Mission Notes vs. Clearwater (July 7-9)

THE SCHEDULE ... Lakeland hits the road west for a three-game set at Clearwater playing Tuesday at 7 pm, Wednesday at noon, and back to 7 pm for the finale on Thursday. All games can be heard via the Threshers website (www.milb.com/index.jsp?sid=t566).

THE SERIES ... Each club has defended their home turf with Clearwater taking two of three to capture the first series at Bright House Field and Lakeland returning the favor, winning two of the trio of contests played at Joker Marchant Stadium. Overall, the series is 3-3 with the Flying Tigers winning three of the last four meetings.

THE FLYING TIGERS (5-6, T-3rd, 3.5 GB; 38-42-1 overall) ... Lakeland is coming off a three-game sweep of Dunedin, including a 2-1 decision in 21 innings in the middle game (more below). The three-game win streak comes on the heels of a six-game losing streak which followed an eight-game win steak which followed a nine-game win streak. Can you say, “when you’re hot, you’re hot, and when you’re not, you’re not?”

THE THRESHERS (9-3, 1st, 2.5 game lead; 46-36 overall) ... Clearwater sits atop the North Division with a 9-3 start to the second half. The Threshers are 14-3 dating back to June 17 when then rallied to win the first half race by sweeping Daytona in the first-half finale. Williams Astudillo is third in the Florida State League with a .311 batting average while Angelo Mora is eighth with a .294 mark and first with five triples. Angelo Pullin is tied for second in the league with 49 runs batted in and fifth with 124 total bases. 

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS

TUE., 7/07 - LHP Kevin Ziomek (5-6, 4.27 ERA) ... Ziomek, who is fourth in the FSL with 85 strikeouts, is 1-1 his last three starts with a 2.25 ERA, allowing just a combined four runs over 16.0 innings with 16 strikeouts and two walks. Ten of those punchouts came in his last start on July 2 at Daytona and despite holding the Tortugas to two runs, Ziomek was tagged with the loss. He is 2-0 with a 2.19 ERA in two previous starts vs. the Threshers with 14 strikeouts and two walks in a combined 12.1 innings.

WED., 7/08 - LHP Locke St. John (2-7, 4.72 ERA) ... St. John is looking for his first win since May 17. In his last outing on July 3 at Daytona, he held the Tortugas to three runs on six hits and five strikeouts and one walk in 6.1 innings, but took the loss. His 4.72 ERA is a bit misleading as he had one bad outing. Discounting the seven runs he allowed in 0.2 innings to Dunedin on June 14, his earned run average dips to 3.90 on the season. St. John has made two previous starts against Clearwater and is 0-1 with a 5.56 ERA.

THU., 7/09 - RHP Jonathan Maciel (3-0, 2.00 ERA) ... Maciel got back on the winning side of the ledger with a two-run, six hit performance in 5.2 innings against Dunedin at home on Independence Day. He now has given up five runs in his last 17.1 innings over three starts for a 2.59 ERA. He has recorded three or more strikeouts in six of his last seven starts. Maciel has not faced Clearwater this season.

LONGEST GAME ... Dominic Ficociello hit a 3-1 pitch over the left field wall for a walk-off win as Lakeland outlasted Dunedin 2-1 in a marathon 21-innings in a game suspended after 16 innings on Sunday and resumed Monday. The Blue Jays tallied a run in the first inning on Sunday while Lakeland evened the score in the sixth. The game remained 1-1 before rains forced suspension in the top of the 17th inning. The 21 innings, taking five hours and eight minutes to play, marked the longest game in the minor leagues this season and is believed to be the longest ever for Lakeland.. Each club had 13 hits and 71 at bats and the two pitching staffs combined for 35 strikeouts with Lakeland recording 15 punch outs. 

BATS ALIVE ... After reaching double digits in just three of the final 16 games of the first half, Lakeland has had ten or more hits in six games already this half, including the last three games. 

STILL THERE ... A 2x9 effort in the 21-inning marathon did not change Dominic Ficociello’s status as one of the top hitters in the FSL. The Flying Tigers’ first baseman has hits in five straight games and 10 of his last 11 and is now fifth in the league with a .302 average while his 91 hits and .365 on-base percentage are both fourth-best. He is 17x48 during the last 11 contests with nine runs scored, three doubles, a triple, and two homers, for eight RBI. He is also getting it done defensively, leading all FSL first baseman with a .994 fielding percentage. He has been charged with just four errors this season.

HAPPY JAVIER ... Javier Betancourt has hits in seven straight games (12x31, .387) and hits in 11 of his last 12 contests (21x54, .389). The Flying Tigers second baseman has seven multi-hit games during the last dozen games, including in each of the last three outings. He has also fielded his position superbly, leading all FSL second baseman with a .987 fielding mark with only five errors on the year.

WHERE DID THAT COME FROM? ... As one of five outfielders on the Lakeland roster, Ismael Salgado has played in only 26 games, but may get more playing time if he can turn in more games like Monday. Batting in the nine-hole, Salgado went 2x4 to drive in four runs, matching his career-high set last season while a member of the Gulf Coast League Tigers. He had not driven in more than one run in any game this season and the four ribbies doubled his season output.

VERY VERASTEGUI-LIKE ... Adenson Verastegui remained stingy in his last outing on July 4, holding Dunedin to two hits over 2.1 scoreless innings. He struck out four and walked just one. He has whiffed four batters in back-to-back appearances and has surrendered just one run in 22.2 innings with Lakeland this season.

SOLID DEBUT ... Gabe Hemmer made the most of his Flying Tigers debut on July 5, working 4.0 shutout innings of four-hit ball at home against Dunedin. He struck out three and issued one intentional walk.

THROWING BLANKS ... Tyler Ford has not been scored upon in his three outings since joining Lakeland and has held opponents to six hits over 6.2 innings. Whit Mayberry has allowed just one unearned run in 7.2 innings over his three relief appearances since becoming a member of the Flying Tigers.

THE SKIPPER (thru 7/06) ... Dave Huppert ranks 17th among minor league manager in terms of wins a 1,892-1,740 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 284-279 record at Lakeland, including a FSL championship in 2012. 

ROSTER MOVES ... Righthanded pitcher Montreal Robertson was promoted to AA Erie on Monday while righty Scott Sitz was added from West Michigan. On Tuesday, INF Jared Reaves and OF Austin Schotts were placed on the Disabled List with INF Keaton Jones being added from Connecticut and RHP Ryan Castellanos, younger brother of former Flying Tiger and current Detroit Tiger, Nick Castellanos, joining Lakeland from the GCL club.
    Both Jones and Castellanos are members of Detroit 2015 draft class. Jones was a 15th round pick out Texas Christian while Castellanos was a 25th round pick out of Nova Southeastern University. They are the first members of this year's draft class to play for Lakeland.

UP NEXT ... Lakeland returns home on Friday to open a four-game homestand with St. Lucie.

Former Flying Tigers Named All-Stars ... SS Dixon Machado (2012-14) has been selected to represent Toledo on the Triple-A International League All-Star squad. 1B/DH Dean Green (2012-13) and LHP Josh Turley (2014) were named Eastern League All-Stars for AA Erie. Both games are July 15.