THE SERIES ... The Flying Tigers open the second half with a two-game, home-and-away series against Tampa. Game one is at George Steinbrenner Field on Thursday at 7 pm while game two is Friday at Joker Marchant Stadium at 7:11 p.m.
THE FLYING TIGERS (42-25, First Half: 2nd, 3.0 GB) ... Lakeland closed out the first half with a split of two games against Clearwater with the third game rained out. The Flying Tigers won the opening game of the series 7-1 as every player got at least one hit in a 16-hit attack. Clearwater shutout Lakeland the next night 3-0 as the Flying Tigers stranded a combined 22 runners in the two games. Chad Wright is seventh in the Florida State League with a .320 average. On the hill, Kevin Eichhorn (4-1) remains second with a 1.96 ERA while Josh Turley (5-0) is fourth with a 2.08 mark and Jake Thompson (6-2) is tenth with a 2.48 ERA. Turley leads the FSL with a 0.95 WHIP and a .207 opponents batting average. Angel Nesbitt has the second most saves (14) in the league. The Flying Tigers pitching staff has the fourth lowest ERA in the league (2.99) while the team batting average of .257 ranks fifth.
THE YANKEES (33-37, First Half: 4th, 13.5 GB) ... Tampa got tripped by Daytona by an 11-2 score on Wednesday, but took the first two games in the series. Tampa is now 3-6 its last nine games. The Yankees have lost two of the top home run hitters in the FSL as Peter O’Brien and Eric Jagielo each had ten round-trippers before O’Brien was promoted to AA and Jagielo was placed on the Disabled List. Jake Cave has collected 83 base hits to rank fourth in the league in that category while pitcher Rafael De Paula is fourth with 71 strikeouts on the season. Tampa’s staff ERA of 3.43 ranks sixth in the FSL while the .249 team batting average is fourth lowest in the FSL.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
6/20 - 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 2-1 his last seven starts with 1.80 ERA. In those seven games, he has 29 strikeouts, but has also walked 13 during that span. Eichhorn has three previous outings against Tampa, including two starts, and is 1-0 with a 0.56 ERA having allowed just one earned run on 10 hits in 16.0 innings with 11 strikeouts.
6/21 - RHP Jake Thompson (6-2, 2.48 ERA) ... Thompson had his worst outing of the season in his last start on June 9 at Dunedin, giving up six runs on six hits in just 1.2 innings. The six earned runs matched his total allowed over his previous four starts. The loss was Thompson’s first since April 16. He is 4-0 at home this season with a 1.01 ERA in six starts. This is his fourth start versus the Yankees in 2014 and he is 1-0 with a 1.26 earned run average in the series with 17 strikeouts in 14.1 innings.
TIGERS TO TIGERS ... Nate Fury becomes the first player from the Detroit Tigers’ 2014 Draft Class to make the Lakeland roster. Fury was taken in the 36th round out of Louisiana State University, alma mater of fellow Flying Tiger Tyler Hanover. Fury, a 5’11” righty, played two seasons for LSU making 46 relief appearances for the Tigers.
A RARE 40 ... Lakeland finished the first half with 42-25 record-—the best record at the midway point for a Lakeland club since the 2005 team won the Division with a 45-22 mark. The 42 wins is the third most wins for any Lakeland team at the halfway mark since the FSL went to split seasons in 1988, and is just the fourth time that a Lakeland squad has won 40 or more games in the first half. The 1990 team, under manager John Lipon, went 44-24 and then finished 39-25 in the second half. The 2002 team, that played for the FSL championship under Gary Green, was 40-32 at the midway point, but dropped to 29-38 in the final half. The 2005 squad, led by manager Mike Rojas, won both halves, finishing 45-20 in the first and 40-26 in the second half.
DANCIN’ DURHAM ... Lance Durham brings a five-game hit streak into the series and is 9x19 (.474) during those five games.
ANGEL TAKES WINGS ... Angel Nesbitt was promoted to AA Erie on Thursday and Eduardo Sanchez, who was on the Temporary Inactive List, has been released.
THE WRIGHT MAN ... Chad Wright has hits in nine of his last ten games and has gone 13x39 (.333) during that stretch.
SOLO SHOTS ... James Robbins and Jeff McVaney have hit seven and six home runs, respectively. However, a combined ten of those (five by each player) have came with no one on base. Overall, of the 33 home runs hit by Lakeland this season, 19 have been of the solo variety. Connor Harrell has hit six home runs this season, four coming with a man on base.
BASES-LOADED KIND ... Tampa pitching has given up two grand slams in its last five games. Overall, there have been 17 grand slams in the Florida State League this season including one each by James Robbins and Lance Durham. Daytona’s Rock Shoulders (one of this author’s all-time favorite player names) and Fort Myers’ Adam Brett Walker each have gone deep twice with the bases loaded.
NEW LEAD-OFF MAN? ... Perhaps Lakeland skipper should move Austin Green into the lead-off spot-—at least for the first inning—as the Flying Tigers catcher is batting .372 when leading off an inning.
WHO YA GONNA CALL? ... With runners in scoring position and two outs, who would you want at the plate? Based on his stats, its Lance Durham. the Lakeland designated hitter is 11-for-23 in that situation while Curt Powell is next at 10-for-31. Powell jumps ahead in hitting with runners in scoring position, going 20-for-56 (.357) with 22 RBI. Durham is 22-for-65 with RISP for a .338 mark and is tied with Jeff McVaney with 31 runs batted in when faced with runners on second and/or third.
STAT LEADERS ... At the halfway mark in the season, here’s a look at the team leaders in various categories. Chad Wright leads the Flying Tigers in batting average (.320), hits (79) and runs scored (44); Jeff McVaney leads with 16 doubles, 39 RBI and eight stolen bases; Tyler Hanover has a team-best four triples; James Robbins has the most homers with seven. On the mound, Jake Thompson is a perfect 6-0 to lead the staff in wins and is also tops with 59 strikeouts. Angel Nesbitt is a perfect 14-of-14 in save opportunities.
ONE STEP UP ... Here’s a glimpse at the Lakeland players that have jumped to AA Erie this season: Corey Jones is hitting a crisp .321 with 13 doubles, a triple, three dingers and 15 RBI; Brandon Loy was batting .209 before suffering a serious leg injury; Dixon Machado is hitting .218 with six doubles, a triple and a homer for seven RBI; Guido Knudson is 0-2 with an 8.31 ERA in 11 appearances and is 0-for-1 in save opportunities. Slade Smith is also 0-2 with a 8.80 ERA in 13 stints and is 0-for-2 in save opps; Will Startup is 2-1 with a 4.62 in 18 games and is also 0-for-2 in save situations.
GONE CLUBBIN’ ... Before leaving the Tampa Yankees back on May 9, Peter O’Brien had hit ten homers (which still ranks third in the Florida State League). He is now a member of the AA Trenton Thunder in the Midwest League and has proved he can hit at that level too, smashing 13 homers thru 38 games to give him 23 home runs in 68 games. His 23 dingers is second most in the Minor Leagues, trailing only Joey Gallo (now with AA Frisco in the Texas League) who has 25 homers in 67 games.
UP NEXT ... After two games against the Yankees, the Flying Tigers will play Saturday, June 21 at Clearwater before returning to Joker Marchant Stadium for two more games against the Threshers on June 22 and 23.
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