THE SERIES ... The first two games of this three-game home series will take place Tuesday and Wednesday at 6:30 pm with the finale on Thursday at 10:30 am in the first of two Parks and Recreation days. Brevard County has beaten Lakeland more than any other team in the league, sporting a 5-1 record in 2014. The Flying Tigers won the final game of a three-game set in Lakeland on April 8-10 while the Manatees swept the three-game return series in Viera. The Manatees have posted two shutouts in the series and have outscored the Flying Tigers 31-13.
THE FLYING TIGERS (40-24, 2nd, 3.5 GB) ... Lakeland ran into a buzz saw in Dunedin last night as the Blue Jays flew to a 14-2 win. With the loss, the Flying Tigers remain 3.5 games behind Dunedin with six games remaining. Lakeland is 3-4 its last seven games, having not won, or lost, more than one game in a row. Chad Wright is now fifth in the Florida State League with a .319 batting average and 75 hits. Wright is also fourth with 43 runs scored. Kevin Eichhorn (4-1, 1.96) and Josh Turley (5-0, 2.08) are ranked fourth and sixth, respectively in the league’s ERA standings. Turley leads the league with a 0.95 WHIP and is second with a .207 opponents’ batting average. Angel Nesbitt picked up another save Sunday and is second in the FSL with 13 while Jake Thompson is fifth with 59 strikeouts and fourth with a .218 opponents’ batting average. The Flying Tigers dropped a spot to fourth in the league with a 3.09 staff ERA while the team batting average of .255 ranks fifth. The team has struck out the third most times and drawn the third fewest walks in the FSL.
THE MANATEES (33-29, 3rd, 9.5 GB) ... Brevard County shut out Tampa, 3-0, on Monday for a second straight win giving the Manatees four wins in their last five games. Michael Reed has 18 stolen bases to rank second in the Florida State League in that category and is also second with a .429 on-base percentage and 36 walks. Nathan Orf is right behind Reed with a .409 on-base mark and 30 base on balls while Tyrone Taylor leads the circuit with 29 extra base hits. The Manatees have the second lowest staff ERA (2.60) in the FSL and have struck out the fourth most batters. There are one of three teams (along with Lakeland and Dunedin) to have tossed nine shutouts this season. The team batting average of .249 is fifth lowest in the league and they have scored the third fewest runs of any team. However, they have struck out the fewest times for any FSL squad.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
6/10 - RHP Yorfrank Lopez (2-3, 5.34 ERA) ... Lopez is going for his first win since May 25. In his last start on June 5, he held Fort Myers to one run on four hits and five strikeouts but lasted just 4.0 innings. He has been up and down the last three games, allowing zero runs, four runs, and one run for a 2.81 ERA. Lopez is 1-3 at home with a 7.62 ERA in six starts. He made his season debut against Brevard County on April 8, giving up six runs—three earned—on six hits with four strikeouts and three walks in taking the loss.
6/11 - LHP Josh Turley (5-0, 2.08 ERA) ... Turley gave up three runs on four hits while striking out seven in a no-decision against Fort Myers on June 6. The three runs and seven strikeouts matched his season highs. He had tossed 22.0 scoreless innings over his last four starts. He is 2-0 at home with a 2.25 ERA. Turley has made two previous appearances against the Manatees, both in relief, and has not allowed a run over 5.0 innings against Brevard County.
6/12 - RHP Kevin Eichhorn (4-1, 1.96 ERA) ... Eichhorn took the loss in his last start on June 7 despite giving up just two runs, one earned, on seven hits in 4.0 innings. He is still looking for his first home win and is 0-0 with a 2.70 ERA in six games, including four starts, at Joker Marchant Stadium. This is Eichhorn’s third day start and he is 1-0 with a 2.38 in the sunshine. He has made two relief appearances versus Brevard County and is 0-0 with a 2.16 ERA against the Manatees.
