brrr, that’s cold

It was a rather cold night at Wrigley Field on Tuesday — and the weather matched Paul Maholm’s start. In his Chicago Cubs debut, former Mississippi State star Maholm yielded five runs in the first inning and six all told in four innings of work. The left-hander, who signed as a free agent in the off-season after leaving Pittsburgh, took the L in a 7-4 defeat against Milwaukee. “To put it bluntly, I (stunk),” Maholm told mlb.com. Maholm had a good spring, but it wasn’t there for him Tuesday. Of his 80 pitches, only 45 were strikes. He gave up six hits and two walks for the 1-4 Cubs.
P.S. Props to former Mississippi Braves standout Tyler Pastornicky for hitting his first big league homer on Tuesday in Atlanta’s first win of the season. … Former Delta State star Eli Whiteside had a big double in his debut for Triple-A Fresno on Tuesday. Whiteside was beaten out by Hector Sanchez for the San Francisco Giants backup catcher job. He’s got work to do to get back to the majors. … MSU product Mitch Moreland hit his first homer of the year on Monday for Texas but went 0-for-3 Tuesday and is at .167 for the season. He may find playing time harder and harder to come by. … Millsaps whipped Mississippi College 10-9 on Tuesday to move to 3-2 in Maloney Trophy Series play. The Majors, who’ve won seven straight, face Belhaven (2-2 Maloney) next Tuesday at Smith-Wills Stadium with the trophy on the line. BU and MC (2-3 Maloney) play at Smith-Wills on April 23. … Southern Miss can make a statement tonight against LSU in Metairie, La. The Golden Eagles (19-12) are 11-36 all-time against the perennially strong Tigers (25-7), who are ranked No. 7 in one poll.