THE SERIES ... Lakeland plays June 4-7 at Fort Myers with the first three games getting underway at 7:05 pm and the finale set for 6:05 pm. The Miracle are the only club the Flying Tigers have not faced yet in 2014.
THE FLYING TIGERS (37-21, 2nd North, 3.5 GB) ... Lakeland saw its eight-game winning streak come to a close on Tuesday, falling 6-3 to Palm Beach. The Flying Tigers had won the first three games to take the series, their tenth series win of the season. Even though they were held to just four hits last night, Lakeland is batting .274 over the last 16 games dating back to May 19 with ten game of 10 or more hits. Tuesday’s loss dropped Lakeland to 3.5 games behind Dunedin which crushed Jupiter 14-2 after putting up a 10-spot in the seventh inning. Three Lakeland pitchers remain in the top ten in the league in Jake Thompson (3rd, 5-1, 1.64); Josh Turley (5th, 3-0, 1.85); and Kevin Eichhorn (6th, 4-0, 1.95) while Angel Nesbitt is second in the FSL with 11 saves. Jeff McVaney is fourth in the league with 22 extra-base hits while Chad Wright is fourth with 38 runs scored. The Flying Tigers are fourth in the FSL with a 2.92 ERA and are tied for the league lead with nine shutouts. The team batting average of .254 ranks sixth while the team has hit the third most homers.
THE MIRACLE (34-23, 1st South, 1.5 game lead) ... Fort Myers shutout Tampa 8-0 last night to take the series, three games to one. The win is the Miracle’s ninth in their last 11 games. Adam Walker leads the Florida State League with 12 home runs and is tied for second with 44 runs batted in while Travis Harrison ranks third with 16 doubles. Two Miracle pitchers rank in the top ten in the Florida State League in David Hurlbut (8th, 3-3, 2.05) and Jose Berrios (9th, 5-2, 2.24 ERA). Berrios is also third with 65 strikeouts. He and teammate Jason Wheeler have tossed two of the three shutouts in the league this season. Fort Myers has the third lowest ERA (2.87) in the league and has given up the second fewest homers. The Miracle rank seventh with a .252 team batting average, but have scored the most runs in the league.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
6/04 - RHP Jake Thompson (5-1, 1.64 ERA) ... Thompson struck out seven and allowed just one hit in 5.0 scoreless inning in a win on May 30 at Jupiter in his last start. He has not gone beyond the fifth inning in any of last four starts. Thompson has held opponents to two runs or fewer in nine of his ten starts this season and recorded five or more strikeouts in seven starts.
6/05 - RHP Yorfrank Lopez (2-3, 5.56 ERA) ... Lopez gave up four runs on seven hits in his last start on May 31 against Palm Beach. In his previous start he had tossed two-hit ball over 7.0 scoreless innings. Lopez has just one win (May 25) in his last nine starts and has a 3.67 ERA over his last six starts.
6/06 - LHP Josh Turley (5-0, 1.85 ERA) ... Turley tossed 7.0 scoreless innings and allowed four hits to get the win in his last start on June 1 against Palm Beach. He has not surrendered a run in 15.0 innings over his last two starts and has given up just six hits with eight strikeouts. Turley is 4-0 with a 1.87 ERA in eight starts.
6/07 - RHP Kevin Eichhorn (4-0, 1.95 ERA) ... Eichhorn gave up three runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts over 7.0 innings in a no-decision start on June 2 versus Palm Beach. He now has a 2.67 ERA over his last four games with a 1-0 mark and 21 strikeouts. Eichhorn is now 4-0 with a 2.05 ERA in nine starts this season.
“HUPP” MOVES UP ... Congratulations to Flying Tigers skipper Dave Huppert who surpassed Jim Leyland on Sunday to move into sole possession of third place for wins by a Lakeland manager. Already the minor league’s winningest active manager with 1,846 victories, Huppert is now 238-221 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. Moving into second place may take a while for Huppert as John Lipon racked up a 379-288 record from 1988-1992. The all-time winningest Lakeland manager is Dick Tracewski who had a 392-402 record from 1970-1975.
FSL ALL-STARS ... Congratulations to starting pitchers Jake Thompson, Kevin Eichhorn, and Josh Turley; reliever Angel Nesbitt; and catcher Austin Green on being named to the Florida Southern League 2014 Midseason All-Star Team. The quintet will travel to Bradenton next weekend for the 53rd Annual FSL All-Star Game June 14 at McKechnie Field. The five all-stars is the most for Lakeland since the 2010 squad also had five honorees. It’s the most pitchers selected since the 2005 team also had three starters (including Justin Verlander) and a relief pitcher chosen.
GRAND SLAM TIME ... Lance Durham blasted a bases-loaded homer on May 31 in the Flying Tigers’ 7-5 win over Palm Beach to give him back-to-back games with four runs batted in. It was Lakeland’s second grand slam of the season as James Robbins also hit one on April 28 in a 11-10 win over Daytona. For Durham, it was his first grand slam since Aug. 11, 2010 when he accomplished the feat as a member of the Auburn Doubledays, an affiliate of Toronto in the New York-Penn League.
A ROLL IN THE MAY ... The Flying Tigers posted a 19-10 record in the month of May—the best record of any team in the Florida State League. Its the first time since 2008 that Lakeland had won 19 games in May. The 35-20 start thru the first two months of the season is the best record for April and May by a Lakeland team since the 2005 team went 34-17.
BRAGGING RIGHTS ... The next four games could be a preview of the Florida State Playoffs as the top two teams from the North Division tangle with the top two teams in the South Division. Lakeland (2nd-North) travels to Fort Myers (1st-South) while Dunedin (1st-South) is at home against St. Lucie (2nd-South).
DURHAM STREAK SNAPPED ... Lance Durham went 0x4 last night to bring an end to his ten-game hit streak. During the streak, Durham was 13x47 for a .277 clip, with five runs scored, four doubles, a triple and a grand slam for 13 RBI.
HOT HARRELL ... Connor Harrell was also held hitless last night, and is now 10x29 for a .345 pace with four runs scored, two doubles and three runs batted in over the last six games.
POWELL-ERFUL ... Curt Powell managed one of Lakeland’s four hits last night and in the last seven games has a .317 average (14x35). Powell has hits in 30 of his last 34 games and is 43x136 (.316) with 13 runs scored, six doubles, a triple, a homer, and 15 RBI in those 34 games.
WONDERFUL WRIGHT ... Chad Wright provided the offense in last night’s game with a three-run homer in the third inning. He now has hits in 16 of his last 20 games and is 32x89 (.360) during that stretch with 19 runs scored, nine doubles, a triple, a homer, and 12 RBI.
ROSTER MOVES ... On Tuesday, Lakeland added righthanded pitcher Eduardo Sanchez from AAA Toledo. Sanchez was originally signed as amateur free agent by St. Louis in 2005 and was picked up by Detroit in November 2013. He has pitched in parts of three seasons in the Major Leagues for the Cardinals in 2011 and 2012 and the Cubs in 2013 for a 3-3 record with five saves and a 3.68 ERA in the big leagues. Sanchez has played eight previous seasons in the minors including a 2009 stop at FSL in Palm Beach and has a 15-12 record with 48 saves and a 3.43 ERA in the minors. To make room on the roster, Tanner Bailey was sent to Extended Spring Training. Bailey was 1-2 with a 3.43 ER in five games, including three starts, and pitched the only complete game for the Flying Tigers.
UP NEXT ... The Flying Tigers will have another crucial series against Dunedin June 8 in Lakeland and June 9 in Dunedin. It is the last time the two clubs will face each other in the first half.
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