THE SERIES ... Lakeland ventures outside the North Division for the first time and heads to Bradenton for a four-game series against the Marauders on May 12-15 with all games getting underway at 6:30 pm. Last season, Lakeland won five of the eight meetings between the two clubs, but split the four games played at McKechnie Field.
THE FLYING TIGERS (23-12, 2nd North, 3.0 GB) ... Lakeland is coming off a series with Tampa having taken three of the four games. The Flying Tigers have now won three in a row, five of their last six, and 10 of their last 12. Since being swept by Brevard County on April 14-16, Lakeland is 16-6, but still remains in second place where they have been since April 18, trailing Dunedin by three games. Lakeland has three pitchers in the FSL top ten in terms of ERA in Jake Thompson (3rd, 1.07—he is also fifth with 39 strikeouts), Kevin Eichhorn (7th, 1.78), and Josh Turley (8th, 1.91) while Guido Knudson is tied for fourth with five saves. Connor Harrell is one of three players tied for fourth in the league with six homers while Dixon Machado is fourth with 26 runs scored. The Flying Tigers staff ERA of 3.02 is third best in the FSL while the .242 team batting average is tied with Bradenton for eighth best.
THE MANATEES (18-18, 3rd South, 3.0 GB) ... Bradenton split its four-game series with Charlotte, but has dropped its last two and is 2-4 its last six games. The Marauders staff ERA of 3.62 is sixth best in the league while the .242 team batting average is tied with Lakeland for eighth. Jonathan Schwind leads the team with a .317 average while Josh Bell is batting .287 with eight hits in the last five games.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
5/12 - LHP Josh Turley (3-0, 1.91 ERA) ... Turley has won his last two starts and has allowed just one run in his last 13.0 innings in those two starts. In his last start on May 6 at Daytona, he allowed the one run on four hits in 6.2 innings with four strikeouts and two walks. Turley is 2-0 with a 2.00 in three starts after posting a 1-0 record and a 1.74 in five appearances out of the bullpen.
5/13 - RHP Kevin Eichhorn (2-0, 1.78 ERA) ... Eichhorn had his longest outing of the year in his last start on May 7 at Tampa, working 7.0 shutout innings. He struck out four and walked one while allowing four hits, but did not factor into the decision. Eichhorn has given up just two runs in his last 18.0 innings in his last three starts with 11 strikeouts and four walks. He is 2-0 with a 1.96 ERA in four starts after going 0-0 with a 1.46 ERA in three previously relief appearances.
5/14 - RHP Jake Thompson (3-1, 1.07 ERA) ... Thompson worked 5.0 innings in his last start on May 8 at home against Tampa. In that game, he held the Yankees to one run on two hits with four strikeouts, but did not get the win as Lakeland had to rally in the eighth for the win. Thompson has only posted one win in his last four starts.
5/15 - RHP Yorfrank Lopez (1-2, 6.83 ERA) ... Lopez held Daytona to one run on a pair of hits in his last start on May 4 at the Cubs. He worked a season-high 7.0 innings in that start and it followed his shortest outing of the year (2.2 innings) on April 28. All three of his decisions have come at Joker Marchant Stadium.
SON OF A TIGER ... Bradenton pitcher Robby Rowland is the son of former Detroit and Red Sox catcher, Rich Rowland.
GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS ... With a .657 winning percentage entering this series, the Flying Tigers are tied for the sixth-best record in the minor leagues. Unfortunately, fellow FSL North Division rival, Dunedin, has the second-best record with a .743 winning percentage, trailing only Hagerstown (Washington) which has a .788 mark and a 26-7 record.
DOUBLE TIME ... Lakeland cranked out 12 doubles in the Tampa series including four each in games two and four.
THE BULLISH PEN ... The Flying Tigers bullpen has allowed just five earned runs in the last 11 games for a 1.25 ERA over that span. In the last two games, relievers have recorded 12 strikeouts in 8.2 innings. The starters have surrendered 13 earned runs in the same 11 games for a 1.64 ERA.
ANOTHER ARM ON THE DL ... Pitcher Edgar De La Rosa was placed on the disabled list on May 9 joining fellow starter Endrys Briceno and relievers Joe Rogers and Jade Todd. De La Rosa was 1-3 with a 2.78 ERA In seven starts for the Flying Tigers. Taking the vacated roster spot is catcher Chris Taladay from Extended Spring Training. Taladay was signed as a non-drafted free agent by Detroit in 2013 out of the University of Central Florida where he was the Conference USA Player of the Year.
BAILEY TAKES THE HILL ... With Edgar De La Rosa going on the Disabled List, Manager Dave Huppert turned to Tanner Bailey to take over in the starting rotation. Taking the hill against the Yankees for his first career start, Bailey worked 4.1 innings and gave up a pair of earned runs on three hits.
TWO FOR TYLER ... Reliever Tyler Clark has picked up wins in each of his last two appearances out of the bullpen, recording six of his nine outs via the strikeout while pitching 3.0 shutout innings.
NASTY NESBITT ... Angel Nesbitt has registered a save in each of his last three appearances out of the bullpen for Lakeland.
CLIMB ANOTHER RUNG ... Lakeland manager Dave Huppert, already the winningest active manager in the minors with a 1,832-1,674 record over 26-plus seasons, is now tied with Roy Majtyka for 19th place on the all-time victories list for minor league managers. Majtyka coached 27 seasons (1968-97) in the Cardinals (8 years), Reds (4), Tigers (5), Braves (4), and Phillies (6) organizations. Next up for Huppert is Jack Lelivelt, who is in 18th place with a 1,861-1,439 in 20 seasons from 1920-1940.
FORMER FLYING TIGER LOY INJURED ... Brandon Loy, who began the season with the Flying Tigers and is now with AA Erie, was injured in a game May 7. The shortstop collided with centerfielder Jamie Johnson and was taken off the field on a cart with an injury reported by TigsTown.com as a broken leg and/or ankle.
UP NEXT ... The Flying Tigers make up for all the recent road trips with eight straight home games at Joker Marchant Stadium from May 16-19 against St. Lucie and May 20-23 against Charlotte.
WHEN A 16-RUN LEAD JUST ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH ... On May 7, the Burlington Bees were well on their way to crushing the Clinton LumberKings, taking a 17-1 lead after five innings. Clinton then plated six runs in the top of the sixth inning to cut the lead to 17-7. Two innings later, five more LumberKing batters crossed the plate to be followed an inning later by five more Clinton runs as the game was now tied 17-17 to send the contest into extra innings. The LumberKings slowed down a little, but came across with three more runs in the top of the 12th to post an incredible 20-17 win after trailing by 16 runs!
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