Thursday, July 24, 2014

Mission Notes vs. Bradenton (July 24-27)

THE SERIES ... Lakeland captured three of the four games in the first series meeting on May 12-15 at Bradenton. The Flying Tigers took the opener by a 4-3 score in 10 innings and then shut out the Marauders 3-0 in game two. Bradenton came back to win game three 7-6 in 10 innings in the first game of a doubleheader. Lakeland capped the series with a 4-3, eight-inning win in game two of the twin-bill. Connor Harrell led Lakeland in that series with six hits while Curt Powell added five base knocks, including a pair of doubles. Josh Bell, now at AA Altoona, led the Marauders with nine hits, including three doubles and a homer for six runs batted in. 

THE FLYING TIGERS (7-24, 6th, 12.0 GB; 49-49 overall) ... After taking the opening game against Jupiter, 10-5, Lakeland dropped the final three games of the series by a combined 15-4 score. The Flying Tigers have now lost nine of their last 11 games and are 4-20 since June 26. Nine of those 20 losses were by one run. Lakeland’s 49-49 overall record drops them to .500 for the first time since starting the season 3-3 on April 9. The Flying Tigers were 18 games over .500 on June 16, but have gone 7-25 since. James Robbins is third in the Florida State League with 12 homers while Jeff McVaney is fifth with 54 runs batted in. 

THE MARAUDERS (20-11, 3rd, 2.0 GB; 55-45 overall) ... Bradenton won three of four games against Dunedin with shutout victories in each of the last two outings. The Marauders are 11-4 since July 8. Tyler Glasnow ranks second in the Florida State League with a 1.64 ERA and is fourth with 97 strikeouts. He leads the league with a .178 opponents batting average and is fifth with a 1.11 WHIP. Glasnow lost his first three starts, but is 7-1 with a 1.10 ERA in his last 12 outings since. Chad Kuhl is the FSL’s only 10-game winner, sporting a 10-5 record and a 3.34 ERA. The Marauders have scored the third fewest runs and have hit the fewest home runs of any Florida State League team. However, with the back-to-back blankings, Bradenton now has a league-leading 15 staff shutouts.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS:
7/24 - LHP Locke St. John (0-2, 7.71 ERA) ... St. John was tagged with the loss in his last start on July 18 after giving up five runs on nine hits in 4.2 innings with three strikeouts and five walks. He has allowed three runs or more in each of his three starts and has struck out three batters in each game. St. John was wrapping up his junior year at the University of South Alabama when the Flying Tigers last played Bradenton.
7/25 - RHP Tommy Collier (1-0, 6.00 ERA) ... Collier gave up four runs on six hits in 6.0 innings against Charlotte with seven strikeouts and one walk in his first start for Lakeland in 2014. He had won his last two starts at AA Erie, allowing just a pair of runs on six hits and eight walks with six strikeouts in 12.0 combined innings. Collier was 4-7 overall with a 5.88 ERA in 17 starts for the SeaWolves.
7/26 - RHP Yorfrank Lopez (5-7, 4.55 ERA) ... Lopez picked up the win on July 20 against Jupiter, snapping a three-game losing streak. In each of his last two starts, he has allowed three runs on eight hits with one strikeout. Over his last eight starts, he has a 3-4 record and a 3.27 ERA (16 ER/44 IP). Lopez faced Bradenton on May 15, giving up three runs on six hits with two strikeouts and four walks in 5.0 innings.
7/27 - RHP Edgar De La Rosa (5-8, 2.68 ERA) ... De La Rosa, who ranks ninth in the FSL with a 2.68 ERA, lost his last start on July 22 versus Jupiter, allowing three runs on six hits over 4.0 innings. He has now lost four of his last five decisions, but has allowed just eight earned runs in his last seven starts for a 3-4 record and a 2.30 ERA. De La Rosa, who is also third in the FSL with a .217 opponents average, has not faced Bradenton this season.

