabrera was a second-round pick in 2010 out of Lakeland High School by the Oakland Athletics. He joined the Marlins organization in 2012 as part of a three team trade involving Heath Bell, Cliff Pennington and Chris Young.
BEST MONTH ... Lakeland posted a 13-10 record in July with a .277 team batting average and a 3.24 earned run average – all best marks for any month of the season.
DOWN SOUTH JUKIN’ ... With the Charlotte series, Lakeland completes it foray into the South Division with a 23-14 record. The Flying Tigers won their series with Bradenton (5-3), Charlotte (4-1), Fort Myers (6-2) and St. Lucie (5-2) while losing to Jupiter (1-3) and Palm Beach (2-3).
MARTINIZING ... Francisco Martinez had carried a hot bat the last 17 games, going 26x70 for a .371 average since July 10. He is also 8x16 last four games.
VIVA LA TRAVIS ... Devon Travis has hits in 17 of his last 18 games (including a 4x5 night on Tuesday) and is 31x75 (.413) since July 9 and 24x55 (.436) last 13 games since July 14.
FLYING HIGH ... The Flying Tigers are 3-1 in the last four games played and is 47x136 as a team for a .346 average. Going back over eight games, Lakeland is 84x272 (.309) and 163x532 (.306) the last 17 games.
KEEP GOING DEEP ... From June 25 to July 13, Lakeland batters hit a total of one home run. Since then, they have gone deep 12 times in the last 13 games matching the amount of homers in 25 games in June. The club hit a total of 18 homers over the first two months of the year.
RUNS HARD TO COME BY ... Lakeland has scored the fewest runs of any FSL team while Jupiter has crossed the plate the fourth fewest times. The Hammerheads have hit the fewest home runs of any club Lakeland, despite its recent surge in the long ball department, has hit the second fewest.
ROSTER MOVES ... Chad Wright got a belated birthday present on Tuesday as the outfielder was activated off the disabled list where he had been since June 29. Wright, who turned 24 on the 27th, was batting .265 for the Flying Tigers in 65 games prior to his injury. To make room on the 25-man roster, righthanded pitcher Josh Carr was transferred to the GCL. More moves on Friday as the club welcomed back Kyle Ryan who was activated from the disabled list after missing one start with a blister while Brennan Smith was placed on the DL, retroactive to July 31.
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 1,791-1,638 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.
GARCIA, VILLARREAL TRADED ... Former Flying Tigers Avisail Garcia and Brayan Villareal were involved in a three-team, seven player trade on Tuesday. Garcia, an outfielder who played in Lakeland mainly in 2010 and 2011, was shipped to the White Sox while Villarreal, who pitched for the Flying Tigers in 2010, went to Boston. Detroit received infielder Jose Iglesia while pitcher Jake Peavey, the key player in the trade, went from Chicago to Boston along with three minor leaguers. Both Garcia and Villarreal had spent time in the majors.
UP NEXT ... After a day off, the Flying Tigers return to Joker Marchant Stadium on Aug. 7 to open a six-game homestand with three games against Dunedin and then three contest versus Clearwater.
THE FLYING TIGERS (46-55, 16-17, T-2nd North, 4.0 GB) ... Lakeland split a pair of games with Charlotte and lost two games to rain earlier this week. The Stone Crabs took the opener 6-3 after scoring three runs in the top of the ninth while Lakeland came back to win game two of the series 8-4 behind a combined seven hits by Devon Travis and Dixon Machado. The final two games were rained out and lost to the schedule as the two clubs do not face each other this season. Lakeland has now won three of the last four games and five of the last eight. Kyle Ryan and Wilsen Palacios rank sixth and eighth, respectively, with ERAs of 3.00 and 3.42 on the year. Ryan is also tied with a league-high nine saves while Palacios is tied with two others for fifth with 88 strikeouts.
THE HAMMERHEADS (56-52, 20-20, 5th South, 2.5 game lead) ... Jupiter fell 5-4 to Brevard County in 10 innings on Wednesday and is 4-6 in its last 10 games after having a seven-game win streak snapped on July 22. The Hammerheads are led by the top hitter in the Florida State League in Brent Keys who is hitting .351 on the season. Keys has been on fire the last two weeks, putting together a 30x68 effort for a blistering .441 average. It is no surprise that he also leads the FSL with a .425 on-base percentage and is tied for fourth with 105 hits. A Hammerhead also leads the FSL in ERA as Justin Nicolino, who was promoted to AA Jacksonville in mid-July, has a league-best 2.23 ERA. Jose Urena is one of four pitchers tied for the FSL lead with nine wins while closer Nick Wittgren has a league-leading 20 saves. Jupiter does its magic with the pitching as the club leads the league with a 3.10 staff ERA.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
8/02 - RHP Kevin Eichhorn (1-4, 3.68) ... Eichhorn tossed five no-hit, shutout innings in his last start on July 26 against St. Lucie, but Lakeland was shutout 2-0. Eichhorn, who was on the disabled list from May 26-July 19, is looking for his first win since May 14 when he threw 7.0 shutout innings of two-hit ball at Dunedin.
