THE SERIES ... The Flying Tigers continue their road trip with a three-game set at Brevard County (Brewers), April 20-22. Games one and two are Monday and Tuesday at 6:35 pm with the series finale on Wednesday at 10:30 am for the first Education Day of the season.
LAST YEAR ... The Manatees won 11 of the 16 games played between the two clubs last season, including four of the last five.
THE FLYING TIGERS (3-8, 6th, 4.5 GB) ... Lakeland snapped a six-game losing streak with a 7-5 win at Clearwater on Sunday as Steven Moya, Bobby Borchering, and Francisco Martinez all hit solo home runs. Starter Kevin Ziomek struck out eight for a second straight outing for the win while Scott Sitz cut down three in the ninth for the save. The Flying Tigers have struggled at the plate in the early going and rank last in the league with a .206 team batting average and 27 runs scored. The staff ERA of 4.02 is third highest in the league.
THE MANATEES (5-5, 3rd, 2.0 GB) ... Brevard County took two of three at home from Dunedin over the weekend winning the opening game of the series by a 4-0 tally and taking the finale, 3-2, in 12 innings. The Blue Jays won the middle game, 4-0. Chris McFarland has a .310 average and has twice had three hits in a game this season. He is tied for second in the FSL with five doubles. Victor Roache has gone 7x16 his last four games to boost his average to .297 on the season. Clint Coulter brings a four-game hit streak into the series going 7x15 during that stretch. He is also tied for second in the Florida State League with three homers. Brandon Macias has hits in each of his five games played so far for a .350 average. Johnny Davis is tied for second in the league with four stolen bases. Hiram Burgos, who started Sunday’s game, is 1-1 with a 2.12 ERA to go with his league-leading 21 strikeouts in 17.0 innings pitched. Javier Salas, 1-1, ranks fourth in the FSL with a 0.69 ERA. Brevard is hitting .210 as a team and the Manatees sport a 3.40 staff earned run average.
FIRST ROUNDER ... Manatees outfielder Clint Coulter was Milwaukee’s first round pick (27th overall) in the 2012 amateur draft out of Union (WA) High School.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
4/20 - RHP Jonathan Maciel (0-1, 7.20) ... Maciel gave up five runs on eight hits in 5.0 innings in his last start on April 15 at home against Palm Beach with one strikeout and one walk. Righthanded batters are hitting .375 against Maciel.
4/21 - LHP Ryan Longstreth (0-2, 7.04 ERA) ... Longstreth allowed a pair of runs on four hits with three strikeouts and three walks in a lost to Palm Beach in his last start on April 16. Righthanded batters are hitting .300 against Longstreth.
4/22 – LHP Tommy Collier (1-0, 1.50) ... Collier has allowed just two runs in his first two starts with both coming in his last outing on April 17 at Clearwater. He won that game with eight strikeouts and zero walks while giving up nine hits. Righthanded batters are hitting .267 against Collier.
17 ON 17 ... April 17 turned out to be a special 17 as the Lakeland Flying Tigers locked horns (fins?) with the Clearwater Threshers for a marathon 17 innings. Unfortunately, the Flying Tigers came out on the short end as the four hour, 50 minute game ended with the Threshers on top 4-3. The two teams combined for 27 hits in 122 at bats while nine hurlers notched a total of 33 strikeouts. Lakeland got all three of its runs in the fourth inning while Clearwater notched solo runs in the fourth, fifth and eighth innings to tie the contest. The Threshers finally won the game in the bottom of the 17th inning when Dylan Cozens singled with the bases loaded.
GOING YARD ... Bobby Borchering homered Saturday night at Clearwater and was one of three Flying Tigers to homer on Sunday. Joining Borchering, who leads the team with his two dingers, in the hit parade were Steven Moya and Francisco Martinez. Borchering was 4x13 (.308) in the Clearwater series while Moya went 5x16 (.313).
ROLLIN’ REAVES ... Jared Reaves has a hit in each of his seven games played this season. Throw in a hit in his last game of 2014, and he has the second-longest active hit streak in the FSL, trailing Palm Beach’s Luke Voit who has hit in nine straight games.
VERILY VERLANDER ... Ben Verlander has gone 4x10 over his last three games played.
WEEKEND TRANSACTIONS ... Lakeland added a pair of players over the weekend. On Saturday, righthanded pitcher Nate Fury was added from Extended Spring Training with righty Montreal Robertson being sent to EST. On Sunday, RHP Julio Felix was played on the Disabled List (retroactive to April 16). Taking his place on the roster is RHP Micah Kellogg. Both Fury and Kellogg played briefly in Lakeland last season.
BEHIND THE EIGHT BALL ... Starter Kevin Ziomek has struck out eight batters in back-to-back games and now ranks third in the FSL with 19 strikeouts, just two behind the leader, Hiram Burgos of Brevard County.
THE SKIPPER (thru 4/19) ... Manager Dave Huppert, a member of the 2012 FSL Hall of Fame Class, is back for a 28th season as a minor league manager. He is the winningest active manager in the minors and ranks 18th all-time with 1,874 career wins (1,874-1,745). He is in his fifth season with Lakeland and has a 266-283 record with the club, including a FSL championship in 2012.
UP NEXT ... The Flying Tigers land once again in Lakeland to open a six-game homestand starting with three games against Clearwater April 23-25 and then three games versus Brevard County April 26-28. The April 28 game is the first home Education Day game for the Flying Tigers with a 10:30 am first pitch.
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