Saturday, May 30, 2015

Mission Notes vs. Brevard County (May 30-June 1)

THE SERIES ... The Flying Tigers seven-game road trip wraps up with a three-game set at Brevard County, May 29-June 1. Game one is Sunday at 5:05 pm with games two and three on Monday and Tuesday at 6:30 pm. The Flying Tigers won two of the three games played April 21-22 at Space Coast Stadium while the Manatees took two games Lakeland. The third game was rained out and will be made up June 22 at Joker Marchant Stadium. 

THE FLYING TIGERS (23-24, 4th, 5.5 GB) ... Lakeland split a four-game series at St. Lucie, capped with a 6-3 loss last night. The defeat dropped the Flying Tigers into a tie with Clearwater for fourth place, one-half game behind second place Tampa. The club has not been able to get over the hump and climb over the .500 mark all season. Despite the loss, Lakeland has the best winning percentage on the road (.600, 15-10) than any other FSL team. The Flying Tigers are 16-15 against North Division teams. Lakeland is tied for second in the league with 24 home runs, despite having no player with more than four homers. 

THE MANATEES (20-27, 5th, 8.5 GB) ... Brevard County captured the last two games against Charlotte to snap a four-game losing streak. The Manatees are 6-13 since May 9. The club is 12-14 at home and 14-17 against the North Division. Clint Coulter, is tied for the league lead with nine homers and is tied for second, along with teammate, Victor Roache, with 30 RBI. Roache has a league-high .495 slugging percentage, 21 extra base hits and 90 total bases while Omar Garcia tops the FSL with 18 stolen bases. Chris McFarland is second with 59 hits and tied for second with 12 doubles. Garrett Cooper brings a seven-game hit streak into this series in which he is 9x22 (.409). He has had hits in 13 of his last 14 games. Jorge Ortega, who has tossed a league-best three complete games, is seventh in the FSL with a 2.03 ERA. He also is second with 62.0 innings pitched and third with a 0.89 WHIP.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
5/30 – RHP Jonathan Maciel (2-4, 5.21 ERA) ... Maciel took the loss in his last outing on May 24 at home vs. Bradenton after working 6.0 innings and allowing a pair of runs on five hits. He is 1-1 with a 1.65 ERA in his last three starts and has worked a season-high 6.0 innings in four of his last five outings. Maciel is 2-1 with a 3.41 ERA in six road starts this season and 0-3 with a 9.00 earned run average in three home starts. He made consecutive starts against the Manatees on April 21 and 26 with an 0-1 record in a combined 8.1 innings with four strikeouts, no walks, and 11 runs on 18 hits.
5/31 – RHP Ryan Longstreth (2-3, 2.66 ERA) ... Longstreth also came out on the losing end in his last start on May 26, falling at St. Lucie after giving up four runs on six hits in 5.0 innings worked. In his five previous outings he had only allowed two earned runs in 28.0 innings for a 0.64 ERA. Longstreth is 1-1 with a 1.89 in three previous road starts while posting a 1-2 mark and a 3.32 ERA in five home starts. He worked a season-high 8.0 innings on May 20 at Daytona. Longstreth made back-to-back starts against Brevard County on April 22 and 27, with a 1-0 record in a combined 12.0 innings with eight K’s and five walks.
5/30 – LHP Matt Crouse (1-1, 0.87 ERA) ... Crouse made his first start of the season on May 27 at St. Lucie and came away with the win after holding the Mets to one run on four hits through 5.0 innings. He had made seven previous appearances this season out of the bullpen, posting an 0-1 record and three saves with a 0.68 earned run average. He is 1-1 in five road appearances with a 1.38 ERA and three saves. In three home outings, he has tossed 7.2 scoreless innings Crouse has not faced the Manatees in 2015.

THE BULLISH PEN ... Flying Tigers relievers have allowed just three runs in the last 28.1 innings over the last seven games for a 0.94 earned run average. Julio Felix has a shutout streak of 16.1 innings over his last six appearances. 

8-9 PRODUCTION ... Tyler Hanover and David Gonzalez batted in the eight and nine spots in the line-up last night and came up big. Each batter had a double and two singles while Gonzalez scored twice and Hanover once.

WELCOME ADDITION ... Reliever Paul Voelker joined Lakeland from West Michigan on May 11. In his seven appearances so far, he has allowed two runs in 9.0 innings with 13 strikeouts. He has saves in the last two games of the St. Lucie series to give him four on the  season to go with his 2-0 record and 2.00 ERA.

BEEN A WHILE ... Will Clinard worked 2.0 no-hit, scoreless innings Friday night against St. Lucie in his first outing since Aug. 31, 2013. He did not pitch last season and has been on the disabled list at Double-A Erie this year with a right arm/elbow biceps impingement.

DOMINATING DOMINIC ... Dominic Ficociello left the game in the fifth inning Thursday night and was 0-1 in his time played, snapping an eight-game hitting streak in which he was 10x34 (.294). Since May 5, he is 28x88 for a .318 clip. With a walk Thursday, Ficociello has reached base safely in 24 consecutive games—the longest active streak in the Florida State League. 

I’M WALKIN’ ... Raph Rhymes, who leads the Flying Tigers with four homers, has drawn 25 free passes this season and is tied for tied for third in the FSL in base on balls.

JIWAN FOR ONE ... Jiwan James has gotten a base hit in 20 of his last 23 games and is 25x96 since May 1 for a .275 average. He has now reached base in 20 straight games—second longest streak only to teammate Dominic Ficociello’s 24 game streak.

A TOUGH AT BAT ... Javier Betancourt is the second toughest batter to strike out in the Florida State League with one whiff per 15.83 total plate appearances. He has struck out just one time in his last eight games and just four times in his last 29 games dating back to April 27.

NAILED ‘EM ... Catcher Grayson Greiner has thrown out 16 runners this season—tied for most in the league. Greiner ranks sixth in the FSL, throwing out .372 attempted base stealers.

THE SKIPPER (thru 5/29) ... Flying Tigers manager Dave Huppert ranks 17th among minor league manager in terms of wins and has a 1,894-1,761 record entering tonight’s game. Huppert now trails Cal Ermer who is in 16th place with a 1,906-1,728 record compiled from 1947-1984. Huppert is 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 286-299 record, including a FSL championship in 2012. 

ROSTER MOVE ... RHP Slade Smith was promoted to AA Erie Thursday with RHP Adenson Verastegui added from Extended Spring Training. Smith had not allowed a run in five outings as a Flying Tiger this season, tossing 9.0 shutout innings. He returns to Erie were he began the season posting a 0-1 record and a 14.04 ERA in 7.1 innings over six relief appearances. Verastegui has pitched the last three seasons in the Venezuelan Summer League and led the VSL with 18 saves in 2014. He made his debut Friday against St. Lucie with three-hit ball over 3.1 shutout innings.

UP NEXT ... Lakeland returns home with a vengeance, hosting nine games in ten days starting with two games against Tampa on June 2-3 and the Daytona for three games, June 4-6. After a day off on June 7, the Flying Tigers welcome Fort Myers, June 8-11.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Mission Notes vs. St. Lucie (May 26-29)

THE SERIES ... Lakeland opens a seven-game road trip beginning with a four-game series at St. Lucie May 26-29. All four games will begin at 6:30 pm. Live streaming audio can be heard on the Mets’ website.

LAST SEASON ... The Mets won six of the eight meetings in 2014, taking three of four both at home and on the road. Two Mets’ wins were in extra innings (11 and 10 frames) with both decided by 5-4 scores.

THE FLYING TIGERS (21-22, 4th, 4.5 GB) ... Lakeland has split its last ten games and now stands one-half game behind Clearwater and Tampa which are tied for second place, 4.0 games behind Daytona. The Flying Tigers are 5-7 against South Division teams. Competing away from home, Lakeland has the best winning percentage on the road (.619) than any other FSL team. The Flying Tigers, who are tied for second in the FSL with 23 home runs, have moved up to eighth in the league with a .241 team batting average. The Flying Tigers staff earned run average of 3.29 ranks seventh in the FSL.

THE METS (21-23, T-4th, 9.0 GB) ... Saint Lucie is on a roll, having won three in a roll and six of its last eight games. The Mets are 6-6 against the North Division. Robert Gsellman is a perfect 6-0 and ranks fourth in the Florida State League with a 1.76 ERA while Akeel Morris is tied for third with seven saves. Jeff McNeil is fourth in the league with a .333 batting average and fifth with a .391 on-base percentage. Michael Conforto is all over the FSL rankings: 1st in total bases (84); tied for 1st in doubles (12); 2nd in extra-base hits (19); 3rd in RBI (27) and slugging percentage (.486); and 4th in home runs (7). He brings an eight-game hit streak into this series, going 13x33 (.394) during that stretch. Matt Oberste also has had hits in each of his last eight games, going 10x31 for a .323 clip. Dominic Smith has gone 10x27 (.370) in his last seven games with hits in each. Maikis De La Cruz is 7x14 (.500) his last three games with three hits and three runs scored in Sunday’s contest. Amed Rosario has collected two hits in each of his last three games going 6x12 in those trio of contests.

TONIGHT’S PROBABLE STARTERS
5/26 – RHP Ryan Longstreth (2-3, 2.02 ERA) ... Longstreth, who is seventh in the FSL with a 2.02 ERA, tossed two-hit ball over 8.0 shutout innings in his last start on May 20 at Daytona with five strikeouts. However, he did not pick up the win as the Tortugas scored in the bottom of the 11th for a 1-0 win. Longstreth has now not allowed a run in 13.0 innings in his last two starts and just two earned runs in his last 28.0 innings over five outings for a 0.64 ERA since April 22. He is 1-0 with a perfect 0.00 ERA in two road starts.
5/27 – TBA (This was Tommy Collier’s spot in the rotation. He was promoted to AA Erie on Sunday).
5/28 – LHP Locke St. John (2-2, 3.50 ERA) ... St. John was tagged for three runs on eight hits in 6.1 innings in his last start on May 22 against Bradenton. He did not factor into the decision. The three runs allowed equalled his total in his four previous starts when he was 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA with 15 strikeouts. St. John in 1-1 with a 3.78 ERA in three previous road starts.
5/29 – LHP Kevin Ziomek (4-3, 4.36 ERA) ... Ziomek, who is second in the FSL with 53.2 innings, had his roughest outing of the season in his last outing on May 23 against Bradenton as the Marauders roughed him up for six runs on 10 hits in just 4.2 innings. He did strike out five in the game and now has five or more Ks in each of his last eight starts and recorded a season-high eight whiffs in four of those outings and ranks second in the FSL with 58 strikeouts.

UP NEXT ... Lakeland’s road trip continues with three games at Brevard County, May 30-June 1 before returning home on June 2 to face Tampa in the first of a two-game home series.

RIDING THE CYCLE ... Trailing 6-4 heading into the bottom of the 7th in Saturday’s game against Bradenton, Lakeland rallied for three runs by hitting for the cycle in the bottom half of the frame. Jiwan James led off with a single while Raph Rhymes followed with his third home run of the season. Javier Betancourt then tripled while, one out later, Ben Verlander doubled him home with the go-ahead run, completing the cycle. The last time the Flying Tigers hit for the cycle in an inning was in the second frame on Aug. 31, 2013 as Lakeland thumped Tampa 17-0 in game one of a home doubleheader—Devon Travis doubled in one run; Francisco Martinez singled in another run;  Jason Krizan added another RBI-single; Corey Jones hit a 3-run homer; Chad Wright completed the cycle with a triple. Travis hit a 2-run homer in his second at bat in the inning.

WELCOME ADDITION ... Reliever Paul Voelker joined Lakeland from West Michigan on May 11. In his four appearances so far, he has allowed one run in 5.0 innings with seven strikeouts. Voelker picked up the win in game two of this series and got the save in game three last. He also recorded a win in first outing with the Flying Tigers.

DOMINATING DOMINIC ... Dominic Ficociello has hits in each of his last five games going 7x22 (.318) during that stretch and now has hits in 17 of his last 18 contests. Since May 5, he is 25x76 for a .329 clip. His .306 season average is 10th best in the Florida State League. He enters today’s game with 99 career RBI through 240 games.

JIWAN FOR ONE ... Jiwan James has gotten a base hit in 16 of his last 19 games and is 19x79 since May 1 for a .241 average. 

FRANKLY FRANCISCO ... Francisco Martinez has hits in eight of his last 10 games and is 15x38 during that stretch for a .395 clip. His RBI single Friday night was his 250th run batted in over his eight minor league seasons and 671 games.

COLLIER EARNS PROMOTION ... RHP Tommy Collier was promoted to AA Erie on Sunday. Collier was 3-4 with a 2.09 ERA in eight starts for the Flying Tigers. RHP Will Clinard joins the Flying Tigers from the Whitecaps’ disabled list where he spent all of last season with right arm/elbow biceps infringement.

THE SKIPPER (thru 5/24) ... Flying Tigers manager Dave Huppert ranks 17th among minor league manager in terms of wins and has a 1,892-1,759 record entering tonight’s game. Huppert now trails Cal Ermer who is in 16th place with a 1,906-1,728 record compiled from 1947-1984. Huppert is 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 284-297 record, including a FSL championship in 2012. 

