bearing arms

Catching up on some ex-Mississippi Braves pitchers: Gotta feel bad for Charlie Morton. The Pittsburgh Pirates announced today that the tall right-hander will have Tommy John surgery and be out at least a year. Morton, after a great spring, was just 2-6 with a 4.65 ERA this season for Clint Hurdle’s improving Bucs. … Tommy Hanson (7-4, 3.55) plays the role of stopper tonight for Atlanta, which has lost four straight and fallen 5 games back in the National League East dogfight. The Braves host Buck Showalter’s surprising Baltimore Orioles, who have won five straight, at Turner Field. … Tim Collins, a short (no pun intended) reliever for Kansas City, picked up a win Thursday night and is 4-0 with a 2.03 for Ned Yost’s scuffling Royals. … Scott Diamond had a rare rough outing for Minnesota and slipped to 5-2 after a 6-1 loss to Philadelphia. … Matt Harrison was denied what would have been his ninth win for Texas on Wednesday night; he left in the eighth inning of a 0-0 game that the Rangers ultimately won 1-0. … Matt Wright, who was on the original M-Braves club in 2005, recently signed with the Phillies out of the independent Atlantic League. Wright, still seeking that first big league call-up, pitched well in his debut at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. P.S. Southwest Mississippi Community College alum Jarrod Dyson scored the game-winning run in an odd way as Kansas City topped Milwaukee 4-3 on Thursday. In the bottom of the ninth, after the tying run had just crossed the plate on a single to left field, Dyson broke from third when Delta State product Edwin Maysonet, the Brewers shortstop, made a curious relay throw to second base. The ball bounced and skipped off the glove of Rickie Weeks, whose throw home was too late to get the swift Dyson.