Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Mission Notes vs. Daytona (July 1-3)

THE SCHEDULE ... Lakeland opens the month of July with a three-game series at Daytona. The first two games get underway at 7:05 pm with the Friday finale set for 6:35 pm with fireworks to follow.

UP NEXT ... The next home game for the Flying Tigers is Saturday, July 4 as Lakeland hosts an Independence Day game at 5 pm.

THE SERIES ... The Flying Tigers have won two of the three series with the Tortugas taking the one series played at Radiology Associates Field at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. Dominic Ficociello is 13x34 in the series while Francisco Martinez is 11x30 for Lakeland which is hitting .270 as a team in the nine games so far. 

THE FLYING TIGERS (35-39-1, 2-3 2nd Half, T-2nd, 2.5 GB) ... After opening the second half with a pair of wins, Lakeland has lost three straight, dropping the final three games of the Jupiter series. The Flying Tigers won the opening game against the Hammerheads by a 10-4 score and then were outscored 7-21 the final three outings.

THE TORTUGAS (39-36, 2-3 2nd Half, T-2nd, 2.5 GB) ... Daytona snapped a nine-game losing streak by winning the middle two games of its four-game series at Palm Beach. Phillip Ervin has slugged a FSL-high 11 homers while also topping the league with 50 runs scored. He is fourth with 42 RBI while Sebastian Elizalde has driven in a league-best 47 runs and is fourth with 19 doubles. Alex Blandido has posted a .367 on-base percentage, which is fifth best in the league. Carlton Daal brings an eight-game hit streak into this series and is 11x30 (.367) during that stretch. On the hill, Amir Garrett is third in the league with 80 strikeouts. 

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
WED., 7/01 - LHP Matt Crouse (4-1, 2.03) ... Crouse has gotten wins in his last two outings. In a start at Tampa on June 26, he held the Yankees to five hits over 5.0 scoreless innings with two strikeouts and no walks. On June 18 at Charlotte, Crouse came out of the bullpen and allowed two runs in 3.0 innings with five strikeouts to get the victory. He has now struck out 20 and walked four in his last 23.2 innings. Crouse is 4-1 with three saves in nine road appearances and is 0-1 with a 2.57 ERA in two games vs. Daytona.
THU., 7/02 - LHP Kevin  Ziomek (5-5, 4.37 ERA) ... Ziomek picked up the win in his last start on June 27 at home vs. Jupiter by holding the Hammerheads to a pair of runs on six hits and four strikeouts in 6.0 innings. Those two runs are all he has allowed in his last 10.0 innings over two starts. Ziomek, who is fourth in the FSL with 75 strikeouts, has made one previous start against the Tortugas on May 18, allowing four runs on four hits with eight strikeouts over 7.1 innings.
FRI., 7/03 - LHP Locke St. John (2-5, 4.52 ERA) ... St. John has not tasted victory since beating Dunedin on May 17. In his last start on June 28 at home against Jupiter, he gave up four runs on four hits in 5.1 innings with two walks and two strikeouts. Over his last four starts, St. John has surrendered 17 runs and issued 10 walks in 16.0 innings for an 8.47 ERA. He is 1-2 with a 5.91 ERA in five road starts and has made one previous start against Daytona on May 6, working 5.0 shutout innings without a decision.

HOME RUN DERBY? ... The Tortugas lead the FSL with 48 homers as a team with almost a fourth hit by Phillip Ervin who has a league-best 11 round-trippers. The Flying Tigers are second with 35 dingers with Raph Rhymes leading the way with six homers.

DOM-DOM-DOM ... Dominic Ficociello has hits in the last five games and has two or more hits in four of the last five contest for a 10x20 stretch with five runs scored and seven runs batted in. His .500 pace has lifted him into fourth in the Florida State League with a .308 average. He is also third in the league with 84 hits and a .372 on-base percentage while his 114 total bases is tied for fourth.

MARVELOUS MARTINEZ ... Francisco Martinez had a 12-game hit streak from June 11-24 and now has hits in 16 of his last 18 games, going 23x69 (.333) during that time with 12 runs batted in. Martinez collected three singles in the Flying Tigers’ game yesterday.

EARLY LOG JAM ... In the early going of the second half, Clearwater is off to a 5-1 start after winning the first half. Next is Lakeland, Daytona, Brevard County and Tampa, all at 2-3 and all 2.5 games behind the Threshers. Dunedin is close with a 2-4 mark and is 3.0 games out.

BATTLING BETANCOURT ... Javier Betancourt has hits in five of his last six games, going 10x26 during that stretch for a .385 streak. He is the second toughest hitter in the Florida State League to strike out with one whiff every 13.39 plate appearances.

ONE DAY AT A TIME ... Bobby Borchering has at least one hit in 14 of his last 16 games, amassing a 16x55 stretch for a .291 mark.

HE’S BACK ... Jared Reaves began the 2015 season in Lakeland and had hits in 12 straight games before being promoted to AA Erie. He was added back to the roster on June 29, and though he was held hitless that evening, he bounced back with three hits in Tuesday’s game.

TAKING THE FREE PASS ... With six walks in his last five games, Raph Rhymes is tied with Daytona’s Phillip Erwin for fourth in the FSL with 33 walks.

THE BULLISH PEN ... Adenson Verastegui has been used a middle reliever and has given up just one run in 20.1 innings and nothing in his last 11.0 frames. Montreal Robertson has allowed just run in his last 14.2 innings while Slade Smith gave up his first run as a Flying Tiger in his last outing and has a 0.53 ERA over 17.0 innings. 

FLASHING THE LEATHER ... Lakeland first baseman Dominic Ficociello leads his fellow position players in the league with a .994 fielding percentage. He has been charged with just four errors in 632 total chances. Javier Betancourt leads all FSC second baseman with a .986 fielding mark with five errors in 352 chances while Raph Rhymes leads FSL outfielders with a 1.000 fielding percentage.

HARD TO RUN AGAINST ... Grayson Greiner has thrown out 38.1 percent of would-be base stealers this season, a mark that is third best in the league. He has gunned down 24 runners in 63 attempts. Back-up catcher Tim Remes has thrown out eight of 22 runners for a 36.4 mark. Lakeland catchers have nailed 39 base stealers.

THE SKIPPER (thru 6/30) ... Dave Huppert ranks 17th among minor league manager in terms of wins a 1,889-1,737 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 281-276 record at Lakeland, including a FSL championship in 2012. 

ROSTER MOVES ... RHP Paul Voelker was promoted to Double-A Erie on Monday while INF Jared Reaves and RHP Whit Mayberry were added to the team from the SeaWolves’ roster. In addition, INF David Gonzalez was sent to A West Michigan. Voelker was 3-0 with seven saves and a 1.64 ERA in 14 games for the Flying Tigers while Reaves began the season in Lakeland before going on the DL and then earned a brief stint with Erie where he hit .269 in nine games. Mayberry, who had pitched in 10 games for Lakeland in 2014, was 2-3 with a 3.06 earned run average and one save in 17 appearances for the Whitecaps. Gonzalez was batting .178 in 27 games for Lakeland.

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