MACHADO MAKES THE SHOW ... Former Flying Tiger Dixon Machado got the call from the big club as a roster spot opened when lefty Kyle Lobstein was placed on the 15-day disabled list. Machado, who played for Lakeland in 2013 and 2014, was batting .274 in 40 games at Triple-A Toledo. He joins fellow former Flying Tigers, Nick Castellanos (2012 in Lakeland), Tyler Collins (2012), Bryan Holaday (2010), James McCann (2012), Angel Nesbitt (2014), and Hernan Perez (2019, 2012), on the Detroit roster.

SPEED GAMES ... As of May 25, Florida State League games average 2 hours, 40 minutes in length, a time which is the third quickest time among all minor leagues this season.

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Mission Notes vs. Bradenton (May 21-24)

THE SERIES ... The Flying Tigers will face Bradenton for the first time this season, hosting the Marauders for four games May 21-24. The first two games of the series are at 6:30 pm with the Saturday game at 5 pm as the Flying Tigers stage a Sunset Celebration following the game. The finale is set for Sunday, May 24 at 1 pm.

UP NEXT ... Lakeland has Monday, May 25 as an off day before heading on the road for four games at St. Lucie, May 26–29.

LAST SEASON ... Lakeland won the season series in 2014, taking five of the eight games. The Flying Tigers won three of the four played in Bradenton while the two teams split the four games in Lakeland. Three of five Lakeland wins were by 4-3 scores.

THE FLYING TIGERS (19-20, 3rd, 4.5 GB) ... Lakeland dropped two of three games at Daytona, losing both ends of the series in 11 innings. The Flying Tigers have alternated wins and losses their last six games and are 11-6 since May 3. Although the squad was shutout in Wednesday’s game, they have posted a .282 average in the last seven games with three doubles. Lakeland is 6-12 at home this season and 3-5 vs. the South Division.

THE MARAUDERS (20-20, 2nd, 6.0 game lead) ... Bradenton lost two of its three games against Fort Myers and has now been beaten in four of its last six games. The Marauders are 14-10 on the road and 5-3 vs. the North Division. Jin-De Jhang is third in the FSL with a .336 average while Austin Meadows and Wyatt Mathisen rank 8th and 10th with .315 and .312 averages, respectively. Meadows is also tied for third with 47 hits while JaCoby Jones and Jose Osuna are third and fourth in the league with 26 and 25 RBIs. Osuna is also tied for fourth with 14 extra base hits and fifth with 67 total bases. Bradenton is the top hitting team in the FSL with a .277 batting average and has scored the second most runs. The Marauders need that offense as the team pitching staff has the second worst ERA with a 3.96 mark.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
5/21 - RHP Tommy Collier (3-3, 1.90 ERA) ... Collier, who is 8th in the FSL with a 1.90 ERA, has been tagged with the loss in his last two starts despite holding his opponents to two runs in each contest. In his last start on May 16, he worked a season-high eight innings, limiting Dunedin to a pair of runs on six hits. Collier struck out four in the game for the third start in a row. He is 2-2 with a 1.75 ERA in four home starts this season. 
5/22 - LHP Locke St. John (2-2, 3.38 ERA) ... St. John got the win in his last start on May 17 after allowing a pair of unearned runs to Dunedin. He gave up just four hits in 6.0 innings of work and struck out four while walking two. In his last three starts, Collier has allowed just one earned run for a 0.56 ERA and is 2-0 in May with a 1.29 earned run average.
5/23 - LHP Kevin Ziomek (2-3, 5.94 ERA) ... Ziomek, who is second in the FSL with 53 strikeouts, did not factor in the decision in his last start on May 18 at Daytona, marking the first time in eight starts that has happened. Against the Tortugas, he went 7.1 innings and allowed four runs on four hits. In his last two starts, he has worked 15.1 innings and struck out eight in each contest. Ziomek is 1-2 with a 2.81 ERA in three home starts while posting a 3-1 record with a 4.09 ERA in five road starts.
5/24 - RHP Jonathan Maciel (2-3, 5.53 ERA) ... Marciel worked 4.1 innings in his last start on May 19 at Daytona and did not factor into the decision, despite holding the Tortugas to three runs—one earned—on five hits. He has allowed just the one earned run in his last 10.1 innings over two starts with five punchouts and five walks. Maciel is 2-1 on the road with a 3.41 ERA in six starts while posting a 0-2 mark at home with a 13.00 earned run average in two starts. 

TOP PICKS ... Bradenton outfielder Austin Meadows and catcher Reese McGuire were both picked in the first round of the 2013 draft by Pittsburgh. Meadows was compensatory pick and was chosen ninth overall while McGuire was the Pirates’ top pick, 14th overall, in the regular draft.

ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO AN END ... Javier Betancourt and Dominic Ficociello both saw their hitting streaks come to an end in the Daytona series. Ficociello was the first to go down as he was held hitless in the opening game of the series, stopping his streak at 12 games. He was 18x50 (.360) during his streak. Betancourt lasted until the final game of the Tortugas series, snapping his streak at 14 games. He was 20x79 for a .339 mark during the 14 contests.

WILD AND CRAZY GAME ... Lakeland turned down the Tortugas, 8-5, on the road Tuesday in game that had some strange happenings. Daytona led 1-0 thru four innings while the two teams combined for 11 runs in the next two innings. The Flying Tigers committed a season-high five errors that led to three unearned runs. Tim Remes had four hits—two more than he had in his first three games played—and was credited with an unassisted double play on a strike out and batter’s interference. To cap it off, home plate umpire Joe George ejected three participants, including Flying Tigers’ DH, Bobby Borchering.

HANDY HANOVER ... Tyler Hanover is 5x10 in his last three games played. In the middle game of the Daytona series, he had two doubles and drove in three runs.

PICKET FENCE ... Jiwan James has one hit in each of the last six straight games and in 12 of the last 13 games. His six-game hit streak is the longest active streak on the Flying Tigers. (Editor note: Jared Reaves has an 11-game hit streak going, but he is currently on the disabled list.)

FRANKLY FRANCISCO ... Francisco Martinez has hits in six of his last seven games and is 10x26 during that stretch for a .385 clip.

ROSTER MOVE ... Infielder Curt Powell was promoted to AA Erie on Tuesday with David Gonzalez coming up from West Michigan. Powell was second in the Florida State League with a .342 for Lakeland and had hits in 27 of his 33 games played this season, including 11 games with two or more hits. Gonzalez, who played five games for Lakeland in 2014, was hitting .286 for the Whitecaps and recorded nine multi-hit games.

THE SKIPPER (thru 5/20) ... Flying Tigers manager Dave Huppert ranks 17th among minor league manager in terms of wins and has a 1,890-1,757 record entering today’s game. Huppert now trails Cal Ermer who is in 16th place with a 1,906-1,728 record compiled from 1947-1984. Huppert is 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 Lakeland and has a 282-295 record, including a FSL championship in 2012. 

