Mission Notes vs. Brevard County (July 8-10)

THE SERIES ... Brevard County has won seven of the ten previous meetings between the two clubs this season, including a series sweep on May 14-16, and has outscored Lakeland, 46-26. James Robbins is hitting .333 in the series, going 11-for-33 in nine games with a pair of homers and four runs batted in. Overall, the Flying Tigers are hitting .197 in the series with a 4.12 ERA while the Manatees, behind 12 hits by Orlando Arcia and 10 knocks by Victor Roache, are hitting .267 with a 2.12 staff ERA.

THE FLYING TIGERS (3-16, 6th, 8.5 GB; 45-39 overall) ... Lakeland is looking to snap a 10-game losing streak that has dropped its second half record to 3-14. The Flying Tigers last tasted victory on June 25 against Brevard County and have been outscored 2-to-1 during the losing streak (55 runs to 28). Josh Turley tops the Florida State League in winning percentage (1.000 at 7-0) and with a 1.69 ERA while Kevin Eichhorn is sixth with a 2.44 mark. Edgar De La Rosa, presently on the disabled list, ranks 10th with a 2.59 ERA while Jake Thompson is fourth with 79 strikeouts. James Robbins is fourth in the league with 11 home runs and Jeff McVaney is tied for fourth with 50 runs batted in. Lakeland pitchers hold on to the fourth spot in the league with a 3.21 staff ERA while the team batting average of .248 is third lowest in the league.

THE MANATEES (10-5, 2nd, 0.5 GB; 46-35 overall) ... Brevard County dropped its last two games to Clearwater by a combined 10-3 score after having three games rained out on July 3-5. Prior to those two defeats, the Manatee had won six straight and nine of ten. Tyler Wagner is second in the FSL with a 1.91 ERA to go with his 7-4 record while Hobbs Johnson is tied for the league lead with nine wins. Nathan Orf is tenth with a .305 batting average and second with a .415 on-base percentage. Michael Reed is second with 21 stolen bases and 27 walks and is third with a .408 on-base percentage. Tyrone Taylor leads the FSL with 29 doubles and 36 extra base hits and is fifth with 52 runs scored. With all these pitchers ranking in the FSL stats, it is no surprise that Brevard County has the lowest staff ERA (2.77) in the Florida State League. The Manatees have the fourth best team batting average (.260) in the FSL.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS:

7/08 - RHP Kevin Eichhorn (4-2, 2.44 ERA) ... Eichhorn is looking for his first win since May 28. Eichhorn is 0-0 with a 2.70 ERA in six previous home appearances, including four starts. He is 0-1 with a 5.25 ERA in three appearances, including one start, against Brevard County. In the one start, he was tagged for five runs on eight hits in 3.2 innings in a loss on June 24. Eichhorn ranks sixth in the Florida State League with a 2.44 earned run average.

7/09 - LHP Josh Turley (7-0, 1.69 ERA) ... Turley tossed two-hit ball over 8.0 shutout innings and struck out eight in his last start on July 4 against Tampa, but did not get a win as the Flying Tigers fell 1-0 in 12 innings. He has allowed just one run in 21.0 innings and struck out 18 over his last three outings. Since May 27, Turley is 4-0 with an 0.86 ERA in six starts with 33 strikeouts and now sits atop the FSL standings with a 1.69 ERA. He is 1-0 with a 0.75 ERA in three previous appearances, including one start, against Brevard County. In the one start, he gave up eight hits, but limited the Manatees to one run for a win on June 25.

7/10 - RHP Yorfrank Lopez (4-6, 4.60 ERA) ... Lopez has lost his last two starts, giving up a total of 10 runs (seven earned) on 13 hits in the two outings—both against Daytona. In five of his last six contests, he has allowed one or no earned runs and struck out 32 batters in the last six games combined. Lopez is 1-1 with a 2.79 ERA in two previous starts against the Manatees, with nine strikeouts and three walks in 9.2 innings with 10 hits allowed.

