Game Notes: Tampa Tarpons (18-7) vs. Lakeland Flying Tigers (12-13)
Published on June 2, 2021 under Florida State League (FSL)
Tampa Tarpons News Release
LAKELAND FLYING TIGERS (12-13) vs. TAMPA TARPONS (18-7)
LHP Adam Wolf (2-1, 3.21) vs. RHP Yoendrys Gomez (0-0, -.--)
Wednesday - George M. Steinbrenner Field - Tampa, FL - 6:30 p.m.
Game #26 - Home Game #14 - Radio: N/A - Phone App: MiLB First Pitch
LAST TIME OUT: After squandering a late lead, the Tampa Tarpons got a go-ahead home run by Josh Smith - his third homer in six games - and held on to defeat the Lakeland Flying Tigers, 5-4, in the series-opener on Tuesday night at GMS Field...Tampa scored twice in the 1st via a wild pitch and an RBI single by Andres Chaparro (1-for-4, RBI) before adding a third run on a passed ball in the 4th...RHP Beck Way made his second-straight scoreless start (1.1IP, 1H, 1BB, 3K), and LHP Edgar Barclay followed with 5Ks over a scoreless 2.2IP (0H, 1BB)...RHP Blane Abeyta (W, 3-1) (3.0IP, 2H, 3ER, 2BB, 4K) held Lakeland scoreless in the 5th and 6th before the Flying Tigers rallied to tie the game in the 7th...Smith (1-for-4, HR, 2RBI, R) promptly put the Tarpons back in front in the home-half with a 2-run HR...Lakeland got a run back in the 8th off RHP Derek Craft (H, 1)(1.2IP, 3H, 1ER, 0BB, 3K, HR) before LHP Michael Giacone (SV, 1)(0.1IP, 1K) closed the game.
SANFORD SIZZLING: After picking up a season-high four hits on Sunday, Jake Sanford (2-for-4) logged his second-straight multi-hit game last night. The 22-year-old has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games, batting .366 (15-for-41) in that span.
GOING STREAKING: Chad Bell continued to extend his on-base streak last night, going 2-for-3 with a pair of singles. Bell has reached base in all 21 games in which he's played this season and is currently on a seven-game hit streak, batting .440 (11-for-25) in that span. Trevor Hauver is also on a six-game hit streak after going 1-for-3 (2BB, HBP, 2R) on Sunday, batting .333 (7-for-21) over that stretch.
VS. LAKELAND: Tonight, the Tarpons will open a six-game series against the Lakeland Flying Tigers. Tampa currently leads the season-series, 5-2. The teams are scheduled to square off a total of 24 times throughout the season.
200 CLUB: After scoring a baker's dozen on Sunday, the Tarpons became the first team in Minor League Baseball to score 200 runs in 2021. Tampa enters today with an MiLB-best 214 runs scored (8.56/G), which is 31 more than next on the list: Low-A Delmarva (183 runs). No other team in the Southeast League has scored more than 159 runs (Bradenton). Anthony Volpe (23R) is currently tied for the league-lead in runs scored, with Trevor Hauver (22R) and Elijah Dunham (22R) tied for 3rd, Andres Chaparro (20R) and Austin Wells (20R) tied for 5th, and Pat DeMarco (19R) tied for 8th.
NEW KIDS IN TOWN: On Tuesday, INF Josh Smith was activated off the High-A Hudson Valley 7-Day Injured List and transferred to Tampa to make his 2021 debut. Ranked by Baseball America as the No. 26 prospect in the Yankees system, Smith, 23, has so far batted .273 (6-for-22) with 3HR, 8RBI, 8R and 3BB while going 3-for-3 in SB attempts in six games. RHP Beck Way, 21, also made his Tarpons debut last week in Game 1 of a doubleheader at Dunedin on 5/26. Drafted in the 4th round by the Yankees in 2020 out of Northwest Florida State Junior College, Way has so far logged a scoreless 2.2IP (3H, 3BB, 4K) over a pair of scoreless outings.
LEAGUE LEADERS: The Tarpons enter today leading the Southeast League in several categories, including runs (214), hits (231), RBI (196), doubles (57), home runs (31), AVG (.263), OBP (.385) and SLG (.450). The Tarpons have six players ranked among the top-10 RBI leaders in the league, including: Trevor Hauver (T-1st, 22RBI), Austin Wells (T-1st, 22RBI), Andres Chaparro (T-1st, 22RBI), Pat DeMarco (T-4th, 21RBI), Elijah Dunham (T-7th, 19RBI) and Anthony Volpe (T-7th, 19RBI).
Florida State League Stories from June 2, 2021
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