September 13, 2017 - All Mississippi Baseball

farm livin’

Crackle … buzzzz … crackle … We interrupt coverage of the heated major league races to take you to Memphis’ AutoZone Park, where, tonight, the Memphis Redbirds and El Paso Chihuahuas will open the best-of-5 Pacific Coast League Championship Series. Mississippians could play prominent roles. Dakota Hudson, former Mississippi State star, will start Game 1 for the Redbirds, a St. Louis affiliate, and he’ll likely face another ex-Bulldogs standout, Hunter Renfroe, an outfielder for the Chihuahuas, a San Diego farm club. Hudson was the Double-A Texas League pitcher of the year but scuffled a bit in Triple-A, going 1-1 with a 4.42 ERA in seven starts. He delivered a strong start in winning Game 1 of the PCL semifinals, yielding one run in six innings. Ole Miss product Mike Mayers works out of the Memphis bullpen. He had a 3.28 ERA in 31 games and made three scoreless appearances in the semifinal series. Renfroe, sent down by the Padres last month, hit .509 with four homers in 14 games in his return to El Paso, which he led to the PCL pennant in 2016. He had a homer and three RBIs in the Chihuahuas’ semifinal series sweep of Fresno. Renfroe should have some fond memories of AutoZone Park; he made his Triple-A debut there last summer and hit a home run, one of the 105 he has blasted in his five pro seasons.

hot and cold

It’s becoming clear what kind of hitter Tim Anderson is. In a word: streaky. The East Central Community College product, now the Chicago White Sox’s shortstop, went 2-for-4 on Tuesday to boost his September average to .405. Anderson batted .204 in April but rebounded to hit .319 in May. He hit a summer swoon in June and July, batting .206. He started hot in August, hitting safely in 14 of his first 16 games that month before cooling off. But he has cranked it back up in September. He has three three-hit games this month and is up to .252 for the year with 16 homers, 60 RBIs and nine steals. He hit .283 as a rookie. White Sox fans best get used to this streakiness: Anderson, drafted 17th overall out of ECCC in 2013, is signed for five more years. P.S. Some magic numbers from Tuesday: Southern Miss alum Brian Dozier hit his 30th homer, marking the second time he has reached that figure. He was a double shy of a cycle in Minnesota’s 16-0 drubbing of San Diego. … Ex-Ole Miss star Zack Cozart reached the 20-homer plateau for the first time, taking former Rebels teammate Lance Lynn deep. But Lynn, now 11-7, won the day as St. Louis whipped Cincinnati 13-4. … Former Mississippi Braves standout Ozzie Albies stretched his hitting streak to 10 games as Atlanta zapped Washington 8-0. Albies, the rookie second baseman, went 3-for-5 with his third homer and is hitting .293 with 18 RBIs in 39 games.