THE SERIES ... The Flying Tigers return to Joker Marchant Stadium tonight to open a seven-games-in-eight-days homestand. Lakeland host Clearwater April 23-25 with Thursday’s and Friday’s games getting underway at 6:30 pm and Saturday’s series finale at 6:30 pm.
FIRST MEETING ... Lakeland was swept by the Threshers in a three-game set in Clearwater on April 17-19. In the opener, Lakeland was shutout 6-0 while the next night was a 17-inning affair with Clearwater winning 4-3. The finale saw the Threshers post a 7-3 win. The series was witnessed by 10,965 fans.
THE FLYING TIGERS (5-9, 6th, 4.5 GB) ... Lakeland sandwiched a pair of wins around a loss at Brevard County and now has won three of its last four games. It was a matter of the long ball in the first two games as Ben Verlander (3-run homer) and Dominic Ficociello (solo shot) put up all of the Flying Tigers offense in a 4-3 win. In game two of the doubleheader, Lakeland reliever Scott Sitz surrendered two homers in the bottom of the 7th as the Manatees won 8-6. Game three was a bit strange as the first Flying Tiger run came via a bases-loaded balk and the second scored on an error. Francisco Martinez capped the win with a solo home run. Lakeland is up to hitting .220 as a team which is third lowest batting average in the FSL while the 40 runs scored this season is the fewest in the Florida State League. The staff ERA of 3.87 is third highest.
THE THRESHERS (8-6, 2nd, 1.5 GB) ... Clearwater has dropped three of its last four after winning five in a row. Tampa took two of three from Clearwater, outscoring the Threshers 21-8 in the process. Brandon Leibrant ranks 9th in the FSL with a 1.42 ERA and third with 19.0 innings pitched while Ulises Joaquin is tied for second with three saves. Willians Astudillo leads the club with a .327 average while Andrew Pullin is next at .306. Clearwater is hitting .248 as a team while pitching staff has a 3.53 ERA.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
4/23 - LHP Locke St. John (0-2, 6.17) ... St. John has allowed four runs in each of his first two starts this season with only one strikeout in each game. He has allowed 12 hits and issued six free passes. He faced Clearwater on April 18 and worked 6.2 innings with seven hits, five runs allowed (four earned) on two walks and one strikeout.
4/24 - LHP Kevin Ziomek (1-2, 4.41 ERA) ... Ziomek picked up his first of the season in his last start on April 19 at Clearwater despite allowing a season-high nine hits. He worked 6.1 innings and allowed four runs (three earned) while striking out eight for a second straight game. Ziomek is 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA in his first two appearances at Joker Marchant Stadium. His 19 strikeouts on the season is tied for fourth most in the FSL.
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. He did not face Clearwater in the road series. This is his second home start.
FOUND THE POWER SWITCH ... After hitting just two homers in the first nine games, Lakeland has hit eight in the last five games with at least one homer in each of the five contests. The big night came on April 19 at Clearwater when Bobby Borchering, Steven Moya, and Francisco Martinez all went deep. The Flying Tigers have now hit the second most homers in the league, tied with St. Lucie, and two behind Daytona’s league-high 12 dingers.
HELLO, FICOCIELLO ... Dominic Ficociello collected six hits in a three-game swing from April 19-21, going 6x10 during that stretch. Unfortunately, the streak ended last night as he was held hitless in four trips to the plate.
LONGING FOR PLAYING TIME ... Being the No. 2 catcher doesn’t allow for a lot of playing time, but the way Drew Longley has hit his last two games, he may see more action. On April 19, the former University of South Florida backstop had two doubles and an RBI. On April 21, he went 1x1 with two walks, a run scored and two more driven in.
MARTINEZ-ING ... Francisco Martinez has been cleaning at the plate as of late, getting hits in five of his last six games to almost double his batting average. With just two hits in his first seven games, Martinez is 7x20 his last six games.
MIGHTY BEN ... Ben Verlander has hits in each of his last five games and is 6x18 during that streak with a double, a homer, and four runs batted in.
UNCHARACTERISTIC ... In past season, Lakeland’s defense has ranked toward the top of the Florida State League standings. However, this season is a different story as the club has been charged with 17 errors in 14 games to tie for 10th place on the FSL fielding chart.
SPEAKING OF THE “D” ... Clearwater first baseman Zach Green is perfect in 114 fielding chances to lead the league’s first-sackers with a 1.000 fielding percentage. Thresher shortstop Devin Lohman is also sitting atop his fellow shortstops with a 1.000 mark, having zero errors in 39 chances.
THE SKIPPER (thru 4/22) ... 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 1,876 career wins (1,876-1,746). He is in his fifth season with Lakeland and has a 268-284 record with the club, including a FSL championship in 2012.
UP NEXT ... Brevard County comes to Lakeland for games on April 26-28 with game on the 28th being the first Education Day of the season. After a day off, the Flying Tigers will close out the month with a single game against Tampa on April 30 before heading to George Steinbrenner Field for three games.
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