21 Apr

best in show

The anticipated duel between Mississippi-connected pitchers Cliff Lee and Lance Lynn didn’t materialize on Saturday. Oh, former Ole Miss star Lynn was outstanding for St. Louis. But Lee, the veteran lefty from Meridian Community College, was out of sorts in Philadelphia’s 5-0 loss at Citizens Bank Park. Lee, who had allowed just one walk in his first three starts, walked three in the third inning alone, and the Cardinals capitalized for four runs, all they would need. Lee lasted five innings and was charged with all five runs. He is 2-1 with a 2.83 ERA. Meanwhile, Lynn blew through Philly’s lineup for seven innings, yielding just one hit and striking out eight to improve to 3-0, 3.68. Another Mississippian who started on Saturday, Paul Maholm, also had a disappointing result. The former Mississippi State standout, who had not allowed a run for Atlanta in 20 1/3 innings this season, saw that streak end in the sixth inning at Pittsburgh. The Pirates, Maholm’s original club, put up three runs and went on to a 3-1 victory. Maholm, now 3-1, 1.03, went six innings and yielded four hits and three walks with five K’s. P.S. UM alum Drew Pomeranz, sent to the minors this spring by Colorado, is 2-0, 3.31 in three starts for Triple-A Colorado Springs. … Also there is Meridian CC product Corey Dickerson, who is batting .389 with two homers and six RBIs. Dickerson impressed the Rockies in spring training and is now banging on the door for a call-up. … Former Taylorsville High star Billy Hamilton is scuffling a bit at Triple-A Louisville in the Cincinnati system. He is hitting just .224 in 15 games, though he does have 11 steals in 12 attempts. … Today mark’s the 40th anniversary of Mississippi native Dave Parker’s big league debut. Parker, who broke in with Pittsburgh, played until 1991 and posted numbers worthy of Hall of Fame attention: .290 average, 2,712 hits, 339 homers, 1,493 RBIs. He won an MVP award (1978) and finished in the top three in the voting three other times. He also had off-field issues (drugs mainly) that tainted his career. It seems unlikely he’ll ever get to Cooperstown.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

%d bloggers like this: