THE SERIES ... After a six-game homestand, Lakeland hits the road for six games. The away games start Monday at Brevard County at Space Coast Stadium at 6:35 pm. On Tuesday, the two teams do battle at Holman Stadium in Vero Beach in the inaugural Jackie Robinson Celebration Game at 6:30 pm. It’s the first game at Historic Tigertown since August 30, 2008. The series concludes on Wednesday at 6:30 pm back at Space Coast Stadium.
THE FLYING TIGERS (7-3, 2nd, 1.0 GB) ... Lakeland’s pitchers allowed just a pair of runs in sweeping Clearwater and posted a 0.67 ERA in the three-game series against the struggling Threshers. The Flying Tigers posted sandwiched a pair of shutouts around a dramatic 4-2 win in the middle game to move into sole possession of second place, one game behind the division-leading Blue Jays. Lakeland, which is 5-3 at home and 2-0 on the road, has now won four in a row and seven of its last nine games overall. The club enters this series with the second-best record in the Florida State League. The Flying Tigers have the second lowest staff ERA (2.10) in the league and have tossed a league-best three shutouts. The team batting average of .220 is 10th in the Florida State League. Jeff McVaney and Lance Durham lead the Lakeland attack with .323 and .320 batting averages, respectively.
THE MANATEES (6-4, T-3rd, 2.0 GB) ... Brevard County dropped the last two games to Dunedin scoring two runs in each of the two losses. The club has lost three of its last four contests and enters the series as one of five teams in the FSL with a 6-4 record. The Manatees are 1-1 at home this season having played eight of their first ten games on the road. Brevard County is struggling at the plate with a .216 team batting average with only one player, Tyrone Taylor at .293, hitting higher than .257 on the season. Like the Flying Tigers, the Manatees have hit one home run. Michael Reed leads the FSL with seven stolen bases while closer Tanner Poppe is tied for the league-lead with three saves.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
4/14 - RHP Edgar De La Rosa (0-2, 2.00 ERA) ... De La Rosa is looking for his first win of the 2014 season. He has allowed five runs in two starts (only two were earned) with seven strikeouts, zero walks, and 10 hits allowed in 9.0 innings. Against Brevard on April 9, he took the loss after allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits with three Ks.
4/15 - LHP Jordan John (1-0, 4.50 ERA) ... John was tagged for five runs on seven hits in 7.0 innings a no-decision start on April 10 against Brevard County. All five of those runs came in the second inning. In his first start on April 4 at Tampa, he gave up one run on two hits with six strikeouts in 5.0 innings.
4/16 - RHP Jake Thompson (2-0, 0.00 ERA) ... Thompson worked 6.2 shutout innings in a win over Clearwater on April 11 with five strikeouts, two walks and four hits allowed. He has not allowed a run in 11.2 innings over his last two starts with 12 strikeouts. Including his last three starts of 2013 at West Michigan, Thompson is 3-0 record with a 0.98 ERA, 35 strikeouts, 11 walks, and 16 hits allowed in his last five starts.
BREVARD COUNTY PROBABLE STARTERS
4/14 - RHP Tyler Wagner (2-0, 0.87 ERA) ... Wagner worked 5.1 innings with six strikeouts while holding to Lakeland to a three hits and one run in a 4-1 Manatees win on April 9.
4/15 - RHP Damien Magnifico (0-0, 4.22 ERA) ... Magnifico tosed 5.0 innings in a no decision at Lakeland on April 10. The Flying Tigers rang up four runs against him on five hits.
4/16 - Jed Bradley (1-1, 7.71 ERA) ... Bradley did not face Lakeland in the first series. In his first outing, he was tagged for seven runs on nine hits in 4.1 innings against Daytona, but came back with 5.0 strong innings at Dunedin on April 11, holding the Blue Jays to one run on four hits with six strikeouts.
WRIGHT THERE ... Chad Wright has gone 5-for-10 (.500) his last three starts with three runs scored.
WALK-OFF HOMER ... Austin Green picked a perfect time to hit the team’s first homer of the year, driving a pitch over the left field wall in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift Lakeland to a 4-2 win over Clearwater in front of 4,010 fans on Saturday night. It was Green’s third homer of his career and it gave the Flying Tigers their second walk-off win of the season. It was the first walk-off homer for a Flying Tiger since Steven Moya luanched a solo shot on June 13, 2013 to defeat Bradenton.
DURHAM STREAK ... Lance Durham enters the series with hits in his last four games, going 5x15 (.333) with three runs scored. His .469 on-base percentage is fourth best in the league.
TWO-TIMING McVANEY ... Jeff McVaney has had two hits in a game four times this season and has hit a double in five of his last seven games. Since going 0-for-3 in the season opener, the Flying Tigers outfielder is 10-for-28 (.357) with seven runs driven in. His five doubles on the year is tied for second most in the Florida State League.
CURT WELCOME ... Newcomer Curt Powell has hits in both of his games played since joining Lakeland on April 11 and is 3-for-7 (.429) in those two games with a run scored in his first game on April 12.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES... In his last outing of 2013, Kevin Eichhorn was tagged for seven runs on ten hits in a 5.0 inning start in a loss at Tampa. This year, he has been lights out, not allowing a runner to cross home plate in 8.1 innings over two long relief outings. He has struck out seven and has not walked a batter in the two games. Eichhorn is one of eight pitchers, including teammate Jake Thompson, having not allowed an earned run through at least 8.0 innings of work. His 0.48 WHIP (walks + hits per inning pitched) is third lowest in the FSL.
MAKING IT COUNT ... Guido Knudson has picked up a win and two saves in his three relief appearances so far this season. He has racked up ten strikeouts in 4.2 innings including eight punch outs in his last 3.0 innings out of the pen. His 19.29 strikeouts per nine innings is best in the league. He has also not allowed a base hit through 13 opponents’ at bats this season over 4.2 innings.
TOP TWO FIELDING TEAMS ... Brevard County leads the Florida State League with a .984 fielding percentage with a league-low six errors while Lakeland is second with a .980 mark and just eight errors.
ROSTER MOVES ... Infielder Brandon Loy has been promoted to AA Erie to take the roster spot vacated when Devon Travis was placed on the disabled list with a right oblique strain. To take Loy’s place on the Lakeland roster, infielder Curt Powell, a former 21st round pick by Detroit in 2013, was added to the roster from West Michigan.
THE SKIPPER ... Manager Dave Huppert, a member of the 2012 FSL Hall of Fame Class, is in his 27th season as a minor league manager and is the active winningest manager in the minors. He ranks 21st all-time with 1,816 career wins (1,816-1,665) entering this series. He has a 208-203 record in three seasons with the Flying Tigers. In 2012, he led Lakeland to the Florida State League Championship to record his fourth overall championship and his third title 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 six-game road trip with three games at Clearwater Threshers on Thursday (7:00 pm), Friday (6:30 pm), and Saturday (6:30 pm). After taking Sunday, April 20 off, the Flying Tigers return to Lakeland on Monday, April 21 to open a three-game set against Dunedin.
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