Sunday, July 19, 2015

Mission Notes vs. Clearwater (July 19-21)

THE SERIES ... Lakeland hosts Clearwater for three games today thru Tuesday. Today’s game is a 1 pm start with the next two games getting underway at 6:30 pm. This is the fourth series of the season between these two clubs with the Threshers taking two sets, two games to one, but the Flying Tigers won the one series in Lakeland, also by a two games to one margin. The last three games in the last series in Clearwater went into extra innings (12, 10, 13) with each game being decided by one run. 

THE FLYING TIGERS (6-16, 6th, 8.5 GB; 39-52-1 overall) ... Lakeland was swept in four games at Bradenton in its last series and has now lost its last three series. The Flying Tigers have lost eight straight, 10 of their last 11, and 16 of the last 20 games. Lakeland was outscored 23-6 in the Bradenton series and has scored just nine runs over the last seven games. The eight-game losing streak is the second longest of the season for the Flying Tigers who suffered nine consecutive defeats from June 6-16. Outfielder Jiwan James is one of four players atop the FSL standings with five triples while Raph Rhymes is fourth with 41 walks. Javier Betancourt is the third hardest batter to set down on strikes with just one strikeout per 11.44 plate appearances.

THE THRESHERS (15-8, 1st, 3.5 game lead; 52-41 overall) ... Clearwater has lost its last three games to Palm Beach and was shut out twice in two of those losses. The skid has not hurt the Threshers as they are in first place with a 3-1/2 game lead over Daytona and Tampa which are tied for second at 11-11. Willians Astudillo is third in the FSL with a .304 batting average and is the toughest hitter in the minor leagues to strike out with one strikeout every 32.67 plate appearances. He has not struck out in his last 19 games dating back to June 26 and has whiffed just nine times this season in 273 at bats. Andrew Pullin is third with 54 RBI. Brandon Leibrandt, son of former Major League pitcher, Charlie Leibrandt, ranks seventh in the league with a 2.86 ERA to go with his 6-2 record. He is also third with a 1.00 WHIP (walks and hits allowed per inning) and fifth with a .229 opponents batting average. The Threshers are second in the FSL with a .226 team batting average.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
SUN., JULY 18 - RHP Jonathan Maciel (3-7, 5.58 ERA) ... Maciel was activated off the Disabled List on Saturday where he had been since July 10. He is making his first start since facing the Threshers on July 9 when he worked 6.0 innings at Clearwater, allowing three runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and zero walks. It was his only appearance vs. Clearwater this season. In his last four starts, he is 1-1 with a 3.09 ERA with 13 strikeouts and four walks. 
MON., JULY 19 - LHP Trent Szkutnik (0-3, 6.37 ERA) ... Szkutnik surrendered six runs on seven hits in 3.2 innings of work in his last start on July 15 at Bradenton with three walks and no strikeouts. The six runs equals the combined total he had allowed in three previous starts and matches his season-high. He has not faced Clearwater this season.
TUE., JULY 20 - RHP Brennan Smith (4-1, 1.99 ERA) ... Smith limited Bradenton to one run on a homer and three other hits in 5.1 innings on July 16 with four strikeouts and a pair of walks, but did not factor into the decision. Since joining the starting rotation, Smith is 3-1 with a 1.57 ERA in seven outings with 34 strikeouts and seven walks with 26 hits allowed in 34.1 innings of work. He has not faced the Threshers this season.

WHAT’S ONE MORE ... Lakeland had already played 13 extra-inning games this season, so it was no surprise that one of the games at Bradenton went in overtime. The Marauders downed the Flying Tigers 2-1 in 16 innings on Thursday. It was the fourth game this season of 16 innings or more for Lakeland and the fifth extra-inning game this month. In those five games, the Flying Tigers have played an extra 27 innings or the equivalent of three extra games. The 14 extra-inning games played by Lakeland is the fourth most played in the FSL, trailing Fort Myers (20 games, 11-9 record), Bradenton (16, 8-8), and Clearwater (15, 11-4).

NUMBER SWITCH-A-ROO ... When Curt Powell returned to Lakeland on July 14, he was assigned #25 as his former #10 was being worn by pitcher Whit Mayberry. The two have since swapped numbers and Powell again wears the jersey number he sported in his earlier stint with the club.

A FRANCISCO FIVER ... Francisco Martinez collected a career-high five singles in six at bats in Lakeland’s 16-inning loss at Bradenton on July 16. It was the first five-hit game for any Flying Tiger this season and just the second in the Florida State League in 2015. Bradenton’s Austin Meadows accomplished the feat on May 14 vs. Brevard County. The last Lakeland player to have five hits in game was Curt Powell who did so twice last season, first on May 23 at Charlotte in a 19-inning affair and again on June 4 at Fort Myers in a “normal” nine-inning game.

NOW PLAYING FIRST BASE ... With the promotion of Dominic Ficociello to Double-A Erie, Francisco Martinez is now manning first base for Lakeland. Prior to Ficociello’s departure, Martinez had played just five innings at the first sack this season and had not played first base since his rookie season of 2008 in the Venezuelan Summer League when he started 11 games at first.

ZEROES FOR SITZ ... Scott Sitz has not allowed a run in his last three outings since rejoining Lakeland on July 9. In his three relief appearances, Sitz has tossed 8.0 shutout innings with seven strikeouts and three walks while surrendering five hits.

HEMMER TIME ... Gabe Hemmer threw 2.1 more shutout innings in a relief appearance at Bradenton on July 16 and has now worked 10.2 scoreless innings for Lakeland.

SIMILAR HALVES ... Through 22 games in the first half, Lakeland sported a 8-14 record. Through the same number of game this half, the Flying Tigers are 6-16.

ROSTER MOVES ... Righthander Jonathan Maciel was activated from the Disabled List on Saturday where he had been since July 10. Also on Saturday, outfielder Austin Schotts was placed back on the DL, retroactive to July 17. Schotts was just activated off the DL on Thursday.

THE SKIPPER (thru 7/18) ... Dave Huppert ranks 17th among minor league manager in terms of wins a 1,893-1,750 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 285-289 record at Lakeland, including a FSL championship in 2012. 

UP NEXT ... The Flying Tigers hit the road for eight games, starting with four games at Palm Beach on July 22-25 and then four at Fort Myers on July 26-30. Lakeland’s next home game is July 30 as they open a four-game series with Charlotte.

NO MORE EXTRA INNINGS? ... There have been past All-Star games that have finished in a tied score as the two clubs run out of pitching. The Eastern League was faced with that situation in its All-Star contest on July 15. However, instead of just ending the game with a 4-4 score, the game was decided with a one-swing, home run derby shootout. With just one swing per batter, it took four rounds before Reading’s Brian Pointer took one deep to give the Eastern Division the win.

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