THE SERIES ... The Flying Tigers continue their homestand with three games against the Manatees of Brevard County. Game one is Sunday at 1 pm with game two Monday at 6:30 pm. Game three is Tuesday at 10:30 am as the Flying Tigers host area elementary students in the first Education Day game of the season. Lakeland is just 0.5 games behind Brevard County in the North Division.
FIRST MEETING ... The first series between these two clubs got off to a slow start as game one was rained out on April 20. The two squads then split their doubleheader on April 21 with Lakeland taking the opener, 4-3, behind a three-run homer by Ben Verlander and a solo shot by Dominic Ficociello. The Manatees took game two as Lakeland reliever Scott Sitz gave up two homers in the bottom of the seventh for a 8-6 Lakeland loss. The Flying Tigers captured the finale, 3-1, on April 22 scoring a pair of unearned runs for the first scores in the third while Francisco Martinez hit a solo homer in the seventh.
THE FLYING TIGERS (7-10, 6th, 3.5 GB) ... Lakeland won two of three against Clearwater and has now won five of its last seven games. Against the Threshers, the Flying Tigers won the first and last games by scores of 5-2 and 4-1, respectively, while dropping the middle game, 8-4. Lakeland hit .299 in the Threshers set, collecting double-digit hits in the first two games of the series. The Flying Tigers are tied for 10th in the FSL with a .233 team batting average and last with 53 runs scored.
THE MANATEES (7-9, 5th, 3.0 GB) ... Brevard County has lost three of its last four games, including the last two. Last night, the Manatees fell to the Blue Jays, 9-8, in 12 innings in Dunedin. Clint Coulter is tied for the league lead with five home runs while Victor Roache is tied for second with four and is fourth in the FSL with a .344 average. Roache, who is tied for second with 21 hits, is also second with 14 RBI while Coulter is tied for third with 12. Roache has hits in his last seven games and has gone 13x29 (.448) during that stretch. Coulter leads the FSL with a .650 slugging percentage and is tied for the lead with nine extra base hits. Taylor Brennan brings a seven-game hit streak into this series and is 7x12 with five runs scored his last three starts. Javier Salas ranks sixth with a 1.35 ERA. Brevard County has drawn a lead-best 64 walks and have the second highest ERA (4.07) in the FSL.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
4/25 – RHP Jonathan Maciel (0-1, 6.91) ... Maciel is looking for his first win of the young season. In his last start on April 21 in game one of a doubleheader at Brevard County, he was chased after 4.1 innings. He allowed three runs on eight hits while striking out three and walking none.
4/27 - LHP Ryan Longstreth (1-2, 3.95) ... Longstreth picked up his first win of the season in his last start on April 22 at Brevard County. He held the Manatees to one unearned run on three hits with three strikeouts and four walks over 6.0 innings. Longstreth has struck out three batters in each of his three starts, but has walked seven in 8.2 innings over his last two outings.
4/28 - RHP Tommy Collier (2-0, 1.00 ERA) ... Collier, who is second in the league with a 1.00 ERA, got the win in his last start on April 23 at home versus Clearwater, limiting the Threshers to two unearned runs with four strikeouts and zero walks and six hits in 6.0 innings. He has allowed just two earned runs in 18.0 innings in his three starts. Collier has struck of 17 this season while issuing just one free pass.
LONG BALL CONTINUES ... Jiwan James and Drew Longley each went deep Saturday against Clearwater. It was James’ second homer of the season while for Longley, it was his first round-tripper since July, 2013. The Flying Tigers have now hit 11 home runs in the last eight games after hitting just two dingers in the first nine games of 2015. The club is second in the FSL with 13 homers as a team, four behind the leader, Dunedin.
FIERY FICOCIELLO ... Dominic Ficociello has hits in six of his last eight games, going 10x24 during the stretch for a .417 clip, raising his average from .225 to an even .300 on the season.
TWO-FER NIGHTS PUTS HIM #2 ... Curt Powell has collected two hits in each of the three games in the Clearwater series, going 6x9. Powell brings a seven-game hit streak into this series putting together a 10x26 streak for a .385 average with seven runs scored. He is now second in the FSL with a .362 average and third with a .444 on-base percentage.
LUCKY SEVEN ... Ben Verlander also brings a seven-game hit streak into the series. He has had six hits in the last two games, including a 4x4 night on April 24 against Clearwater. In his last seven games, Verlander is 12x24 (.500).
JOLLY JOE ... Joe Rogers had not allowed an earned run this season and just one run overall. He has given up just one hit in his last five outings and 6.0 innings.
K’s FOR Z ... Kevin Ziomek struck out six in his last start on April 25 against Clearwater to give him 22 in his last three starts. He is now fifth in the FSL with 25 strikeouts.
MOYER MOVES UP ... The Tigers announced Saturday morning that Steven Moya’s rehab assignment in Lakeland was over and the outfielder was headed back to AAA Toledo. Moya hit .275 in nine games with the Flying Tigers, collecting 11 hits in 40 at bats, including three doubles and three home runs with eight runs batted in. Taking the open roster spot is Ismael Salgado who began the season with the club, but was sent to Extended Spring Training on April 16 to make room for Moya.
ROSTER MOVE ... Also on Saturday, the Flying Tigers activated Julio Felix from the disabled list where he had been since April 16. To make room, Scott Sitz was sent to Extended Spring Training.
THE SKIPPER (thru 4/25) ... 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 1,878 career wins (1,878-1,747). He is in his fifth season with Lakeland and has a 270-285 record with the club, including a FSL championship in 2012.
UP NEXT ... The Flying Tigers get their first off day of the season on Wednesday, April 29 before hosting Tampa on April 30 at 6:30 pm in the first of a four-game series with the Yankees. Games 2-4 take place May 1-3 at George Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. Lakeland’s next home games are May 4-6 against the league’s newest team, the Daytona Tortugas, which are a Cincinnati Reds affiliate.
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