Long Ball Propels Lakeland over Manatees


Elvis Rubio
Elvis Rubio
The Lakeland Flying Tigers got home runs from Kade Scivicque and Zac Shepherd in the sixth inning Monday night, en route to a 6-2 win over the visiting Brevard County Manatees. The loss tempered the start of Phil Bickford, who made his Manatees debut on the mound.

Bickford gave up one hit through his first three innings and the Manatees gave him an early lead in the bottom of the first. George Iskenderian singled against Lakeland starter Spencer Turnbull and went to second on a wild pitch. He rode home on an RBI single off the bat of Elvis Rubio.

Turnbull was done after three innings, as he works his way back from a right shoulder impingement. He was relieved by Austin Kubitza, after throwing 54 pitches, 36 for strikes. He recorded three strikeouts. The Manatees got to Kubitza right away.

Rubio and David Denson drew back-to-back one out walks and Allemand brought Rubio home with a single, giving the Manatees a 2-0 lead. Kubitza settled down, coming back to strike out Jose Cuas and Dustin Houle to end the inning.

After getting the first out in the bottom of the fourth, Bickford ran into trouble. A.J. Simcox singled and Scivicque followed with a double, putting runners at second and third. A sacrifice fly by Wade Hinkle brought one run home and a single by Ross Kivett, tied the game.

Bickford walked Garrett Mattlage to start the fifth and a sac bunt got Mattlage to second. One out later, Bickford walked Ben Verlander, prompting Manatees manager Joe Ayrault to go to the bullpen. Bickford went 4.2 innings, allowing two runs on four hits. He walked two and struck out five, throwing 50 of 80 pitches for strikes. Josh Uhen came in to retire the final batter of the fifth.

Freddy Peralta came in to start the sixth for the Manatees and did not fare well. Scivicque was the first batter he faced and he took him deep. One out later, he walked Kivett, before Shepherd launched his 12th of the season, giving the home nine a 5-2 lead. Peralta got through the seventh, despite giving up a hit and having an error committed behind him. Unfortunately, the sixth inning was the difference, as Peralta picked up the loss, dropping his record to 0-2.

The Flying Tigers (48-60) tacked on a run in the eighth against Brevard County reliever Kender Villegas. Shepherd started the inning with a double and Rashad Brown knocked him in two outs later, making it a 6-2 game.

For more info: Brevard County @ Lakeland boxscore


Game two of the series is scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. first pitch on Tuesday. Marcos Diplan (0-1, 3.98 ERA) will toe the rubber for the Manatees, while Matt Hall (3-1, 2.77 ERA) will take the ball for Lakeland.

This article originally appeared on 27OutsBaseball.com on 8/8/16

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