TURLEY HONORED BY FSL ... Josh Turley has been named the Florida State League Pitcher of the Week for the week ending July 6. In his one start on July 4, he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and recorded eight strikeouts in 8.0 innings while allowing two hits and walking three. Turley’s season ERA of 1.69 is seventh best in the minor leagues. His 1.69 WHIP is 11th best in the minors and his .199 opponents average is 10th.

NOT THE ONLY ONE ... In addition to Josh Turley, two other pitchers with Lakeland ties earned various league honors. Adam Wilk, who pitched for Lakeland in 2010, was honored in the International League after going 1-1 with a 1.20 ERA in two starts. Wilk struck out 12 in the two games and pitched one complete game for Indianapolis. Tommy Collier, a member of the 2013 Flying Tigers, picked up Pitcher of Week honors for the Eastern League, after tossing a one-hit, seven-inning shutout for Erie. 

FUTURE STARS ... Best of luck to Lakeland pitcher Jake Thompson and former Flying Tiger outfielder Steven Moya as they compete in the Sirius XM All-Star Futures game on Sunday, July 13 in Minnesota. Thompson is 6-4 for Lakeland with a 3.14 ERA in 16 starts. Through July 7, Moya was leading the Eastern League with 21 homers and ranked third with 65 runs batted in.

OFFENSE SPUTTERING ... During its 10-game losing streak, Lakeland is batting .206 as a team while the staff ERA is 4.83 during the last ten contests. The Flying Tigers are averaging 2.8 runs per game during the streak while giving up 5.5 runs per contests. The one bright spot offensively during the stretch is Connor Harrell who has gone 14-for-39 for a .359 clip with three games in which he had three hits in each.

SERIES BATS ... Austin Green is 5-for-11 his last three games while James Robbins went 4-for-11 during the Daytona series.

FROM THE PEN ... Although Lakeland fans haven’t seen much of him as he has appeared in just three home games, Ryan Longstreth has been getting the job done, allowing just two runs in his last eight outings and 7.2 innings.

LOSING CLOSE ... The Flying Tigers’ 4-3 loss in eight innings to Daytona in game one of Monday’s doubleheader was Lakeland’s ninth one-run loss this half. Three losses have come in extra innings.

DE LA ROSA PLACED ON DL ... Edgar De La Rosa was placed on the disabled list retroactive to July 4. He was on the DL from May 10-19 with a blister on the middle finger on his throwing hand. He left the game July 3 in Tampa in the fourth inning with what is believed to be a similar malady.

DIRKS ON REHAB ... Detroit Tiger outfielder Andy Dirks has joined Lakeland on a MLB rehab assignment. Dirks, who played for the Flying Tigers in 2009, is working his way back from March 2014 back surgery.

SECOND DRAFTEE JOINS CLUB ... Locke St. John, a 32nd round pick by Detroit in the 2014 draft out of the University of South Alabama, was added to the Lakeland roster on Monday. St. John got a rude welcome to the Florida State League as he started game two of Monday’s doubleheader and took the loss in a 6-1 game, having given up six runs (four earned) on five hits, including a pair of first-inning home runs.

START THE COUNTDOWN ... Lakeland enters the Brevard County series with 3,990 all-time wins, needing 10 more to reach 4,000. Lakeland has a 3,990-4,220 record since 1963.

UP NEXT ... Following the Manatees series, the Flying Tigers will play at St. Lucie on July 11-14 and at Charlotte on July 16-19. Once returning to Joker Marchant Stadium on July 20, Lakeland will play 16 of the next 20 games at home with two eight game home stands extending into August sandwiched around a four-game road trip. As a reminder, the July 22 game has been moved to a 10:30 am start. 

AN ORGANIZATIONAL LOOK-SEE ... Detroit (48-37, 1st place) ... Toledo (44-48, 4th place, 6.5 GB) ... Erie (39-49, 4th place, 13.0 GB) ... Lakeland (3-14, 6th place, 8.5 GB; 45-39 overall) ... West Michigan (11-6, 2nd, 1.0 GB; 52-35 overall) ... Connecticut (11-14, 3rd, 5.0 GB) ... GCL Tigers (8-6, 1st place)