TUESDAY RAIN OUT ... Tuesday’s Education Day game against Brevard County was postponed due to heavy rains and will be made up as part of a home doubleheader June 22 at 5 pm.
THE SERIES ... Thanks to the rainout on Tuesday and a scheduled day off Wednesday, Lakeland has a two-day rest heading into the four-game Tampa series. Game one is Thursday, April 30 at 6:30 pm in Lakeland before heading for three games against the Yankees, May 1-3, at George Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.
FIRST MEETING ... These two clubs opened the season with each club winning two games at the other’s home stadium. Tampa won the opener 2-1 in Lakeland as Brady Lail struck out nine while the Flying Tigers won 5-2 in Tampa, scoring four runs in the eighth. Returning to Joker Marchant for game three, the Yankees took a 7-3 victory despite a three-run homer from Javier Betancourt while the Flying Tigers won the finale 4-2 at George Steinbrenner Field behind two RBIs from Jiwan James and Ismael Salgado.
THE FLYING TIGERS (7-12, 6th, 5.0 GB) ... Lakeland lost the first two games of their last home series to Brevard County with the third game postponed due to rain. It was all Manatees in game one in a 14-4 win while the two clubs battled for 13 innings in game two with Brevard County coming out on top, 4-2.
THE YANKEES (11-9, 2nd, 1.5 GB) ... Tampa took two of three from Clearwater winning the first and third games by one run while dropping an 8-5 loss in 10 innings in game two. The Yankees have won five of their last seven games. Tyler Wade is sixth in the FSL with a .338 average and is tied for the league-lead with 24 hits. Ericson Leonora leads the FSL with nine doubles while Mark Payton is second with 17 runs scored and tied for first with three triples. Rookie Davis is ninth in the league with a 1.66 ERA and tied for third with 26 strikeouts. The Yankees are the highest-scoring team in the league with 95 runs, but last with five hoers. Tampa’s pitchers have struck out a FSL-best 166 batters.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
4/30 - 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.
5/01 – LHP Locke St. John (0-2, 6.06) ... St. John is looking for his first win of 2015. He lost his first two starts and did not factor into the decision in his third start on April 24 at home versus Clearwater. In that game, St. John allowed three runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and three walks. He has not allowed a run in the first two innings and just one in the third. St. John has not faced Tampa this season.
5/02 - LHP Kevin Ziomek (2-2, 3.22) ... Ziomek, who ranks fifth in the FSL with 25 strikeouts, has won his last two starts including back-to-back starts against Clearwater. In his two wins, he has given up three earned runs on 12 hits with 14 strikeouts and two walks. In his last start on April 25 at home versus Clearwater, Ziomek tossed 6.0 shutout innings, holding the Threshers to three hits with six strikeouts and two walks. In his lone start against Tampa on April 9, Ziomek gave up one run on three hits in 5.0 innings with three strikeouts and one walk.
5/03 - RHP Jonathan Maciel (0-2, 9.33) ... Maciel had his worst outing in his last start on April 26 at home against Brevard County, giving up eight runs on 10 hits in 4.0 innings with one strikeout and no walks. He has allowed eight or more hits in each of his last three starts and surrendered three or more runs in each of his four starts. In his one start against the Yankees on April 10, Maciel was touched for three runs on six hits with three strikeouts and one walk in 5.0 innings.
THE LONG BALL ... While Lakeland hit just one homer in the Brevard County series, the Flying Tigers are still tied for second in the FSL with 14 home runs.
NUMBER NINE, NUMBER NINE ... Flying Tiger Curt Powell brings a nine-game hit streak into the Tampa series which is the second-longest active streak in the Florida State League. Powell is 13x36 (.361) over the last nine games with eight runs scored, three doubles and a triple. His .351 average is second in the FSL only to Bradenton’s Jin-De Jhang who is hitting a blistering .431 on the season so far. He has had two hits in a game four times in the last five contests. Powell is hitting a crisp .390 versus righthanded pitching this year.
OVER AT EIGHT ... While Curt Powell is still streaking, Ben Verlander saw his streak come to a close at eight games on Monday. The Flying Tigers outfielder was 13x27 (.481) during the streak with six runs scored, two doubles and two homers.
ZIPS FOR ZAC ... Reliever Zac Reininger has not allowed a run in any of his six appearances this season and just six hits overall. He is tied with five others for third in the league with three saves.
JOLLY ROGERS ... Winter Haven native Joe Rogers gave up an unearned run in his first appearance of the year on April 9 and has not given up a run in his last five outings.
SECOND WITH FOUR ... Justin Betancourt collected four singles on April 27 against Brevard County. He is the second Flying Tiger to have four hits in a game this season. Ben Verlander had a double and three singles on April 24 versus Clearwater.
ROSTER MOVE ... On Monday, LHP Micah Kellogg announced his retirement. Taking his spot on the roster is RHP Matt Crouse, who is working his way back from an arm injury that limited him to just two appearances last season.
THE SKIPPER (thru 4/28) ... 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 (1,878-1,749). He is in his fifth season with Lakeland and has a 270-287 record with the club, including a FSL championship in 2012.
UP NEXT ... Lakeland’s next home games are May 4-6 against the league’s newest team, the Daytona Tortugas, which are a Cincinnati Reds affiliate. Area elementary students will be the Flying Tigers guests on Tuesday, May 5 and Wednesday, May 6 as Lakeland hosts back-to-back Education Day games at 10:30 a.m. both days.
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