Mission Notes vs. Palm Beach (May 31-June 3)

THE SERIES ... Lakeland hosts Palm Beach for four games May 31-June 3. The series gets underway on Saturday, May 31 at 5 pm with a special Sunset Celebration game and continues on Sunday, June 1 at 1 pm. Games three and four are set for 6:30 pm on Monday and Tuesday.  

THE FLYING TIGERS (34-20, 2nd North, 4.5 GB) ... Lakeland enters this series having won five straight including a four-game series sweep at Jupiter. The Flying Tigers cranked out 18 hits Friday night, marking the third straight game in double digits and the eighth time in the last 12 games they have had 10 or more hits in a game. Since May 19, Lakeland is batting .278 as a team. The starting pitching staff has been outstanding of late, allowing just one earned run in the last five starts for a 0.26 ERA. Jake Thompson (5-1) is third in the Florida State League with a 1.64 ERA with Kevin Eichhorn (4-0) next at 1.73 and Josh Turley (4-0) ninth with a 2.08 ERA. The bullpen has also been impressive, posting a 2.20 earned run average since May 22. Angel Nesbitt is the active leader in the FSL with 10 saves as Dunedin’s Arik Sikula (15 saves) has been promoted to AA. The Flying Tigers have the third lowest staff ERA (2.88) in the league while the team batting average of .253 is seventh.

THE CARDINALS (26-28, 6th South, 5.5 GB) ... Palm Beach has won three straight entering this series, having outscored Daytona 22-5 in the last three games of their series with the Cubs. Since May 21, the Cardinals are 8-2. Breyvic Valera is fifth in the FSL with a .326 batting average and second with 71 hits while David Washington is fourth with eight homers. The Cardinals are the third-best hitting team in the league with a .259 team batting average and have scored the third most runs. The staff ERA of 3.21 is sixth.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS

5/31 RHP Yorfrank Lopez (2-3, 5.40 ERA) ... Lopez tossed 7.0 scoreless innings in his last start on May 25 at Dunedin, holding the Blue Jays to two hits with three strikeouts and two walks. The 7.0 innings matched his longest outing of the year. For the month of May, he has made five starts and is 1-1 with a 3.07 ERA. In five starts in April, he was 1-2 with a 8.71 earned run average.

6/01 LHP Josh Turley (4-0, 2.08 ERA) ... Turley threw a season-high 8.0 shutout innings in getting the win at Jupiter on May 27. He held the Hammerheads to just a pair of singles with five strikeouts and two walks. It marked the fourth straight game he has punched out five or more batters. Turley is now 3-0 with a 2.15 ERA in seven games as a starter. He posted a 2.08 ERA in April and matched that in May with another 2.08 ERA month.

6/02 RHP Kevin Eichhorn (4-0, 1.73 ERA) ... Eichhorn equalled his season-high with 7.0 innings worked at Jupiter on May 28, holding the Hammerheads to one run on four hits with four strikeouts. In his last seven starts, he is 4-0 with a 1.40 ERA with 28 strikeouts. All four of his wins have come on the road where he has a 1.25 earned run average.

6/03 RHP Edgar De La Rosa (2-4, 3.32 ERA) ... De La Rosa went 7.0 innings in his last start at Jupiter on May 29, limiting the Hammerheads to one unearned run on five hits with four strikeouts. In his two wins, both coming on the 29th of the month, he worked 7.0 innings and allowed zero earned runs. He is 1-1 with a 4.67 ERA in May after posting a 1-3 record and a 1.91 earned run average in April.

BURGOS RECEIVES FSL HONOR ... Alex Burgos was named the Florida State League Pitcher of the Week for the week ending May 25. He pitched in two games last week and was not scored upon in 7.2 innings. He allowed just one hit and walked one while striking out 10 batters. Burgos is the second Lakeland pitcher to earn FSL honors this season, joining starter Edgar De La Rosa. He is the first Lakeland reliever to be so honored since Kevin Whelan picked up the honor in 2006.