Evan Chambers Memorial Game ... At Sunday’s series finale, the Flying Tigers will be celebrating the life of Evan Chambers, a former Lakeland High School standout and Pittsburgh Pirates prospect who died in his sleep on December 2013. There will be special pre-game ceremonies and well as the 7th inning stretch led by former Dreadnaught teammates. Chambers was a third-round pick of the Pirates in 2009 out of Hillsborough Community College.

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Mission Notes vs. Daytona (May 18-20)

THE SERIES ... The Flying Tigers head East on I-4 for their first road trip against the newest FSL club, the Daytona Tortugas, an affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. The three-game series gets underway Monday at 7:05 pm with Tuesday’s game also a 7:05 pm start. The finale on Wednesday is a 10:35 am start as the Tortugas host area school kids in an Education Day game.

UP NEXT ... Lakeland returns to Joker Marchant Stadium for four games against Bradenton May 21-24.

EARLIER THIS SEASON ... The Flying Tigers, then in sixth place in the North Division, entertained the division-leading Tortugas on May 5-7 and won both ends of the three-game series by scores of 7-0 and 6-1. Daytona took the middle game 3-2. 

THE FLYING TIGERS (18-18, 3rd, 3.5 GB) ... Lakeland took two of three from Dunedin over the weekend and has now won five of the last six games and 11 of their last 16 games and the club is now 7-12 at home and 11-6 on the road. The Flying Tigers have hit 20 homers on the season, third most in the FSL and have stolen just 18 bases, fewest in the league. The five-man rotation of Kevin Ziomek, Jonathan Maciel, Ryan Longstreth, Tommy Collier, and Locke St. John, has combined to allow just three earned runs (six overall) in 38.0 innings in the last six games for a 0.71 ERA. 

THE TORTUGAS (22-15, 1st, 1.0 game lead) ... Daytona dropped two of three at Clearwater over the weekend and is 4-2 the last six games, but 6-7 the last 13 outings. Philip Ervin is tied with two others for the FSL-lead with eight homers and also leads the league with 32 runs scored—six more than the number two player. He is third with 68 total bases and is fourth with a .486 slugging percentage. Alex Blandino is ninth in the FSL with a .321 average and tied for fourth with a .400 on-base percentage. Sebastian Elizalde is tied for fourth with 23 RBI. Closer Zack Weiss is fifth in the league with five saves. The Tortugas have hit a league-high 25 home runs and have struck out a league-worst 312 times.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
5/18 - LHP Kevin Ziomek (4-3, 3.46) ... Ziomek, who is third in the FSL with 45 strikeouts, tossed 3-hit ball over 8.0 shutout innings with eight strikeouts and no walks in his last outing on May 13 at Jupiter. That game is the third in which the 6’3” lefty has recorded eight strikeouts. Ziomek has won his last two starts and is 4-1 in his last five with a 1.37 ERA in the four wins. His one loss in that period came on May 2, a game in which he was tagged for seven runs in 5.1 innings at Tampa. He is 3-1 on the road in 2015. Ziomek did not pitch in the earlier series with Daytona.
5/19 - RHP Jonathan Maciel (2-3, 5.94) ... Maciel allowed six hits in 6.0 scoreless innings in his last start on May 14, a win at Jupiter. In that game, he struck out for a second straight game while walking three. He has won two of his last three decisions and has a 0.75 ERA in those two wins. Maciel is 2-1 with a 3.62 ERA in five road starts this season and 0-2 with a 13.00 ERA in two home starts. He has not faced the Tortugas.
5/20 - RHP Ryan Longstreth (2-2, 2.60) ... Longstreth pitched in just 3.0 innings against the Tortugas on May 4, leaving the game with an injury that landed him on the DL. He has allowed one run on four hits and three strikeouts in that game. Longstreth returned from the disabled list for his last start on May 15 against Dunedin and picked up his second with 5.0 shutout innings. He held the Blue Jays to four hits with four strikeouts and two walks. This is just his second road start (1-0, 0.00 ERA). His other five starts came at home where he is 1-2 with a 3.32 earned run average.

HOPING FOR A LUCKY 13 ... Dominic Ficociello went 3x4 on Sunday and now has hits in each of his last 12 games for a .360 mark, going 18x50 with seven RBI since May 5. He is tied for second in the FSL with 44 hits. Javier Betancourt also brings an 12-game hit streak into this afternoon’s game, having gone 16x50 (.320) with six runs scored and nine runs batted in since May 5. The dual 12-game streaks are the longest active streaks in the FSL. Betancourt is the second toughest batter to strike out in the FSL with one strikeout per 17.63 plate appearances. He has whiffed just once in his last 78 at bats and just eight times all season. Betancourt has also hit safely in 12 straight road games. Last season, three Flying Tigers batters reached double digits in hit streaks: Harold Castro (18 games, 7/23–8/14); Connor Harrell (14 games, 8/1–17); and Curt Powell (11 games, 5/10–21).

THE POWERFUL POWELL ... Curt Powell went 1x3 on Sunday with a pair of runs scored and has now had hits in 23 of his last 29 games, posting a .347 average (33x95) since April 17. During that stretch, Powell has scored 21 times while plating 11 runs. He has had six doubles and a pair of triples while drawing 12 walks. Powell ranks second in the FSL with a .345 batting average and is also second with a .429 on-base percentage. He has scored in six straight games. Powell is batting a crisp .387 at home and .296 on the road.

FIVE IN SIX ... The Flying Tigers batted around in the sixth inning on Sunday, sending 10 men to the plate, and scoring five runs in the process. The five runs in the sixth inning Sunday equals the total number of runs Lakeland had scored in the sixth inning in the entire season.

WALKING ON SUNSHINE ... Wednesday’s game will be the third time  in the six-game series these two clubs have met with 10:30 am first pitch times as Lakeland hosted back-to-back Education Days on May 5 and 6, making up an earlier postponed day game.

THROWING ZEROS ... Matt Crouse tossed two scoreless innings Friday and has not allowed a run in five appearances since joining Lakeland from AA Erie on April 27 ... Julio Felix has not been scored upon in 8.0 innings over three appearances, picking up wins in two of those three games ... Slade Smith has tossed 7.1 scoreless innings in his four appearances since being added to the roster from AA Erie on May 1.

FLYING HIGH ... Francisco Martinez is 7x13 (.538) his last four games with three runs scored. He is batting .206 in 17 road games while posting just a .161 mark in 15 home contests ... Jiwan James has hits in 11 of his last 13 games, going 14x51 (.275) with seven runs scored ... Bobby Borchering is 6x23 (.261) his last six games with a three runs scored, two doubles, a homer, and two RBI ... as a team, the Flying Tigers are hitting .311 in the last four games with 10 or more hit in three of those four contests.

