THE SERIES ... The Flying Tigers return from the All-Star Break with a three-game series against Clearwater, the last games of the first half. The first two games will be played at 7 pm on June 15 and 16 at Bright House Field with the finale taking place at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland on June 17 at 6:30 pm. The Flying Tigers swept the two previous series against the Threshers winning three games in Lakeland (two by shutout) and three in Clearwater. The final two contests went 13 and 11 innings.
THE FLYING TIGERS (41-24, 2nd, 4.5 GB) ... Lakeland beat Brevard County 3-0 in the first game of a make-up doubleheader on Thursday, but could not get game two underway due to rain. The Flying Tigers have gone 5-4 the last nine games, not winning, or losing, more than one game in a row. Chad Wright is fifth in the Florida State League with a .321 batting average and tied for fourth with 44 runs scored. Kevin Eichhorn (4-1) has moved into second in the league with a 1.96 ERA while Josh Turley (5-0) is fourth with a 2.08 mark. Turley has a league-best 0.05 WHIP and a .207 opponents batting average. Angel Nesbitt is second in the FSL with 14 saves and needs one more to move into a tie for the league lead. His next save will also move him into the top ten on the Lakeland single season list. The Flying Tigers are fourth in the FSL with a 3.05 ERA and have posted a league-high 10 shutouts. Lakeland is fifth with a .255 team batting average and has scored the fifth most runs.
THE THRESHERS (16-50, 6th, 30.0 GB) ... Clearwater also won 3-0 in its last game and has been victorious in four of the last five after losing seven in a row. The Threshers did not reach double figures in wins until May 25 when won at Daytona to improve to 10-39. Art Charles is tied for fourth in the league with 18 doubles. The Threshers have the highest staff ERA (4.85) of any FSL team and has given up the most runs of any staff. Clearwater pitchers have recorded the fewest strikeouts in the league.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
6/16 - RHP Edgar De La Rosa (3-4, 3.30 ERA) ... De La Rosa picked up the win in his last start on June 8 versus Dunedin after allowing four runs on six hits in 6.1 innings of work. He did not strike out a batter in that game, marking the first time this season he has failed to record a strikeout De La Rosa has now given up seven earned runs over 12.1 innings in his last two starts after tossing 7.0 scoreless innings on May 29. In his only previous appearance against Clearwater, he held the Threshers to one hit over 8.0 scoreless innings, but did not get the win as Lakeland won 4-2 in 11 innings at Bright House Stadium.
6/17 - RHP Yorfrank Lopez (3-3, 4.85 ERA) ... Lopez threw 6.0 scoreless innings in his last start on June 12 against Brevard County, getting the win after limiting the Manatees to four hits with five strikeouts. He has now allowed just one run and struck out 10 in his last 10.0 innings over two starts. Lopez has twice started against Clearwater with mixed results. On April 13, he tossed 6.1 scoreless innings and held the Threshers to two hits in a win. In his next start on April 18 at Clearwater, he was tagged for five runs on four hits with five strikeouts in 5.0 innings, but did not factor into the decision.
6/18 - 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. Eichhorn has not faced Clearwater this season.
NORTH WINS ALL-STAR TILT ... Austin Green helped the North to a 6-4 come-from-behind win in the FSL All-Star Game on Saturday. With his team trailing 4-2, Green singled to left field to drive in a run and later, scored the go-ahead on a two-run double by Daytona’s Gioskar Amaya. Angel Nesbitt came on in the ninth and struck out two of the three batters he faced to get the save. Jake Thompson pitched the second inning and struck out three and allowed a pair of hits while Josh Turley gave up two runs on three hits in the third. Kevin Eichhorn worked the seventh inning and gave up one hit with one walk and one strikeout.
BLUE JAYS CLINCH ... With a Dunedin win Thursday night, the Blue Jays clinched the first half pennant in the North Division for the third straight season. Since the Florida State League went to split seasons in 1988, only seven teams that won the first half have gone on to win the league championship. Ten teams that took the first half also won the second half, but that has only happened twice since 1998. Two teams that qualified for postseason as a wildcard team won the playoffs.
ON THE OTHER SIDE ... In the South Division, Fort Myers leads St. Lucie by just 1/2 game with three games left.
WELL RESTED ... Thanks to Mother Nature and the FSL All-Star break, the Flying Tigers have played just one game in the last six days. Lakeland was rained out on June 10 and 11 and finally played on June 12, but could only play the first game of a doubleheader as the second game never got underway as rains once again fell on Joker Marchant Stadium.
LIGHTS OUT ... Angel Nesbitt has been the closest to automatic that a reliever can get. He is a perfect 14-for-14 in save opportunities and has not surrendered a run in his last 17.1 innings over 15 appearances since May 5. He has only given up four hits in that span and has struck out 23 and walked just one. His ERA is a miniscule 0.79 entering this series. He is 2-0 with seven saves and a 1.04 ERA in 12 relief appearances at home and 0-0 with seven saves in 12 road outings with a 0.53 ERA.
HAPPY HAROLD ... Harold Castro has had hits in eight of his nine games played since joining Lakeland in late May. He is hitting .393 against righthanders with 11 hits in 28 at bats.
BULLISH BURGOS ... Alex Burgos has allowed just one run in his last 14 innings over six relief appearances. Throw out his season debut on April 23 in which he allowed five earned runs and Burgos’ ERA drops to 1.59 on the year, In seven road stints this season, Burgos is 1-1 with one save and a 1.98 earned run average.
DRUM ON ... Calvin Drummond has also been stingy with the runs allowed, tossing 7.1 scoreless innings in his last five appearances, including 3.0 shutout innings in his last outing on June 6 at Fort Myers.
LOTSA LANCE ... Lance Durham is 6-for-10 hit his last three games.
STEADY “D” ... Lakeland remains the top fielding team in the Florida State League with a .983 fielding percentage and has committed just 44 errors in 65 games—15 fewer than any other league team. James Robbins is the top fielding first baseman in the league with a .997 defensive mark with just two errors in 593 total chances. Tyler Hanover tops all league third baseman with a .966 fielding percentage and has five errors in 149 chances. Connor Harrell leads all FSL outfielders with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage, handling 148 total chances without an error. All-Star Austin Green is the top fielding catcher with a .997 fielding mark and has just one error in 333 chances. Green has also thrown out 40.9 percent of would-be base stealers, fourth best mark in the league.
ONE OF FOUR ... Wednesday’s home game in the Clearwater series is one of just four home games Lakeland will play in the final 13 days of June. The Flying Tigers will make up for lost time in July, with nine home games in the first 10 days of the month. After nine games on the road, Lakeland will return for an eight-game home stand before hitting the road for four games to close out the month.
UP NEXT ... Lakeland opens the second half with a pair of games against Tampa, playing June 19 at George Steinbrenner Field and June 20 at Joker Marchant Stadium.
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