THE SCHEDULE ... Lakeland entertains Dunedin for a three-game set July 4-6. The opener is Saturday at 5 pm as the Flying Tigers stage their annual Independence Day fireworks. Sunday’s game is slated for a 1 pm start while the finale is Monday at 6:30 pm. This is the third time in the last six years Lakeland and Dunedin have faced each other on July 4.
INDEPENDENCE DAY ... The Flying Tigers are at home on July 4th for an 11th consecutive year. The last time the team did not play at home on Independence Day was in 2003 when the club traveled to Clearwater. Lakeland lost 1-0 to Tampa in 12 innings last year in a game witnessed by 5,052 fans. The largest group to watch the club in the last 10 years came in 2011 when 5,249 saw the club fall to Dunedin 5-2. In 2010, Lakeland shut out Dunedin 14-0 on the nation’s birthday.
THE SERIES ... Lakeland won the first two series meetings between these two clubs, taking two of the three games in each while the Blue Jays swept the Flying Tigers in three games in mid-June. Francisco Martinez is 12x30 (.400) in the series with four doubles and two homers while Javier Betancourt and Dominic Ficociello each have ten hits and a combined 11 RBI in the nine games.
THE FLYING TIGERS (35-42-1, 2-6 2nd Half, 6th, 4.5 GB) ... Lakeland is taking a flashback to the Seventies as the Flying Tigers have gone streaking. Losing nine straight from June 6-16, the club ran off eight straight wins from June 16-27, and is now back on the down slope, dropping six straight games from June 28-July 3. Lakeland was swept in three games at Daytona, scoring one run in the final two contests. The Flying Tigers have been outscored 32-12 during their recent losing streak.
THE BLUE JAYS (36-43, 4-5 2nd Half, 3rd, 3.0 GB) ... Dunedin is coming off a home series win vs. Brevard County, winning back to back games by scores of 6-1 and 12-4 after dropping the series opener, 12-3. Luis Santos is fifth in the FSL with 77 strikeouts, but has allowed a league-high 11 home runs. The Blue Jays pitching staff has the highest staff ERA in the FSL at 4.12 on the season. Emilio Guerrero has hits in each of his nine games since rejoining the club on June 24, going 12x28 (.429) during the stretch with five doubles and a pair of triples. Matt Dean is 8x15 in the last four games
LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
SAT., 7/04 - RHP Jonathan Maciel (2-7, 5.84 ERA) ... Maciel took the loss in his last start on June 29 against Jupiter at home, allowing five runs—three earned—on nine hits in 4.2 innings. Opponents have scored five earned runs against him in his last 16.2 innings over three starts. Maciel lost his only start against Dunedin on May 8 at Dunedin, giving up four runs on 10 hits in 6.0 innings. He is looking for his first win since beating Jupiter on May 14.
SUN., 7/05 - LHP Trent Szkutnik (0-2, 7.80 ERA) ... Szkutnik gave up four runs on six hits in 4.1 and took the loss in his last start on June 30 vs. Jupiter. Szkutnik was tagged for seven runs—six earned— on seven hits in just 1.2 innings and got the lost in his only start at the Blue Jays in his Lakeland debut on June 13.
MON., 7/06 - RHP Brennan Smith (3-0, 2.00 ERA) ... (This was Matt Crouse’s spot in the rotation, but he was promoted to AA Erie on Friday). Smith has been used as a starter for three games June 11, 16 and 22 and is 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA in those three starts. He has struck out 15 and walked four in 16.0 frames as the first Flying Tiger on the mound. Smith worked 3.0 innings in his only previous start against Dunedin on May 9 surrendering one runs on five hits.
NUMBER NINE, NUMBER NINE ... Javier Betancourt brings a nine-game hit streak into this series having gone 14x37 during the streak for a .378 clip. He remains the second toughest player in the FSL to strikeout with one whiff every 12.31 plate appearances.
FICO-SCORE ... Dominic Ficociello has hits in seven of his last eight games going 12x31 with five runs scored, two doubles, a triple and a homer for seven runs batted in. He is tied with St. Lucie’s Dominic Smith for fourth in the league with a .303 batting average and is also tied for fourth with 86 hits. His .367 on-base percentage is fourth-best in the Florida State League.
BLAZING A MON-TRAIL ... Montreal Robertson has allowed just one opponent to cross home plate in his last 14.2 innings over eight appearances and has 11 strikeouts his last four outings.
NOT ADEN UP ... Adenson Verastegui has surrendered just one score in his 20.1 innings as a Flying Tiger for a 0.44 ERA in six appearances.
FIELDING THE POSITION ... Dominic Ficociello remains the best fielding first baseman in the league with a .994 fielding percentage while Javier Betancourt tops all second baseman with a .986 mark. Raph Rhymes is perfect with a 1.000 fielding percentage which is the best amongst FSL outfielders. Grayson Greiner has thrown out 33.8 percent of would-be base stealers, a mark that is fifth best in the league. However, opponents have been successful in 11 of 12 attempts vs. Greiner since he came off the disabled list on June 22.
THE SKIPPER (thru 7/03) ... Dave Huppert ranks 17th among minor league manager in terms of wins a 1,889-1,740 record entering this series. 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, Huppert is in his 28th season as a minor league manager. This is his fifth season with the Flying Tigers and he has a 281-279 record at Lakeland, including a FSL championship in 2012.
ROSTER MOVES ... Lakeland made a flurry of moves on Friday as two players earned promotions to Double-A, one was released, and three players added to the roster. LHP Matt Crouse (4-2, 2.55 ERA) and RHP Slade Smith (1-0, 0.53 ERA, 1 SV) earned a ticket up the organizational ladder to Erie. Righthander Gabe Hemmer and outfielder Austin Schotts join the Flying Tigers from West Michigan while RHP Will Clinard was welcomed back from the Gulf Coast League Tigers. Finally, infielder Bobby Borchering (.203, 3 HR, 16 RBI) was released. Hemmer was 1-2 with a 1.29 ERA and three saves for West Michigan with 37 strikeouts and 11 walks in 35.0 innings. Clinard, who had pitched in eight innings in two previous outings for Lakeland earlier this season, was 1-0 with one save in 4.0 innings with the GCL Club. Schotts, who played two games for Lakeland in 2012, was batting .237 for the Whitecaps with a pair of homers and 26 runs batted in.
UP NEXT ... The Flying Tigers hit the road for three games at Clearwater July 7-9 before returning home to face St. Lucie for four games on July 10-13.
ORGANIZATIONAL NOTES ... The Detroit minor league clubs have combined for a 191-220 record for a .465 winning percentage which ranks 25th among all organizations. Toronto is 13th with a 196-188 mark and a .510 winning percentage. The Houston Astros have the top mark at 23-4176 (.571) while Milwaukee brings up the rear at 159-207 (.434) ... Lakeland pitcher Kevin s leads all Detroit minor leaguers with 85 strikeouts.
TIME AT THE BALLPARK ... An average minor league baseball game last 2:44 for nine innings while the Florida State League is a little quicker with an average time of 2:40 this season. Lakeland home games average 2:32 in 2015.
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