HUPPERT RANKS 17th ALL-TIME (thru 5/17) ... Flying Tigers manager Dave Huppert has moved into sole possession of 17th place for wins by a minor league manager and has a 1,889-1,755 record entering today’s game. With Friday night’s win, Huppert broke a tie with Bruno Betzel (1927-56) for 17th place and now sets his sights on Cal Ermer who is in 16th place with a 1,906-1,728 record compiled from 1947-1984. Huppert is 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 Lakeland and has a 281-293 record, including a FSL championship in 2012. 


Friday, May 15, 2015

Mission Notes vs. Dunedin (May 15-17)

THE SERIES ... Lakeland returns home to Joker Marchant Stadium May 15-17 for a three-game set against Dunedin. Friday’s game is at 6:30 pm with Saturday’s game at 6 pm. Sunday’s finale is scheduled for a 1 pm first pitch.

EARLIER THIS SEASON ... The Flying Tigers took the bookend games of the series played May 7-9 in Dunedin, winning game one 6-1 and the finale 15-1 as Raph Rhymes hit two homers. The Blue Jays won the middle game, 5-2.

THE FLYING TIGERS (16-17, 3rd, 4.5 GB) ... After being shutout 4-0 in the series opener at Jupiter, the Flying Tigers roared back to take the last three games vs. the Hammerheads to produce Lakeland’s first three-game win streak since Aug. 1-3, 2014. The Flying Tigers have now won eight of the last 11 games to take sole possession of third place in the North Division of the FSL, just 4.5 games off the pace. The starting pitching was the key in the three wins at Jupiter as Locke St. John, Kevin Ziomek and Jonathan Maciel combined to allow just one run in 19.0 innings. 

THE BLUE JAYS (15-19, T-5th, 8.0 GB) ... Dickie Joe Thon and Matt Dean each had three hits to spirit a 14-hit attack as Dunedin doubled up at Fort Myers, posting a 6-3 victory on Thursday. The win is only the third in the last nine games for Dunedin. Dean is fifth in the FSL with five homers while Roemon Fields tops the league with 14 stolen bases. L.B. Dantzler brings a 10-game hit streak into this series—tied for the longest active streak in the FSL—and has had two hits in each of his last five games. During the streak, Dantzler is 16x39 for a .410 clip. He was hitting .067 before catching fire. Wil Downing has recorded a save in nine of the Blue Jays’ 15 wins this season to tie for the league lead.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
5/15 - RHP Ryan Longstreth (1-2, 3.18) ...  Longstreth makes his first start since being placed on the Disabled List on May 5. In his last start on May 4, he left the game after pitching three innings. He gave up four hits for one run and struck out three with zero walks. Longstreth had gone 1-0 with a 1.20 ERA in his last three starts prior to going on the DL.
5/16 - RHP Tommy Collier (3-2, 1.82) ... Collier, who ranks sixth in the FSL with a 1.82 ERA, took the loss in his last start on May 11, allowing a pair of runs on four hits in 5.0 innings of work at Jupiter. He struck out four and walked two for a second straight outing. Collier has had an up and down thing this season, posting a 3-0 record and a 0.00 ERA in his 1st, 3rd, and 5th starts, and a 0-2 mark with 3.70 ERA in his 2nd, 4th, and 6th outings. This will be start number seven.
5/17 - LHP Locke St. John (3-3, 4.28) ... St. John has not gotten a decision in his last two starts despite allowing just one earned run in 10.0 innings pitched. On May 12, he worked 5.0 innings for a third consecutive start, and allowed two runs—one earned—on five hits at Jupiter. He failed to record a strikeout after registering 11 in his two previous starts. St. John has a 1.80 ERA in his last three outings after posting a 6.06 mark in his first three starts of the season.

HUPPERT MOVES INTO 17th PLACE (thru 5/14) ... With Lakeland’s three wins at Jupiter, Flying Tigers manager Dave Huppert has moved into a tie with Bruno Betzel (1927-56) for 17th place for wins by a minor league manager. Huppert, who has the most wins among active minor league managers, has a 1,887-1,754 record entering this series and now sets his sights on Cal Ermer who is in 16th place with a 1,906-1,728 record compiled from 1947-1984. Huppert is 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 Lakeland and has a 279-292 record, including a FSL championship in 2012. 

POLK POWER ... Dunedin pitcher Justin Shafer is a 2012 graduate of Lake Wales High School in Polk County. He was 16-3 over his final two seasons and batted .472 as a junior and a whopping .535 as a senior. He also quarterbacked the Highlander football team to the state semifinals in 2009. First baseman L.B. Dantzler is a 2010 graduate of Winter Haven High School.

CRAZY EIGHTS ... Pitcher Kevin Ziomek, who ranks third in the FSL with 45 strikeouts, tossed three-hit ball over 8.0 shutout innings at Jupiter on Wednesday. It is the longest outing of any Lakeland pitcher since Josh Turley also worked 8.0 innings against Tampa on July 4, 2014. The righthander struck out eight batters in the contest—the third time this season he has mowed down eight batters in a start. Ironically, Turley also struck out eight in his Independence Day outing. Ziomek has tossed 41.2 innings so far, second most in the FSL.

NUMBER NINE ... Dominic Ficociello has hits in each of his last nine games for a .342 mark, going 13x38 with six RBI since May 5. Javier Betancourt also brings a nine-game hit streak into this series, having gone 12x39 (.308) with four runs scored and seven runs batted in since May 5. The pair join Curt Powell, who had an earlier nine-game streak, for the longest hit streaks by a Flying Tiger this season.

SPEAKING OF POWELL ... Curt Powell has had hits in 20 of his last 23 games, posting a .324 average (27x84) since April 17. During that stretch, Powell has scored 17 times, while plating 10 runs. He has had six doubles and a pair of triples while drawing 11 walks. Powell’s .324 batting average ranks eighth in the Florida State League while his .413 on-base percentage is third best.

POWER & SPEED ... Bobby Borchering hit a solo home run on Thursday and he also stole a base in that game. He joins Francisco Martinez as Flying Tigers who have homered and swiped a base in a game this season.

DO WE HAVE TO GO HOME? ... With the 3-1 series at Jupiter, Lakeland is now five games over .500 on the road with a 11-6 record. At home, it’s turned around as the Flying Tigers are six games under .500 at 5-11 in games at Joker Marchant Stadium.

ROSTER MOVES ... Lakeland made one move as the Jupiter series opened on May 11, promoting RHP Confesor Lara to AA Erie and adding RHP Paul Voelker from Class A West Michigan. Voelker wasted no time and picked up the win in his FSL relief debut on May 12. This morning, LHP Ryan Longstreth was activated off the DL and will start tonight’s game while RHP Scott Sitz was sent back to Extended Spring Training.

UP NEXT ... Lakeland heads back on the road once again to play at Daytona May 18-20 before returning to Joker Marchant Stadium for four games against Bradenton May 21-24.

