THE SERIES ... Lakeland will have Sunday, May 10 as an off day before heading to Jupiter for four games against the Hammerheads on May 11-14. The first three games are set for 6:35 pm starts with the finale on May 14 at 10:30 am. All games in the series will be available on internet radio via the Hammerheads website. The Flying Tigers play their second series against a South Division team with hopes this one goes better than the first. Lakeland was shutout three of the four games against Palm Beach April 13-16 in Lakeland and was outscored 17-1 in the series.
LAST YEAR ... Lakeland won the first five meetings between the two clubs in 2014 with Jupiter taking the last three. The Flying Tigers swept the four games played at Roger Dean Stadium.
THE FLYING TIGERS (13-16, 5th, 4.5 GB) ... Lakeland won both ends of the series at Dunedin, winning the opener 6-1 and then exploding for a 15-1 victory in the series finale. In between the two W’s was a 5-2 loss. The two victories have allowed Lakeland to climb out of the cellar for the first time since being tied for fifth place for one game on April 23. The Flying Tigers are 5-2 the last seven games and are now 13-12 in the North Division. Curt Powell ranks eighth in the Florida State League with a .319 average while Jiwan James is tied for second with three triples. Javier Betancourt is the fourth toughest batter to strike out in the league with one strike out per 13.88 plate appearances.
THE HAMMERHEADS (12-18, 6th, 8.0 GB) ... Jupiter dropped a 3-2 decision in 10 innings at Fort Myers Saturday. It was the Hammerheads’ fourth straight defeat. Austin Dean is hitting .500 over his last seven games with hits in six of those contests. He is 13x26 during that stretch with six runs scored, four doubles, a triple and eight runs batted in. Yefri Perez brings a seven game hit streak into this series, going 9x23 (.391), and is tied for third with 10 stolen bases while T.J. Riddle has scored 21 runs to rank third in the league. Scott Lyman is tied for second in the FSL with four wins while allowing the fifth lowest opponent’s batting average (.195). Jupiter has the fourth best batting average with a .249 mark, but has hit just nine homers as a team and walked 74 times—both figures are the second fewest in the FSL.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
5/11 - RHP Tommy Collier (3-1, 1.52) ... Collier, who ranks third in the FSL with a 1.52 ERA, is coming off his best outing with 6.2 shutout innings pitched May 5 at home vs. Daytona. He struck out four and walked two while limiting the Tortugas to five hits. Collier is 2-1 with a 1.53 ERA in his last three starts with 11 strikeouts and seven walks while allowing three runs on 17 hits.
5/12 - LHP Locke St. John (1-2, 4.44) ... St. John tossed 5.0 shutout innings in his last start on May 6 vs. Daytona but did not factor into the decision as the Tortugas scored twice in the eighth for the win. St. John struck out five in the May 6 outing and has 11 K’s in his last two starts in which he is 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA.
5/13 - LHP Kevin Ziomek (3-3, 4.28) ... Ziomek, who is fourth in the league with 37 strikeouts, picked up his third win on May 7 at Dunedin, holding the Blue Jays to one run on four hits with five punchouts and three walks in 6.0 innings. In his previous start on May 2, he was tagged for seven runs. Ziomek has a decision in each of his six starts this season.
5/14 - RHP Jonathan Maciel (1-3, 7.12) ... Maciel surrendered 10 hits in a loss at Dunedin on May 8 as the Blue Jays scored four runs. He struck out four and did not issue a free pass in the loss. In his last three starts, Marciel is 1-2 with a 7.31 ERA while allowing 13 runs on 22 hits.
OFFENSE EXPLOSION ... Lakeland sent 13 men to the plate in an eight-run first inning in a 15-1 win at Dunedin on Saturday. The eight runs was the most scored in a single inning for the Flying Tigers since matching that number on July 20, 2014—also in the first frame—in a 10-5 victory over Jupiter at Joker Marchant Stadium. The 15 runs is the most scored by Lakeland since blanking Tampa 17-0 in the first game of a home doubleheader on Aug. 31, 2013. On Saturday, every Flying Tiger batter had at least one hit by the third inning. Francisco Martinez had three hits while he and Curt Powell each drive in three runs. Dominic Ficociello and Raph Rhymes both had a pair of hits and two RBI while Grayson Greiner and Tyler Hanover each had two base knocks. Rhymes and Greiner each scored three runs while Powell, Martinez, and Hanover each crossed the plate twice.
RAPPIN’ RHYMES ... Raph Rhymes hit two solo home runs in the Flying Tigers big win Saturday. They were the first homers by Rhymes this season and his first round-tripper since Aug. 8, 2014. He had never hit two dingers in a game in his pro career. Connor Harrell was the last Flying Tiger to collect two home runs in one game, accomplishing the feat on July 29, 2014 in a 7-1 win at Palm Beach.
FLYING HIGH ... Curt Powell has hit safely in each of his last six games for a .350 clip (7x20) with five RBI ... Javier Betancourt brings a five-game hit streak into this series and is 7x22 (.318) with four runs scored and four RBI ... Dominic Ficociello also has hits in his last five games, including three games with two hits each, and is 8x21 (.381) with five runs batted in during the stretch ... Francisco Martinez is 7x16 (.438) his last four games with three runs scored and six RBI.
UP IN ARMS ... Matt Crouse has worked 3.0 shutout innings in each of his three outings this season ... Julio Felix has picked up wins in his last two outings, working 3.0 scoreless innings in each.
FAMILIAR FACE ... Hammerheads pitcher Alex Burgos played the last three seasons in Lakeland, compiling a 13-19 record with a 4.21 ERA and four saves in 80 appearances (including 23 starts in 2012) in from 2012-14. He was selected by Miami in the Triple-A phase of the 2014 Rule 5 Draft.
ROSTER MOVE ... Catcher Drew Longley was promoted to AA Erie on Saturday as part of the domino effect that started with Detroit catcher Alex Avila being placed on the disabled list. Bryan Holaday was then recalled from AAA Toledo and Miguel Gonzalez moved up from AA Erie opening a spot for Longley. Taking the open spot on the Lakeland roster is Tim Remes up from Extended Spring Training.
HUPPERT SETS SIGHT ON NO. 17 (thru 5/09) ... 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 based on number of wins and ranks 18th overall with a 1,884-1,753 record. His 1,884 career wins is three behind tying Bruno Betzel (1927-56) who is in 17th place among all-time minor league managers with a 1,887-1,892 career record. Huppert is in his fifth season with Lakeland and has a 276-291 record with the club, including a FSL championship in 2012.
UP NEXT ... Lakeland returns home to Joker Marchant Stadium May 15-17 for a three-game set against Dunedin before heading on the road once again to play at Daytona May 18-20.
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