that empty feeling
Three Mississippi college products took the mound in the major leagues on Saturday, and all three were left with an empty feeling at day’s end. Ex-Ole Miss star Drew Pomeranz took a loss and UM product Lance Lynn and Mississippi State alum Brandon Woodruff were denied wins by their team’s bullpen failures. Start in Milwaukee, where Woodruff, in his fourth MLB start, opposing Washington ace Max Scherzer, worked seven strong innings. He yielded just two hits and one run with eight strikeouts and left with a 2-1 lead. But former Biloxi Shuckers ace Josh Hader blew the save in the eighth, and the Nationals took a 3-2 win. It was a tough defeat for the Brewers, who are hanging on in the National League Central and wild card races. Lynn, the St. Louis veteran who is having another strong season, was brilliant over eight innings at San Francisco. He allowed just one hit with four walks and four punchouts and left with a 1-0 lead. But the Giants’ pen allowed a run in the ninth and a walk-off homer in the 10th as the Cardinals fell 2-1. At Yankee Stadium, Boston’s Pomeranz was engaged in a compelling pitcher’s duel with New York’s Masahiro Tanaka in the sixth inning when Matt Holiday ripped things open with a three-run homer. “He put the right swing on it,” Pomeranz told The Associated Press. Pomeranz left one batter later. He went 5 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on eight hits with five K’s. The loss was his first since June 11; he is 14-5 with a 3.36 ERA for the American League East leader. P.S. Detroit batters managed just eight hits – and one run – in eight innings against Cleveland’s Corey Kluber, and former Ole Miss standout Alex Presley got four of them, all singles in his first career four-hit game. The Indians won 5-2, their 10th straight victory.