FSL FUN FACTS ... Charlotte’s Buddy Borden threw a seven-inning no-hitter Wednesday as the Stone Crabs beat Clearwater, 5-0, at Bright House Field. That wasn’t the only note-worthy item from that game as the Stone Crabs also turned a triple play in the contest. The series got off to a strange start as the Monday opener was postponed due to a team-wide Threshers’ illness. According to the WTSP-Channel 10 website, several Clearwater players suffered from food poisoning that they may have contracted from something they ate in Daytona Beach, where the team had a three-game series.

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Mission Notes vs. Jupiter (May 11-14)

THE SERIES ... Lakeland will have Sunday, May 10 as an off day before heading to Jupiter for four games against the Hammerheads on May 11-14. The first three games are set for 6:35 pm starts with the finale on May 14 at 10:30 am. All games in the series will be available on internet radio via the Hammerheads website. The Flying Tigers play their second series against a South Division team with hopes this one goes better than the first. Lakeland was shutout three of the four games against Palm Beach April 13-16 in Lakeland and was outscored 17-1 in the series. 

LAST YEAR ... Lakeland won the first five meetings between the two clubs in 2014 with Jupiter taking the last three. The Flying Tigers swept the four games played at Roger Dean Stadium. 

THE FLYING TIGERS (13-16, 5th, 4.5 GB) ... Lakeland won both ends of the series at Dunedin, winning the opener 6-1 and then exploding for a 15-1 victory in the series finale. In between the two W’s was a 5-2 loss. The two victories have allowed Lakeland to climb out of the cellar for the first time since being tied for fifth place for one game on April 23. The Flying Tigers are 5-2 the last seven games and are now 13-12 in the North Division. Curt Powell ranks eighth in the Florida State League with a .319 average while Jiwan James is tied for second with three triples. Javier Betancourt is the fourth toughest batter to strike out in the league with one strike out per 13.88 plate appearances.

THE HAMMERHEADS (12-18, 6th, 8.0 GB) ... Jupiter dropped a 3-2 decision in 10 innings at Fort Myers Saturday. It was the Hammerheads’ fourth straight defeat. Austin Dean is hitting .500 over his last seven games with hits in six of those contests. He is 13x26 during that stretch with six runs scored, four doubles, a triple and eight runs batted in. Yefri Perez brings a seven game hit streak into this series, going 9x23 (.391), and is tied for third with 10 stolen bases while T.J. Riddle has scored 21 runs to rank third in the league. Scott Lyman is tied for second in the FSL with four wins while allowing the fifth lowest opponent’s batting average (.195). Jupiter has the fourth best batting average with a .249 mark, but has hit just nine homers as a team and walked 74 times—both figures are the second fewest in the FSL.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
5/11 - RHP Tommy Collier (3-1, 1.52) ... Collier, who ranks third in the FSL with a 1.52 ERA, is coming off his best outing with 6.2 shutout innings pitched May 5 at home vs. Daytona. He struck out four and walked two while limiting the Tortugas to five hits. Collier is 2-1 with a 1.53 ERA in his last three starts with 11 strikeouts and seven walks while allowing three runs on 17 hits.
5/12 - LHP Locke St. John (1-2, 4.44) ... St. John tossed 5.0 shutout innings in his last start on May 6 vs. Daytona but did not factor into the decision as the Tortugas scored twice in the eighth for the win. St. John struck out five in the May 6 outing and has 11 K’s in his last two starts in which he is 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA.
5/13 - LHP Kevin Ziomek (3-3, 4.28) ... Ziomek, who is fourth in the league with 37 strikeouts, picked up his third win on May 7 at Dunedin, holding the Blue Jays to one run on four hits with five punchouts and three walks in 6.0 innings. In his previous start on May 2, he was tagged for seven runs. Ziomek has a decision in each of his six starts this season.
5/14 - RHP Jonathan Maciel (1-3, 7.12)  ... Maciel surrendered 10 hits in a loss at Dunedin on May 8 as the Blue Jays scored four runs. He struck out four and did not issue a free pass in the loss. In his last three starts, Marciel is 1-2 with a 7.31 ERA while allowing 13 runs on 22 hits.

OFFENSE EXPLOSION ... Lakeland sent 13 men to the plate in an eight-run first inning in a 15-1 win at Dunedin on Saturday. The eight runs was the most scored in a single inning for the Flying Tigers since matching that number on July 20, 2014—also in the first frame—in a 10-5 victory over Jupiter at Joker Marchant Stadium. The 15 runs is the most scored by Lakeland since blanking Tampa 17-0 in the first game of a home doubleheader on Aug. 31, 2013. On Saturday, every Flying Tiger batter had at least one hit by the third inning. Francisco Martinez had three hits while he and Curt Powell each drive in three runs. Dominic Ficociello and Raph Rhymes both had a pair of hits and two RBI while Grayson Greiner and Tyler Hanover each had two base knocks. Rhymes and Greiner each scored three runs while Powell, Martinez, and Hanover each crossed the plate twice.

RAPPIN’ RHYMES ... Raph Rhymes hit two solo home runs in the Flying Tigers big win Saturday. They were the first homers by Rhymes this season and his first round-tripper since Aug. 8, 2014. He had never hit two dingers in a game in his pro career. Connor Harrell was the last Flying Tiger to collect two home runs in one game, accomplishing the feat on July 29, 2014 in a 7-1 win at Palm Beach.

FLYING HIGH ... Curt Powell has hit safely in each of his last six games for a .350 clip (7x20) with five RBI ... Javier Betancourt brings a five-game hit streak into this series and is 7x22 (.318) with four runs scored and four RBI ... Dominic Ficociello also has hits in his last five games, including three games with two hits each, and is 8x21 (.381) with five runs batted in during the stretch ... Francisco Martinez is 7x16 (.438) his last four games with three runs scored and six RBI.

UP IN ARMS ... Matt Crouse has worked 3.0 shutout innings in each of his three outings this season ... Julio Felix has picked up wins in his last two outings, working 3.0 scoreless innings in each.

FAMILIAR FACE ... Hammerheads pitcher Alex Burgos played the last three seasons in Lakeland, compiling a 13-19 record with a 4.21 ERA and four saves in 80 appearances (including 23 starts in 2012) in from 2012-14. He was selected by Miami in the Triple-A phase of the 2014 Rule 5 Draft.

ROSTER MOVE ... Catcher Drew Longley was promoted to AA Erie on Saturday as part of the domino effect that started with Detroit catcher Alex Avila being placed on the disabled list. Bryan Holaday was then recalled from AAA Toledo and Miguel Gonzalez moved up from AA Erie opening a spot for Longley. Taking the open spot on the Lakeland roster is Tim Remes up from Extended Spring Training.