THE FIRST 40 ... With Lakeland’s 6-5 win over Dunedin on Sunday, the team hit the 40-win mark for the first half. It is the most wins for a Lakeland team in the first half since the 2005 team set the benchmark with a 45-22 record.
DURHAM’S BACK ... Lance Durham had a ten-game win streak from May 23-June 2 and then went 1-for-19. However, in the last two games, the Flying Tigers’ designated hitter has five hits in his last eight at bats.
FSL ALL-STARS ... Lakeland will have five representatives in this weekend’s All-Star Game in Bradenton in starting pitchers Kevin Eichhorn, Jake Thompson, and Josh Turley, closer Angel Nesbitt, and catcher Austin Green. Brevard County will send four All-Stars to the game in starting pitchers Jed Bradley and Tyler Wagner, reliever Tanner Poppe and catcher Cameron Garfield.
GREEN CHOSEN FOR HOME RUN DERBY ... Austin Green will represent Lakeland in the Home Run Debry at the FSL All-Star Game June 14. Green has hit three dingers this season. Avisail Garcia won the Home Run Debry in 2012 while playing for Lakeland.
PROVING WHY HE’S AN ALL-STAR ... Angel Nesbitt is second in the FSL with 13 saves and 18 games finished for Lakeland. He is tied for the league-lead with 23 appearances while he has the fifth best opponents’ batting average among relievers with a .193 mark. He is also fifth among relievers with 9.72 strikeouts and second with 8.37 baserunners allowed per nine innings.
A NIGHT TO FORGET ... Lakeland suffered its worst defeat of the year on Monday, falling 14-2, at Dunedin. The Blue Jays jumped on Flying Tigers starter Jake Thompson for six runs on six hits in just 1.2 innings and added six more runs off of Logan Ehlers on eight hits in just 2.1 innings. It was Lakeland’s worst defeat since Jupiter shutout the Flying Tigers 13-0 in the first game of a doubleheader on June 30, 2007 (incidentally, Lakeland was also shutout 4-0 in game two).
JOLLY JEFF ... Jeff McVaney was 9-for-19 in five games from June 4-8 with a pair of doubles, a solo homer, and five runs batted in.
OH, SNAP ... Curt Powell saw his nine-game hit streak snapped on Monday, going 0-for-4 against Dunedin. During his streak he was 18-for-43 (.419). Powell has had at least one hit in 26 of his last 31 games, picking up 43 hits in 127 at bats for a .339 clip.
OH, SNAP, PT. II ... Chad Wright saw hit brief six-game hit streak snapped on Monday as well. He had two hits on Sunday against Dunedin and has hits in 24 of his 58 games played this season and has had 16 games with two hits and eight more with three hits.
STAY ‘TIL THE END ... Folks should stick around for all nine innings when watching the Flying Tigers. The club has come back and won 10 of the 25 games in which they trailed after five innings. The 10-15 record leads all Florida State League clubs. The squad is 8-6 in games that are tied after six innings; 8-4 in those contest with the score knotted after seven frames; and 8-5 in tied games after eight innings. Thanks in large part to closer Angel Nesbitt, the Flying Tigers are 31-0 when taking a lead into the ninth inning (only Dunedin, which had the FSL’s leading closer with 15 saves, tops Lakeland with a 34-0 mark). Lakeland is also 20-5 when scoring last in a game. The Flying Tigers are also 15-8 in one-run games, 11-5 in 2-run games and 6-5 in extra innings.
THROWING GOOSE EGGS ... Lakeland is tied for the most shutouts in the league with nine and has been shutout just four times-—third fewest times of any Florida State League ballclub.
ROSTER MOVE ... Pitcher Eduardo Sanchez who recently joined the club from AAA Toledo, was placed on the Temporary Inactive List on Monday. Sanchez, who had not pitched previously this year, was 0-2 with an 18.00 ERA in three appearances for Lakeland allowing four earned runs on six hits over 2.0 innings.
UP NEXT ... Lakeland has June 13-15 off for the Florida State League All-Star game before returning to action at Clearwater for two games on June 16-17 and one at home on June 18.
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