OPPOSITE ENDS OF THIEVERY ... The Marauders lead the FSL with 97 stolen bases, however no one on the current roster has more than 14 stolen bases. On the other side, Lakeland has swiped the fewest bases of any league team (43), led by Jeff McVaney’s 13 stolen bases. The Flying Tigers have stolen just 10 bases this half with three of those coming in the July 8 game against Brevard. 

THREE GAMES, THREE TEAMS ... Alex Burgos recently experienced a whirlwind tour of the Detroit organization appearing in games in Erie, Toledo and Lakeland in succession. On July 7, Burgos worked a game in Lakeland and four days later on July 11, earned a promotion to AA Erie. There he pitched on July 12, working 1.0 inning and recording two strikeouts with one walk and one hit batsman. A week later, on July 19, the 5’11” lefty, walked the only batter he faced in an brief appearance at AAA Toledo. Three days after pitching in the International League, Burgos came full circle, returning to Lakeland to pitch 3.1 innings against Jupiter.

A GREEN STREAK ... Austin Green brings a six-game hit streak into this series, going 8-for-21 for a .381 average and five runs batted in. He has hits in 13 of his last 15 games and is batting .353 during that stretch with four homers and 12 runs knocked in. 

MATCHING STREAK ... Jeff McVaney also brings a six-game streak into this series, going 9-for-22 (.409) with six runs scored. He has hits in nine of his last 10 games, posting a .400 mark (14-for-35) during that streak.

LAKELAND SPONSOR MAY BE BUSY THIS MORNING ... One of Lakeland’s corporate sponsors is Watson Clinic, a nearby medical facility. Today, the Watson Clinic waiting room my be full of Flying Tigers as two pitchers left Wednesday’s game with apparent injuries. Starter Charlie Gillies who is working his way back from starting the season on the West Michigan disabled list, left the game four pitches into the third inning. The 6’2” righty came off the mound shaking his arm as though trying to work out a kink. His successor, Logan Ehlers pitched 2.2 innings before pulling up when running to cover first base on a ball hit to the right side.

ROSTER SHUFFLIN’ ... LHP Ryan Longstreth was placed on the Temporary Inactive List on July 21 and reinstated on July 24 ... RHP Daryl Norris was added from the GCL on July 21 and sent back on July 23 ... RHP Tyler Clark was placed on the Disabled List on July 22 with OF Ismael Salgado added from the GCL ... In a flurry of activity on July 23, RHP Charlie Gillies was placed on the DL while Nate Fury was transferred to the GCL club. RHP Scott Sitz was added from Connecticut and LHP Tyler Ford joined Lakeland from the GCL Tigers. Buy a scorecard, folks.

FORMER FLYING TIGER TRADED ... On Wednesday, the Detroit Tigers sent former Flying Tiger hurler Jake Thompson and pitcher Corey Knebel to the Texas Rangers in exchange for closer Joakim Soria. Thompson was Detroit’s top pick in 2012 and was an FSL All-Star this season with Lakeland, going 6-4 with a 3.14 ERA before earning a promotion July 15 to AA Erie. With the SeaWolves, he was 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in two starts. For Thompson, who won the 2014 SiriusXM Futures All-Star Game, it will be a homecoming as he hails from Dallas, Texas.

TURLEY WINS AA DEBUT ... Former Flying Tiger Josh Turley picked up the win in his Erie debut on July 19, holding the Akron RubberDucks to a pair of runs on five hits with four strikeouts and two walks in 6.0 innings.

TRAVIS EARNS LEAGUE HONOR ... Former Flying Tiger Devon Travis was named the Eastern League Player of the Week for the week ending July 20. Travis batted .435 in six games, going 10-for-23 with a two homers and a pair of doubles for five runs batted in. 

CLOSING IN ON 4000 ... Lakeland enters the Bradenton series with 3,994 all-time wins, needing seven more victories to reach 4,000. Lakeland has a 3,994-4,230 record since 1963.


UP NEXT ... The Flying Tigers hit the road for four games at Palm Beach May 28-31, before returning for another eight-game homestand with Fort Myers August 1-4 and Dunedin Aug. 5-8. Lakeland will close out the season with just eight home games over the final three weeks.

No comments:

Post a Comment