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On a sensational Tuesday night when the New York Yankees and Seattle clinched playoff berths; Cleveland caught collapsing Detroit; the desperate Mets rallied past the Chicago Cubs; Houston lost its fourth straight; and the Los Angeles Dodgers blew a win for Shohei Ohtani against plucky Arizona, several Mississippians in pro ball deserved attention:
Nathaniel Lowe: The ex-Mississippi State star produced two hits, two walks, two RBIs and a run in Boston’s 4-1 win at Toronto. The Red Sox kept their grip on the second American League wild card and remained in the hunt for the AL East title. Lowe is batting .286 with two homers, 15 RBIs and 14 runs in 29 games since the Red Sox signed him as a free agent following his release by Washington.
Garrett Crochet: The Ocean Springs native gets the ball for Boston tonight against future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer and the AL East-leading Blue Jays. Crochet, a strong Cy Young Award candidate, is 17-5 with a 2.69 ERA in his first season with the Red Sox, who gave the big left-hander a bunch of money to do what he’s doing.
Hurston Waldrep: The Southern Miss alum improved to 6-1 in 10 appearances for Atlanta, which won for the 10th straight time by beating Washington 3-2. Rookie Waldrep pitched around nine baserunners, allowing just one run in six innings and trimming his ERA to 2.88. (Former Mississippi Braves Ronald Acuna and Michael Harris homered for Atlanta, Harris hitting two, one off ex-MSU star Konnor Pilkington.)
Calvin Harris: The former Ole Miss catcher went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs to help Birmingham beat Montgomery 7-3 and force a decisive Game 3 in the Double-A Southern League Championship Series. Harris hit .266 with three homers and 38 RBIs in his third year in the Chicago White Sox’s organization. (MSU alum Colton Ledbetter went 0-for-5 for Montgomery, a Tampa Bay affiliate.)
Kemp Alderman: The ex-Ole Miss slugger and 2023 Ferriss Trophy winner was named to the Southern League postseason All-Star team by MLB Pipeline. The Decatur native batted .282 with 15 homers and 53 RBIs for Miami’s Pensacola club and finished the season in Triple-A, where he belted seven more homers. (Incidentally, he went 0-for-5 with five strikeouts in Jacksonville’s 5-4 loss to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the opener of the International League Championship Series.)