June 2018 - Page 5 of 5 - All Mississippi Baseball

the stuff of fantasy

Collectively, the nine of them banged out 13 hits and even went for the cycle. They drove in six runs and scored 10. And the one who started on the bump threw six shutout innings. Yes, it was good to be a Mississippian in the majors on Friday. Among the position players who started, former Richton High star JaCoby Jones enjoyed arguably the best day, going 2-for-4 with a triple, two RBIs and a run in Detroit’s 5-2 win over Toronto. The red-hot Tim Anderson, ex-East Central Community College standout, had just one hit, but it was a tie-breaking two-run triple — he also scored on a subsequent hit — in the Chicago White Sox’s 8-3 win against Milwaukee. Meridian CC product Corey Dickerson and Mississippi State alum Adam Frazier had two hits each and accounted for four runs all told as Pittsburgh took a 4-0 victory against St. Louis in a National League Central battle. Ex-State star Mitch Moreland hit the lone home run, his ninth of the year, in Boston’s 7-3 loss to Houston. Southern Miss product Brian Dozier had two hits, including a double, and scored a run for Minnesota in a 7-4 win over Cleveland. Former Bulldogs standout Hunter Renfroe went 2-for-4 for San Diego in a 7-2 loss against Cincinnati, which got a walk and a run from Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton. McComb’s Jarrod Dyson had a hit, a walk and a run as Arizona beat Miami 9-1. Not to be overlooked among all this offensive production is Chris Stratton, the ex-State star from Tupelo who notched his fourth straight win for San Francisco, which beat Philadelphia 4-0. Stratton, now 7-3 with a 4.50 ERA, allowed just four hits and one walk with seven punchouts. For the record, he also put down two sacrifice bunts. P.S. It wasn’t a great day for Ole Miss alum Zack Cozart, the Los Angeles Angels infielder who sat for the third straight game with what reportedly is a minor arm injury. And ex-USM star Scott Copeland, who threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings Thursday in his first MLB appearance in three years (see previous post), was designated for assignment Friday by the New York Mets. It’s likely he’ll return to their minor league system.

shuttle run

Meanwhile, back in St. Louis, there’s Mike Mayers, picking up a win for the Cardinals, the beneficiary of a five-run ninth inning capped by Yairo Munoz’s walk-off homer that beat Pittsburgh 10-8 on Thursday night. Former Ole Miss star Mayers is 2-0 with a 2.40 ERA in 11 relief appearances for the Cards. Funny thing is, those 11 appearances are spread over six different stints with St. Louis. Mayers, who first made the big leagues in 2016, still has options. What that means is, the Cardinals can option him to the minors this season as many times as they see fit. They have seen fit to do so five times. And it’s only June. Mayers was sent to Triple-A Memphis on Wednesday, joining the Redbirds in New Orleans, then was recalled on Thursday as an injury replacement and flew back to St. Louis. He entered Thursday’s game in the eighth, got the final out in that inning and worked a 1-2-3 ninth. The rally that followed may have seemed a bit like déjà vu for Mayers. His other win, on May 6, also came via a walk-off homer. After a strong winter league showing and a good spring, Mayers began the 2018 season on the Cardinals’ 25-man roster. On April 9, he was optioned to Memphis for the first time, and the shuttle run began. “If anything,” Mayers told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch after Thursday’s game, “this season has taught us that baseball is crazy.”