8/03 - LHP Kyle Ryan (9-6, 3.00 ERA) ... Ryan was activated off the DL on August 2 after missing one start with a blister. In his last start on July 22 at Bradenton, he worked through the third inning and held the Marauders scoreless on four hits and four strikeouts. He is 3-1 his last five starts with a 1.80 ERA and 20 strikeouts and six walks. Ryan took the loss in a start against Jupiter on May 5, giving up three runs on three hits with four Ks and three walks.
8/04 - RHP Tommy Collier (2-2, 3.97 ERA) ... Collier no-hit St. Lucie over 5.0 innings in his last start on July 28. He struck out six in that game and walked two in picking up his second straight win. Collie is 2-2 with a 1.88 ERA in five starts since coming the disabled list. He has not faced Jupiter previously.
8/5 - Jeff Ferrell (4-5, 3.49 ERA) ... Ferrell did not factor into the decision in his last start on July 29 against Charlotte after holding the Stone Crabs to three runs, two earned, on five hits with five strikeouts. Ferrell is 1-1 with a 3.56 ERA in his last seven starts with the win on July 24 at Bradenton. He did not get the decision in his start versus Jupiter on May 6 despite holding the Hammerheads to one run on three hits in 5.0 innings.
SEASON SERIES ... Jupiter took three of the four games played May 5-8 in Lakeland and outscored the Flying Tigers 17-8 in the four games. The Hammerheads won the first three games by scores of 3-2, 3-1, and 9-2 while the Flying Tigers avoided the sweep with a 3-2 in game four on a Jason Krizan walk-off triple.
LOCAL PRODUCT ... Hammerhead second baseman Yordy Cabrera was a second-round pick in 2010 out of Lakeland High School by the Oakland Athletics. He joined the Marlins organization in 2012 as part of a three team trade involving Heath Bell, Cliff Pennington and Chris Young.
BEST MONTH ... Lakeland posted a 13-10 record in July with a .277 team batting average and a 3.24 earned run average – all best marks for any month of the season.
DOWN SOUTH JUKIN’ ... With the Charlotte series, Lakeland completes it foray into the South Division with a 23-14 record. The Flying Tigers won their series with Bradenton (5-3), Charlotte (4-1), Fort Myers (6-2) and St. Lucie (5-2) while losing to Jupiter (1-3) and Palm Beach (2-3).
MARTINIZING ... Francisco Martinez had carried a hot bat the last 17 games, going 26x70 for a .371 average since July 10. He is also 8x16 last four games.
VIVA LA TRAVIS ... Devon Travis has hits in 17 of his last 18 games (including a 4x5 night on Tuesday) and is 31x75 (.413) since July 9 and 24x55 (.436) last 13 games since July 14.
FLYING HIGH ... The Flying Tigers are 3-1 in the last four games played and is 47x136 as a team for a .346 average. Going back over eight games, Lakeland is 84x272 (.309) and 163x532 (.306) the last 17 games.
KEEP GOING DEEP ... From June 25 to July 13, Lakeland batters hit a total of one home run. Since then, they have gone deep 12 times in the last 13 games matching the amount of homers in 25 games in June. The club hit a total of 18 homers over the first two months of the year.
RUNS HARD TO COME BY ... Lakeland has scored the fewest runs of any FSL team while Jupiter has crossed the plate the fourth fewest times. The Hammerheads have hit the fewest home runs of any club Lakeland, despite its recent surge in the long ball department, has hit the second fewest.
ROSTER MOVES ... Chad Wright got a belated birthday present on Tuesday as the outfielder was activated off the disabled list where he had been since June 29. Wright, who turned 24 on the 27th, was batting .265 for the Flying Tigers in 65 games prior to his injury. To make room on the 25-man roster, righthanded pitcher Josh Carr was transferred to the GCL. More moves on Friday as the club welcomed back Kyle Ryan who was activated from the disabled list after missing one start with a blister while Brennan Smith was placed on the DL, retroactive to July 31.
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 1,791-1,638 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.
GARCIA, VILLARREAL TRADED ... Former Flying Tigers Avisail Garcia and Brayan Villareal were involved in a three-team, seven player trade on Tuesday. Garcia, an outfielder who played in Lakeland mainly in 2010 and 2011, was shipped to the White Sox while Villarreal, who pitched for the Flying Tigers in 2010, went to Boston. Detroit received infielder Jose Iglesia while pitcher Jake Peavey, the key player in the trade, went from Chicago to Boston along with three minor leaguers. Both Garcia and Villarreal had spent time in the majors.
UP NEXT ... After a day off, the Flying Tigers return to Joker Marchant Stadium on Aug. 7 to open a six-game homestand with three games against Dunedin and then three contest versus Clearwater.
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