THE SERIES ... The Flying Tigers head East on I-4 for their first road trip against the newest FSL club, the Daytona Tortugas, an affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. The three-game series gets underway Monday at 7:05 pm with Tuesday’s game also a 7:05 pm start. The finale on Wednesday is a 10:35 am start as the Tortugas host area school kids in an Education Day game.
UP NEXT ... Lakeland returns to Joker Marchant Stadium for four games against Bradenton May 21-24.
EARLIER THIS SEASON ... The Flying Tigers, then in sixth place in the North Division, entertained the division-leading Tortugas on May 5-7 and won both ends of the three-game series by scores of 7-0 and 6-1. Daytona took the middle game 3-2.
THE FLYING TIGERS (18-18, 3rd, 3.5 GB) ... Lakeland took two of three from Dunedin over the weekend and has now won five of the last six games and 11 of their last 16 games and the club is now 7-12 at home and 11-6 on the road. The Flying Tigers have hit 20 homers on the season, third most in the FSL and have stolen just 18 bases, fewest in the league. The five-man rotation of Kevin Ziomek, Jonathan Maciel, Ryan Longstreth, Tommy Collier, and Locke St. John, has combined to allow just three earned runs (six overall) in 38.0 innings in the last six games for a 0.71 ERA.
THE TORTUGAS (22-15, 1st, 1.0 game lead) ... Daytona dropped two of three at Clearwater over the weekend and is 4-2 the last six games, but 6-7 the last 13 outings. Philip Ervin is tied with two others for the FSL-lead with eight homers and also leads the league with 32 runs scored—six more than the number two player. He is third with 68 total bases and is fourth with a .486 slugging percentage. Alex Blandino is ninth in the FSL with a .321 average and tied for fourth with a .400 on-base percentage. Sebastian Elizalde is tied for fourth with 23 RBI. Closer Zack Weiss is fifth in the league with five saves. The Tortugas have hit a league-high 25 home runs and have struck out a league-worst 312 times.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
5/18 - LHP Kevin Ziomek (4-3, 3.46) ... Ziomek, who is third in the FSL with 45 strikeouts, tossed 3-hit ball over 8.0 shutout innings with eight strikeouts and no walks in his last outing on May 13 at Jupiter. That game is the third in which the 6’3” lefty has recorded eight strikeouts. Ziomek has won his last two starts and is 4-1 in his last five with a 1.37 ERA in the four wins. His one loss in that period came on May 2, a game in which he was tagged for seven runs in 5.1 innings at Tampa. He is 3-1 on the road in 2015. Ziomek did not pitch in the earlier series with Daytona.
5/19 - RHP Jonathan Maciel (2-3, 5.94) ... Maciel allowed six hits in 6.0 scoreless innings in his last start on May 14, a win at Jupiter. In that game, he struck out for a second straight game while walking three. He has won two of his last three decisions and has a 0.75 ERA in those two wins. Maciel is 2-1 with a 3.62 ERA in five road starts this season and 0-2 with a 13.00 ERA in two home starts. He has not faced the Tortugas.
5/20 - RHP Ryan Longstreth (2-2, 2.60) ... Longstreth pitched in just 3.0 innings against the Tortugas on May 4, leaving the game with an injury that landed him on the DL. He has allowed one run on four hits and three strikeouts in that game. Longstreth returned from the disabled list for his last start on May 15 against Dunedin and picked up his second with 5.0 shutout innings. He held the Blue Jays to four hits with four strikeouts and two walks. This is just his second road start (1-0, 0.00 ERA). His other five starts came at home where he is 1-2 with a 3.32 earned run average.
HOPING FOR A LUCKY 13 ... Dominic Ficociello went 3x4 on Sunday and now has hits in each of his last 12 games for a .360 mark, going 18x50 with seven RBI since May 5. He is tied for second in the FSL with 44 hits. Javier Betancourt also brings an 12-game hit streak into this afternoon’s game, having gone 16x50 (.320) with six runs scored and nine runs batted in since May 5. The dual 12-game streaks are the longest active streaks in the FSL. Betancourt is the second toughest batter to strike out in the FSL with one strikeout per 17.63 plate appearances. He has whiffed just once in his last 78 at bats and just eight times all season. Betancourt has also hit safely in 12 straight road games. Last season, three Flying Tigers batters reached double digits in hit streaks: Harold Castro (18 games, 7/23–8/14); Connor Harrell (14 games, 8/1–17); and Curt Powell (11 games, 5/10–21).
THE POWERFUL POWELL ... Curt Powell went 1x3 on Sunday with a pair of runs scored and has now had hits in 23 of his last 29 games, posting a .347 average (33x95) since April 17. During that stretch, Powell has scored 21 times while plating 11 runs. He has had six doubles and a pair of triples while drawing 12 walks. Powell ranks second in the FSL with a .345 batting average and is also second with a .429 on-base percentage. He has scored in six straight games. Powell is batting a crisp .387 at home and .296 on the road.
FIVE IN SIX ... The Flying Tigers batted around in the sixth inning on Sunday, sending 10 men to the plate, and scoring five runs in the process. The five runs in the sixth inning Sunday equals the total number of runs Lakeland had scored in the sixth inning in the entire season.
WALKING ON SUNSHINE ... Wednesday’s game will be the third time in the six-game series these two clubs have met with 10:30 am first pitch times as Lakeland hosted back-to-back Education Days on May 5 and 6, making up an earlier postponed day game.
THROWING ZEROS ... Matt Crouse tossed two scoreless innings Friday and has not allowed a run in five appearances since joining Lakeland from AA Erie on April 27 ... Julio Felix has not been scored upon in 8.0 innings over three appearances, picking up wins in two of those three games ... Slade Smith has tossed 7.1 scoreless innings in his four appearances since being added to the roster from AA Erie on May 1.
FLYING HIGH ... Francisco Martinez is 7x13 (.538) his last four games with three runs scored. He is batting .206 in 17 road games while posting just a .161 mark in 15 home contests ... Jiwan James has hits in 11 of his last 13 games, going 14x51 (.275) with seven runs scored ... Bobby Borchering is 6x23 (.261) his last six games with a three runs scored, two doubles, a homer, and two RBI ... as a team, the Flying Tigers are hitting .311 in the last four games with 10 or more hit in three of those four contests.
HUPPERT RANKS 17th ALL-TIME (thru 5/17) ... Flying Tigers manager Dave Huppert has moved into sole possession of 17th place for wins by a minor league manager and has a 1,889-1,755 record entering today’s game. With Friday night’s win, Huppert broke a tie with Bruno Betzel (1927-56) for 17th place and now sets his sights on Cal Ermer who is in 16th place with a 1,906-1,728 record compiled from 1947-1984. Huppert is a 2012 FSL Hall of Fame honoree and is back for a 28th season as a minor league manager. He is in his fifth season with Lakeland and has a 281-293 record, including a FSL championship in 2012.
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