BIG FINALE ... Lakeland put an accent on the series sweep against Jupiter taking the finale by a 12-2 score. Three players had three hits each for the Flying Tigers who set a season-high with 12 runs scored, 18 hits (in a 9-inning game), 10-run margin of victory and seven doubles. Chad Wright had three hits, scored three times, and drove in three runs while Lance Durham drove in four runs on the night. Six batters each had two or more hits. 

FLYIN’ HIGH ... Harold Castro is 8x17 (.471) in his four games played since joining Lakeland on May 24 ... Lance Durham has a seven-game hit streak (9x34, .265) ... Jeff McVaney has hits in 12 of his last 13 games ... Chad Wright is 11x23 (.478) his last five games  and 16x37 (.432) since May 23 ... Alex Burgos has not allowed a run in his last 9.2 innings over three outings ... Angel Nesbitt has not been scored upon in his last 10 appearances out of the bullpen and is 10-for-10 in save situations.

21 ZEROS ... Lakeland pitching combined to throw back-to-back shutouts on May 25 and 27 and had a streak of 21 consecutive scoreless innings. The streak began on May 24 with the final two innings in a 2-1 loss to Dunedin in the second game of a road doubleheader. The first shutout came on May 25 in the final Blue Jays game as Yorfrank Lopez tossed 7.0 scoreless innings. Crossing the state to play at Jupiter next, Josh Turley kept the goose eggs going with 8.0 scoreless innings on May 27. The string came to a close on the second inning against the Hammerheads on May 28.

WINNING THE CLOSE ONES ... Lakeland has a 12-6 record in one-run games —the best mark in the FSL—and is third with a 9-5 record in games decided by two runs.

MAJOR LEAGUE EXPERIENCE ... Palm Beach manager Dann Bilardello played all or part of eight Major League seasons with the Reds, Expos, Pirates and Padres. His daughter, Kammie, was a two-sport athlete at Webber International University in Lake Wales.

LOCAL PRODUCT ... Cardinals pitcher Josh Lucas was born in Lakeland and is a 2010 graduate of Lakeland High School.

ROSTER MOVES ... On Wednesday, Jeff Holm was sent to West Michigan. Holm was batting .215 in 34 games for the Flying Tigers with four homers and 18 runs batted in. He had started 14 games in the outfield, seven at first base, and 13 as the designated hitter. To fill the roster void, righthanded pitcher Brennan Smith was added to the roster on Friday from AA Erie. Smith was 0-0 in six games for the SeaWolves with a 7.56 ERA. He had struck out eight and walked two in 8.1 innings and gave up seven runs on 11 hits, including a pair of home runs.

FEW OPPS IN JUNE ... Lakeland fans will only have 11 chances to see the Flying Tigers in action at home in the month of June. Following this series, Lakeland plays Dunedin on June 8; Brevard County June 10-12, Clearwater June 18, Tampa June 20, and Clearwater, again, June 22-23.

PENNANT CHASE ... The first half ends June 18 and Lakeland trails Dunedin by 4.5 games. Both teams play each other twice more and both will play Brevard County. Lakeland plays four at home vs. Palm Beach; four at Fort Myers; and three against Clearwater. Dunedin plays four at Jupiter; four at home vs. St. Lucie; and three at home vs. Daytona. Based on winning percentage, Lakeland has a slight easier schedule as opponents have a combined .438 winning percentage versus a .468 percentage for Dunedin’s opponents. 

TWO TO TIE, THREE TO PASS ... Flying Tigers skipper Dave Huppert needs two more wins to tie Jim Leyland for third place in wins for a Lakeland manager. Already the minor leagues winningest active manager with 1,843 wins, Huppert is 235-220 in four seasons in Lakeland. Leyland, who went on to manage in the Major Leagues from 1986-2013, including the 2006-13 seasons with Detroit, was 237-177 from 1976-78. 

FSL ALL-STAR GAME ... The 2014 Florida State League All-Star Game will be played June 14 at McKechnie Park in Bradenton.

UP NEXT ... The Flying Tigers hit the road for four games in Fort Myers as Lakeland closes in on the end of the first half which wraps up June 18.