HUPPERT SETS SIGHT ON NO. 17 (thru 5/09) ... Manager Dave Huppert, a member of the 2012 FSL Hall of Fame Class, is back for a 28th season as a minor league manager. He is the winningest active manager in the minors based on number of wins and ranks 18th overall with a 1,884-1,753 record. His 1,884 career wins is three behind tying Bruno Betzel (1927-56) who is in 17th place among all-time minor league managers with a 1,887-1,892 career record. Huppert is in his fifth season with Lakeland and has a 276-291 record with the club, including a FSL championship in 2012. 

UP NEXT ... Lakeland returns home to Joker Marchant Stadium May 15-17 for a three-game set against Dunedin before heading on the road once again to play at Daytona May 18-20.

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Mission Notes vs. Dunedin (May 7-9)

THE SERIES ... Lakeland travels to Dunedin for three games against the Blue Jays May 7-9 with all three games getting underway at 6:30 pm at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium.

LAST YEAR ... Dunedin won 10 of the 18 meetings with Lakeland last season while the two clubs split their 10 games at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium.

THE FLYING TIGERS (11-15, 6th, 5.5 GB) ... Welcome, Month of May. After a dismal 7-13 in the month of April, Lakeland is off to a 4-2 start in May. The turnaround has been in the pitching. In the first month of the season, Flying Tigers pitchers posted a 4.21 ERA. So far in month number two, the staff has recorded a 2.72 mark. Lakeland’s starters have allowed just two runs in the last 20.2 innings and zero runs in the last two games. Hitting has also improved as the squad has hit .252 so far in May after putting up a .229 mark in May. 

THE BLUE JAYS (12-15, 5th, 5.0 GB) ... Dunedin dropped its recent series to Tampa, two games to one. After winning the opening 3-2 in 14 innings, the Blue Jays lost 9-3 and 9-1 in the final two games. Dunedin is 3-6 its last nine games. Roemen Fields tops the Florida State League with 13 stolen bases—10 of which have come in the last eight games—while closer Wil Browning is tied for the league lead with seven saves.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
5/04 - LHP Kevin Ziomek (2-3, 4.88) ... Ziomek was tagged for seven earned runs in 5.1 innings in a lost in his last outing despite striking out seven batters. In his five previous starts, he had allowed a total of eight earned runs. Ziomek has recorded six or more strikeouts in each of his last four starts and is tied for fourth in the FSL with 32 strikeouts. His 10.41 strikeouts per nine innings is the fourth best ratio in the league. He is 1-2 with a 2.81 ERA at home and 1-1 with a 7.71 ERA on the road.
5/05 - RHP Jonathan Maciel (1-2, 7.40) ... Maciel had his best outing of his season on May 3, limiting Tampa to one run on two hits in 6.0 innings pitched. In his previous start on April 26, which he lost to Brevard County, he allowed season-highs with 10 hits and eight earned runs. Maciel’s one win of the season came on the road where he has a 4.11 ERA. At home, he is 0-2 with a 13.00 ERA.
5/06 - TBA  ... This is Ryan Longstreth’s spot in the rotation, but he was placed on the disabled list on Tuesday.

OFFENSE ANYONE? ... These two teams enter this series with two of the lowest team batting averages in the league. Lakeland ranks 10th with a .234 mark while Dunedin is 11th with a .226 mark. The Flying Tigers have scored the fewest runs of any FSL squad while the Blue Jays have crossed the plate the fourth fewest number of times.

PITCHING NOT STELLAR EITHER ... The Blue Jays have the highest ERA of any FSL team (4.46) while the Flying Tigers have the third highest (3.88).

TOPPING THE TORTUGAS ... Lakeland took it’s inaugural series with the FSL’s newest club as the Flying Tigers won the first two games versus Daytona, which entered the series with a North Division-best  16-8 record. Game one went to Lakeland by a 3-1 score highlighted by a two-run double by Curt Powell. In the second game, Tommy Collier (6.2 IP), Calvin Drummond (0.1) and Slade Smith (2.0) combined on a shutout as Lakeland posted its first nine-inning blanking since June 1, 2014. The Tortugas took the finale 3-2 scoring two runs in the top of the eighth for the win.

THAT NOT SO MELLOW FICOCIELLO ... Dominic Ficociello has been on a tear his last 16 games, going 22x61 for a .361 average with hits in 12 of those 16 games. He has had eight games with two or more hits in that stretch, including a pair of three-hit games.

V EQUALS VI ... Ben Verlander brings a six-game hit streak into this series going 9x23 (.391) during those six games with five runs batted in. He now has hits in 15 of his last 18 games (22x59, .373) with nine runs scored and 10 runs batted in. Verlander is third in the Florida State League with a .338 average.

THE POW FROM POWELL ... Curt Powell has gone 19x60 (.317) his last 16 games with 11 runs scored and six runs batted in along with five doubles and a triple. He now has hits in 17 of his 22 games played this season. Powell ranks eighth in the league with a .321 batting average. 

NO BREEZE HERE ... Javier Betancourt has whiffed just seven times this season which gives him one strikeout every 13.71 plate appearances, a mark that is third best in the Florida State League.

CALM COLLIER ... Tommy Collier tossed 6.2 shutout innings in Lakeland’s 7-0 win over Daytona on Tuesday and now ranks third in the league with a 1.52 ERA to go with his 3-1 record.

DOUBLES STREAK SNAPPED ... The Flying Tigers managed seven hits in Wednesday’s 3-2 loss to Daytona—all singles—snapping a streak of 11 consecutive games with a double. Lakeland had collected 18 two-baggers in those 11 games.

LOTS OF FANS ... In the last six games, Lakeland has played in front of 12,005 fans with each game drawing over 1,400 fans. Wednesday’s Education Day game was witnessed by 3,056 fans—the largest crowd of the season for Lakeland. The Flying Tigers have had six crowds in excess of 1,000 fans in their 15 home games this season.

LOCAL TALENT ... Dunedin pitcher Justin Shafer is a 2012 graduate of Lake Wales High School in Polk County. He was 16-3 over his final two seasons and batted .472 as a junior and a whopping .535 as a senior. He also quarterbacked the Highlander football team to the state semifinals in 2009. First baseman L.B. Dantzler is a 2010 graduate of Winter Haven High School. He went on to play at the State College of Florida and the University of South Carolina.

ROSTER MOVE ... During Tuesday’s morning game, Lakeland placed LHP Ryan Longstreth on the disabled list and added RHP Nate Fury from Extended Spring Training.

THE SKIPPER (thru 5/06) ... Manager Dave Huppert, a member of the 2012 FSL Hall of Fame Class, is back for a 28th season as a minor league manager. He is the winningest active manager in the minors based on number of wins and ranks 18th overall with a 1,882-1,752 record. He is in his fifth season with Lakeland and has a 274-290 record with the club, including a FSL championship in 2012.

UP NEXT ... Lakeland will have Sunday, May 10 as an off day before heading to Jupiter for four games against the Hammerheads on May 11-14. The first three games are set for 6:35 pm starts with the finale on May 14 at 10:30 am.

