off to a wild start
There were crushing defeats in the MLB Wild Card Series. And then there was what happened to Milwaukee and former Biloxi Shuckers star Devin Williams in a Game 3 on Thursday night. Williams – 14-of-15 in save opportunities with a 1.25 ERA in 22 games this season — surrendered the game-changing three-run homer to Pete Alonso in the ninth inning of the division-champ Brewers’ 4-2 loss to the wild-card New York Mets. The frenzied crowd at American Family Field, fired up by two Milwaukee bombs in the seventh, was crestfallen. Williams, a 2019 Biloxi alum whose “Airbender” changeup helped him win rookie of the year honors in 2020, and fellow former Shuckers Jackson Chourio (.455, two homers in the series), Sal Frelick (.364, Game 3 homer) and Garrett Mitchell (big Game 2 homer) are done. Among those celebrating for the Mets were former Mississippi Braves outfielder Antoan Richardson, the first-base coach, and former Jackson Mets catcher John Gibbons, the longtime MLB manager who is now the team’s bench coach. … Atlanta’s tumultuous and injury-plagued season ended Wednesday in San Diego, where M-Braves alum Max Fried, in perhaps his last Atlanta appearance, got whacked for six straight hits and five runs in the second inning of Game 2. Despite the efforts of ex-M-Braves star Michael Harris II (3-for-4 with a double and homer), the Braves could not recover and went down and out, 5-4. … Houston, another division champ playing at home, went out in two games to the surging Detroit Tigers. Former Shuckers ace Josh Hader faltered at a crucial time in Game 2 for the Astros, giving up a game-deciding three-run double in the eighth inning of the 5-2 defeat. Colt Keith, the rookie out of Biloxi High, and the amazing Tigers move on to face Cleveland (and ex-Southern Miss standout Nick Sandlin) in the American League Division Series. … Baltimore, playing at home as the No. 3 seed in the AL, was swept by Kansas City. Former Mississippi State standout Jordan Westburg, an All-Star for the Orioles this season, is done, while the upstart Royals, with former Bulldogs Hunter Renfroe and Adam Frazier in tow, move on to play the New York Yankees in the ALDS. … Awaiting the Mets in the NLDS is Philadelphia and the raucous fans at Citizens Bank Park. Philly’s current roster includes ex-Shuckers standout Weston Wilson and M-Braves alum Kolby Allard, and Laurel native Bobby Dickerson is the team’s infield coach. The other NL semifinal matches two teams that have some history: San Diego and the Los Angeles Dodgers. On LA’s roster are former M-Braves Freddie Freeman and Evan Phillips. … All the division series openers are Saturday.