THE SERIES ... The second half gets underway tonight at 6:30 as Lakeland host Tampa for one game at Joker Marchant Stadium. The series then hits the road for one game at George Steinbrenner Field tomorrow at 7 pm. The two clubs have alternated wins over the 10 game series with each emerging victors in five games at their home.
THE FIRST HALF ... Lakeland finished the first half with a 33-36 record and in fourth place, 3.5 games out of first place. Clearwater won the first half of the North Division by sweeping Daytona in the final three-game series and then clinching on the second tie-breaker—head to head competition. The Threshers won eight of the 12 games played against the Tortugas. In the South Division, Charlotte ran away with the first half crown, taking first place with a seven-game lead over Fort Myers. Clearwater and Charlotte have secured their places in the FSL postseason playoffs in September.
THE FLYING TIGERS (33-36, First Half: 4th place, 3.5 GB) ... Lakeland ran out six straight wins (and a tie) to end the first half. Last season, the Flying Tigers also finished third in the first half, but had a much better record at 42-35.
THE YANKEES (34-36, First Half: 3rd place, 3.0 GM) ... Tampa lost two of three to Dunedin in their final series of the first half. Mark Payton who leads the league with a .390 on-base percentage and is eighth in the with a .291 batting average, was promoted to AA Trenton on June 18. Ericson Leonora is first in the FSL with a .475 slugging percentage; tied for second with 10 homers and 26 extra base hits; and fifth with 39 runs batted in. Tyler Wade is tied for second with 26 stolen bases and tied for third with 39 runs scored, while on the mound, Rookie Davis is second with 77 strikeouts. With a league-high 99 errors, Tampa has the lowest fielding percentage in the Florida State League.
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
THU., 6/25 - LHP Kevin Ziomek (4-5, 4.48 ERA) ... Ziomek is coming off 4.0 shutout innings of two-hit baseball in his last start on June 16 at Charlotte. He is 0-1 his last three starts, but has a 2.81 ERA in those 12.0 innings with 11 strikeouts and three walks. Ziomek, who is fourth in the league with 71 strikeouts, is winless in his last six starts. He is 0-2 with a 4.67 ERA in three previous starts vs. the Yankees with 17 hits allowed and 17 strikeouts in 17.1 innings.
FRI., 6/26 - LHP Matt Crouse (3-1, 2.29 ERA) ... Crouse returns to the starting rotation after picking up a win in relief on June 18 at Charlotte with 3.0 innings of 1-hit ball with five strikeouts. He allowed two runs that game and four tallies in a start prior. Crouse, who is 2-0 in four previous starts with a 3.05 ERA, had allowed four runs in his first 10 outings. He has two relief appearances vs. Tampa and has three strikeouts and allowed three hits in 6.0 shutout innings.
THERE’S NO TYING IN BASEBALL! ... After winning their fifth walk-off game with a 1-0 decision in 10 innings over Brevard County in game one of last night’s doubleheader, Lakeland finished game two in a rare tie, matching the Manatees 2-2 when Mother Nature called a halt to the proceedings after eight full innings. Game one was delayed 1:07 due to lightning in the area with game two getting underway at 9:33 pm. At 11:49 pm, the teams were waived off the field with heavy rains following.
It was the first tie in the FSL since July 20, 2013 when Daytona and Charlotte also finished with a 2-2 score and Lakeland’s first tied game since at least 1995 (as far back as this writer’s records go).
DOES HE OR DOESN’T HE? ... Francisco Martinez brought a 12-game hit streak into last night’s game two of the doubleheader. The Flying Tigers’ third baseman was hitless in three trips in the tied game. Does that end his streak at a dozen games? According to MiLB.com, updated through yesterday’s games, the streak is still active at 12 games.
WALK-OFFS IN BUNCHES ... The Flying Tigers had not had a walk-off win in the first 40 games of 2015. Last night marked the fifth walk-off win in the last 29 games. Dominic Ficociello lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to plate to score David Gonzalez who had led off the 10th inning with a single. Four of the five walk-offs have come in extra innings and each five have come off the bat of different players.
BORCHERING HAS A NICE RING TO IT ... Bobby Borchering has had hits in 11 of his last 12 games, going 13x41 for a .317 average. He collected hits in nine straight games from June 11-22.
RHYMIN’ RHYMES ... Raph Rhymes has hits in eight straight games and is hitting an even .300, going 9x30, with a pair of double, a homer, and five runs batted in.
SOLID STARTERS ... Flying Tigers’ starting pitching has given up just seven earned runs in 41.0 innings over the last eight games for a 1.54 earned run average.
PEN’S NOT BAD, EITHER ... Slade Smith has not allowed a run in 12 innings in two stints with Lakeland ... Montreal Robertson has given up one run in his last 13.2 innings ... Adenson Verastegui has been touched for just one run in 16.2 innings.
FLASHING THE LEATHER ... Lakeland first baseman Dominic Ficociello leads his fellow position players in the league with a .993 fielding percentage. He has been charged with just four errors in 586 total chances. Javier Betancourt leads all FSC second baseman with a .988 fielding mark with four errors in 329 chances while Raph Rhymes leads FSL outfielders with a 1.000 fielding percentage. Grayson Greiner has thrown out 40.4 percent of would-be base stealers this season, a mark that is second best in the league.
BIG LEAGUE SON ... Tampa’s Dante Bichette is the son of the former Major League who played 14 seasons in the bigs, including seven seasons with Colorado. The Bichettes hail from Orlando.
BASEBALL’S A 9-INNING GAME, RIGHT? ... Thanks to double headers and extra inning games, Lakeland has played just two games of nine-innings since June 10. The Flying Tigers have played a 5-inning game, seven 7-inning contests, an 8-inning tie, and three extra-inning games (two 10-inning and one 13 inning).
THE SKIPPER (thru 6/24) ... Flying Tigers manager Dave Huppert has moved into a tie for 17th among minor league manager in terms of wins a 1,887-1,734 record entering tonight’s game. Huppert is tied with Bruno Betzel who compiled a 1,887-1,892 record from 1927-1956. Next up for Huppert is Cal Ermer who is in 16th place with a 1,906-1,728 record from 1947-1984 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 the Flying Tigers and has a 279-273 record, including a FSL championship in 2012.
ROSTER MOVES ... Lakeland made a pair of roster moves on Wednesday, placing RHP Zac Reininger on the disabled list and adding Tyler Ford from Class A West Michigan. Reininger had picked up a win in his one relief appearance on June 17 since being added from Double-A Erie. Ford, who pitched in four games for Lakeland in 2014, was 0-3 for the Whitecaps, but had one save and a 2.41 ERA with 43 strikeouts and six walks in 41.0 innings.
UP NEXT ... Lakeland will play host to Jupiter to close out the month with a four-game set against the Hammerheads, June 27-30. As a reminder the final game of the Jupiter series is Camp Day at 10:30 am.
No comments:
Post a Comment