Monday, May 4, 2015

Mission Notes vs. Daytona (May 4-6)

THE SERIES ... Lakeland opens a three-game homestand against the new kids on the block as the league’s newest affiliate, the Daytona Tortugas make their first-ever visit to Joker Marchant Stadium. Daytona, now an affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, was a farm club of the Chicago Cubs from 1993-2014. Chicago moved its Advanced A club to Myrtle Beach in the Carolina League. Game one of this series is Monday, May 4 at 6:30 pm with games two and three on May 5 & 6 at 10:30 a.m. for Education Days. The rare back-to-back morning games came about as last week’s Education Day on Tuesday was postponed.

LAST YEAR ... The Daytona Cubs won 12 of the 18 meetings with Lakeland last season, including the last five and 11 of the last 12 games versus the Flying Tigers. Lakeland had won five of the first six contests.

THE FLYING TIGERS (9-14, 6th, 6.5 GB) ... Lakeland split its four-game set with Tampa, winning two of the final three games at George Steinbrenner Field. The Flying Tigers are now 7-4 on the road, but just 2-10 at home. Away from Joker Marchant Stadium, Lakeland is batting .252 with nine homers while batting just .216 at home with six home runs. Kevin Ziomek is third in the league with 32 strikeouts. The Flying Tigers are hitting .234 which is 10th lowest in the league while the staff ERA of 4.20 is second highest in the FSL. 

THE TORTUGAS (16-8, 1st, 3.0 game lead) ... Daytona beat Brevard County 2-1 in 10 innings yesterday as Sebastian Elizalde scored in the bottom of the tenth on a wild pitch. Elizalde brings a league-best 11-game hit streak into this series and has gone 15x46 (.326) during that stretch. The Tortugas have won two in a row and five of their last six games. Barrett Astin is second in the Florida State League with a 0.89 ERA while closer Zack Weiss is second with five saves. Ervin Phillip leads the FSL with seven home runs, 24 runs scored, 56 total bases, and a .615 slugging percentage. He also ranks eighth with a .321 average and tied for second with 29 hits. Daytona is 10-2 at home, but just 6-6 on the road. The club has allowed the third fewest runs of any club in the FSL while allowing a league-high 23 home runs. The Tortugas are sixth with a .248 team batting average and are fourth with a 2.94 staff earned run average.

LAKELAND PROBABLE STARTERS
5/04 - LHP Ryan Longstreth (1-2, 3.20) ... In his last start on April 27, Longstreth worked 6.0 innings for the second game in a row. He did not factor into the decision despite holding the Manatees to two runs (one earned) on three hits while striking out five. In his last two games, Longstreth is 1-0 with a 0.75 ERA, giving up one unearned run in 12.0 innings with six hits allowed, eight strikeouts and five walks.
5/05 - RHP Tommy Collier (2-1, 1.96) ... Collier will be looking to rebound from a bad start on April 30. Heading into that game, he had allowed just two unearned runs and walked just one batter. In the first, Collier surrendered a three-run homer and in the second, walked three batters and finished with five walks in his 5.0 innings of work. This is his fifth start of the season. In odd numbered starts, he is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA while in even numbered starts, he is 0-1 with a 3.75 ERA. Collier is eighth in the FSL with a 1.96 ERA.
5/06 - LHP Locke St. John (1-2, 5.48) ... St. Locke had his best outing of the season in his last start on May 1, holding Clearwater to two runs on five hits and six strikeouts (three walks) in 5.0 innings. It was his first win of the season and first in his last six starts dating back to Aug. 3, 2014. St. John has now struck out 10 in his 9.2 innings over his last two starts, but has also walked six in that time and now ranks third in the FSL with 12 walks allowed.

UNDER THE SHELL ... Righthander Nick Howard (19th overall) and shortstop Alex Blandino (29th overall) were both taken in the first round by the Reds in 2014. Centerfielder Phillip Ervin was Cincinnati’s number one pick (27th overall) in 2013. Fellow righty Jimmy Moran is from Davenport, Fla. and went to the University of South Florida while catcher Joe Hudson went to Tampa Jesuit High and then on to the University of Notre Dame. Catcher Chad Wallach is the son of former Major Leaguer Tim Wallach.

VEXING VERLANDER ... On April 13, Ben Verlander had a total of a pair of singles in his first four games for a .167 mark. In the last 13 games, the Flying Tigers outfielder is 19x47 (.404) with seven runs score, three doubles, two homers, and nine runs batted in. Verlander now tops the team with a .356 average, a mark that ranks second in the Florida State League. He is also fifth in the circuit with a .424 on-base percentage and a .508 slugging percentage.

DOMINATING DOMINIC ... Way back on April 12, Dominic Ficociello had collected two hits in his first 13 at bats. Since then, he has gone 18x51 for a .353 clip in his last 13 games. Ficociello has had two or more hits in six games and twice had three base knocks in a game. He leads the Flying Tigers with eight multi-hit games.

BATTLIN’ BETANCOURT ... Javier Betancourt has hits in five of his last six games, going 8x30 (.267) during that stretch.

SCORES IN INNINGS ... The Flying Tigers have been outscored 11-1 in the sixth inning this season and 10-1 in the ninth. Overall, Lakeland has outscored its opponents in just one frame this season, holding a 10-6 advantage in the eighth inning.

WHERE’S THE OFFENSE? ... Lakeland has scored more than four runs in a game just five times this season with a season-high of seven in a 7-5 win over Clearwater on April 19. Twelve times, the team has been held to three runs or less with opponents posting shutouts in three games this season.

ROSTER MOVES ... Lots of activity over the weekend on the roster front as three players depart and three players arrive. On May 1, RHP Zac Reininger and LHP Joe Rogers earned promotions to AA Erie. Reininger had not allowed a run in 11.0 innings over five outings while Rogers had been tagged for just one unearned run in 10.0 innings in six trips to the mound. Taking those departed roster spots are RHP Slade Smith who was added from AA Erie and RHP Scott Sitz who was added from Extended Spring Training where he had been since being sent there from Lakeland on April 26. The next day, RHP Brennan Smith (no relation to Slade) was also added from AA Erie with RHP Matt Davenport being sent to EST.

THE SKIPPER (thru 5/03) ... Manager Dave Huppert, a member of the 2012 FSL Hall of Fame Class, is back for a 28th season as a minor league manager. He is the winningest active manager in the minors based on number of wins and ranks 18th overall with a 1,880-1,751 record. He is in his fifth season with Lakeland and has a 272-289 record with the club, including a FSL championship in 2012.

UP NEXT ... Lakeland will next hit the road for seven away games in eight days, first playing May 7-9 at Dunedin and then May 11-14 at Jupiter. The Flying Tigers next home game is May 15.