coast to coast …
A visit to Hawaii is one thing, but a trip to the MLB All-Star Game, your first as a player, is a different level of paradise. After learning he had made the National League team as an injury replacement, former Ole Miss star Drew Pomeranz was forced to cancel a few plans he had made for the break. “My fiance and I were supposed to go to Hawaii to plan our wedding, but … whatever,” he told mlb.com, reportedly with a laugh. “It was a good excuse.” Pomeranz, now with San Diego, pitched a scoreless fourth inning in the NL’s 4-2 loss Tuesday night at Petco Park. He retired Salvador Perez, Jose Altuve and Mike Trout sandwiched around a Jackie Bradley single. “It’s pretty special to have your first one (All-Star Game) anywhere, but even more so here,” he said after the game, played before a crowd of 42,386. Pomeranz, in his first season with the Padres, has an 8-7 record and a 2.47 ERA in 17 starts with 115 punchouts. … In another televised game on Tuesday, played on the Atlantic coast before a much smaller crowd, Southern Miss’ Kirk McCarty delivered a gem for Orleans of the Cape Cod League. The left-hander tossed 6 2/3 shutout innings against Falmouth, allowing just three hits with five walks and five strikeouts. He got a no-decision but lowered his ERA to 1.98 in five games in the college summer league. His Firebirds won the game 2-1 (on a walk-off homer) before 1,381 at Eldredge Park in Orleans, Mass. … And on yet another coast, the Gulf, Lucas Sims of the Mississippi Braves notched his first Southern League win of the year Tuesday with a strong outing at Mobile. Sims worked 6 2/3 and yielded one run on six hits and two walks with seven K’s in a 2-1 victory before an announced 718 at Hank Aaron Stadium. Sims, Atlanta’s top pick in the 2012 draft and No. 10 prospect, started the season with the M-Braves before getting a promotion to Triple-A Gwinnett, where he went 2-6, 7.56 and got sent back on June 17. He is 1-2, 2.95 in seven starts for the M-Braves.