homey hurrah

What a big Wednesday it was for Mississippians in the majors. … Louisville’s Marcus Thames homered and smacked the game-winning hit in the ninth inning as the New York Yankees beat Texas in a battle of American League division leaders. Meridian CC alumnus Cliff Lee started for the Rangers and left in the seventh with the lead, but his bullpen couldn’t hold on. Former Mississippi State standout Mitch Moreland, the pride of Amory, drove in two runs for Texas. … Weir’s Roy Oswalt threw seven shutout innings for his first win with Philadelphia, helping the Phillies keep pace with Atlanta in the National League East. … Nettleton’s Bill Hall belted a pair of homers — he’s got 15 for the year — to help Boston, still kicking in the AL playoff race, notch a big win. … And former MSU star Buck Showalter improved to 8-1 as the new skipper of the Baltimore Orioles. … And there’s more: Former Jackson General Bobby Abreu hit a walk-off homer for the L.A. Angels, ex-Gen Melvin Mora a grand slam for Colorado and former M-Brave Brian McCann a slam for Atlanta, which got a strong start from M-Braves alum Tommy Hanson and another sharp relief appearance from 2009 M-Brave Jonny Venters. Plus, ex-M-Brave Jarrod Saltalamacchia returned to The Show when his new club, Boston, called him up. … And then there was Chris Coghlan. The ex-Ole Miss standout had knee surgery Wednesday; Florida hopes he’ll be able to return before season’s end. Coghlan’s taken a lot of flak for injuring himself during a celebration, but, hey, he was just having some fun. There’s a place in baseball for fun; that’s why we like it so much. Besides, players get hurt in all sorts of weird ways: punching water coolers, sneezing, arguing with umpires. Remember Marcus Thames went on the DL earlier this season after stepping on his own bat following a base hit. Stuff happens.