THE SERIES ... Lakeland swept Jupiter in four games on the road May 27-30 winning the first two games by one run and game three by two runs, before hammering the Hammerheads 12-2 in the finale. Chad Wright led Lakeland in the series with eight hits while five other Flying Tigers each had five base knocks. This four-game home series gets underway Sunday at 1:00 pm. Game two is Monday at 6:30 pm with game three Tuesday at 10:30 am as the Flying Tigers welcome area summer campers in a Parks and Recreation Day. The series finale is Wednesday at 6:30 pm.
THE FLYING TIGERS (6-21, 6th, 11.0 GB; 48-46 overall) ... Lakeland snapped a six-game losing streak with a 9-4 win at Charlotte on Saturday. Lance Durham homered and singled to drive in four runs to lead the Lakeland attack as eight of the nine Flying Tigers in the line-up all got base hits. Lakeland had ten base hits in the game for the first time in the nine games. In that stretch, the Flying Tigers hit just .207 with 27 base hits—11 doubles, 1 triple and 6 homers. Lakeland has the second lowest team batting average (.245) in the Florida State League while the staff ERA of 3.32 has dropped to sixth in the league. The Flying Tigers’ defense remains atop the FSL standings with a .980 fielding percentage and a league-low 72 errors.
THE HAMMERHEADS (5-22, 6th, 15.5 GB; 32-64 overall) ... Jupiter lost 12-7 at Dunedin Saturday despite out-hitting the Blue Jays 14-13. The loss was the Hammerheads’ third in a row and gives them a 10-39 record since May 23. Viosergy Rosa, who has played in more games (95) than any other FSL player this season, is second in the league with 63 runs batted in. Jupiter’s team batting average of .260 is tied for fifth best in the league while the staff ERA of 4.45 is second highest in the FSL. The Hammerheads have been charged with the second most errors in the league. However, Colin Moran tops all league third baseman with a .971 fielding percentage.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS:
7/20 - RHP Yorfrank Lopez (4-7, 4.60 ERA) ... Lopez has dropped his last three starts giving up a combined 13 runs—12 earned—on 21 hits with nine strikeouts and six walks. In his last start in the first game of a doubleheader at St. Lucie on July 14, he tossed 6.0 innings in a complete game, giving up three runs on eight hits. Over his last seven starts, he has a 2-4 record and a 3.16 ERA. Lopez has not faced Jupiter.
7/21 - RHP Kevin Eichhorn (5-2, 2.40 ERA) ... Eichhorn, who is sixth in the league with a 2.40 ERA, has not pitched since July 8 when he gave up one run on five hits in 5.0 innings in taking the win against Brevard County. He has allowed just three runs in his last 10.2 innings over his last two starts and has 11 starts in which he has held opponents to two or fewer runs. Eichhorn beat Jupiter on May 28 after giving up one run on four hits over 7.0 innings with four strikeouts and two walks.
7/22 - RHP Edgar De La Rosa (5-7, 2.52 ERA) ... De La Rosa, who ranks eighth in the FSL with a 2.52 ERA, lost his last start on July 17 at Charlotte, allowing three runs on seven hits over 7.0 innings. He has now lost three of his last four decisions. De La Rosa, who is also second in the FSL with a .211 opponents average, had given up just two earned runs in 31.1 innings prior to the July 17 outing. In a previous outing against Jupiter on May 29, he picked up the win by holding the Hammerheads to one unearned run on five hits in 7.0 innings with four strikeouts and one walk.
7/23 - 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 Jupiter.
DRUMMIN’ ALONG ... Calvin Drummond has allowed just three runs in last his last 16.1 innings over 12 appearances. He has struck out 23 in those 16.1 innings, but has also walked 10 batters.
AWESOME AUSTIN ... Austin Green has had hits in 12 of last 14 games (15x44) for a .341 clip.
MOVIN’ MAC ... Jeff McVaney is 7x21 (.333) his last six games.
ROCKIN’ ROBBINS ... James Robbins has hits in 11 of last 13 games (14x46) for a .304 mark, but has knocked in just five runs in the 13 contests. He is one of three players tied for second in the Florida State League with 12 home runs.
NON-JOLLY JULY ... Lakeland has managed a 3-13 record in July and just a .204 batting average in the month after going 10-13 in June with a .248 mark. The Flying Tigers are 13-26 since going 19-10 in May.
MOYA NAMED ASG MVP ... Former Flying Tiger Steven Moya was named the Eastern League All-Star Game MVP. Moya, playing for Erie and the West Division, belted a grand slam in the fifth inning to lift his squad to a 5-2 win over the East. He finished the first half of the season leading the Eastern League with 22 homers and was second with 75 RBI.
PAIR OF FORMER FLYING TIGERS MAKE MLB DEBUTS ... Former Flying Tigers Drew VerHagen and Curt Casali made their Major League debuts on Friday. VerHagen, who pitched during the 2012 and 2013 seasons for Lakeland, started for Detroit Friday and struck out four in 5.0 innings, but gave up three runs on five hits in getting the loss. Casali, who played for the Flying Tigers in 2012, started behind the plate for the Tampa Bay Rays and wasted no time in getting his first big league hit, singling in his first at bat.
BIG FINISH ... Daytona and Fort Myers battled for 17 innings on Friday night before Rock Shoulders hit a walk-off grand slam to give the Cubs a 11-7 win over the Miracle. The two pitching staffs combined for 39 strikeouts, one shy of the Florida State League of 40 set in a 29-inning game between Miami (Orioles) and St. Petersburg (Cardinals) on June 14, 1966. (On a side note, the manager of the St. Petersburg club in that game was Sparky Anderson, who would go on to win World Series titles with Cincinnati and Detroit.)
FSL QUICK HITS ... The grand slam by Daytona’s Rock Shoulders on Friday was his second of the season and the 23rd bases-loaded homer in the FSL this season. Adam Brett Walker has had three of Ft. Myer’s league-high seven grand slams. Lakeland’s James Robbins and Lance Durham have each hit one grand slam this season ... Brevard County’s Victor Roache is the only player in the FSL to hit three homers in one game this season, going yard thrice on May 4 ... The Manatee’s Tyrone Taylor and the Cubs’ Albert Almora have each hit for the cycle this year ... Lakeland’s Curt Powell is one of three players in the FSL to have five hits in a game twice this season. Daytona’s Almora and Tampa’s Jake Cave are the others ... There hasn’t been a no-hitter in the FSL since Daytona’s Matt Lossen kept Dunedin hitless in a 9-inning win on July 8, 2013. The Miracle’s Jose Berrios came the closest this season, throwing a one-hitter over seven innings on June 1 against Tampa.
CLOSING IN ON 4000 ... Lakeland enters the Jupiter series with 3,993 all-time wins, needing seven more victories to reach 4,000. Lakeland has a 3,993-4,227 record since 1963.
UP NEXT ... Lakeland concludes an eight-game home stand by hosting Bradenton for four games May 24-27. The Flying Tigers then hit the road for four games at Palm Beach May 28-31, before returning for yet another eight-game homestand with Fort Myers August 1-4 and then Dunedin hitting town Aug. 5-8. Lakeland will close out the season with just eight home games over the final three weeks.
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