numbers game

Fast starts have been deemed vital in this truncated, long-delayed MLB season. A check of the stat sheets reveals a handful of Mississippi-connected players who have come out with their engine running hot. To wit: JaCoby Jones, the ex-Richton High standout, is hitting .421 after a 3-for-3 performance for Detroit on Wednesday and is tied for the big league lead with three home runs, two of which have been game-winners. … Mitch Moreland, the Mississippi State product from Amory, is batting .357 after a 2-for-4, two-RBI effort for Boston on Wednesday that included his 200th career double. … Brandon Woodruff, the MSU alum from Wheeler, allowed two baserunners and punched out 10 batters in 6 1/3 innings for Milwaukee on Wednesday, retiring 17 straight at one point. … And Lance Lynn, the ex-Ole Miss star, yielded one hit and two walks with eight K’s in six innings for Texas on Wednesday and remains unscored upon in 2020. Details, details: Jones was starting to put things together last summer when he was hit by a pitch and suffered a broken wrist, ending his year. He was hit in the faceguard of his helmet by a Kansas City pitcher on Tuesday night, a scene scarily reminiscent of April 2017, when he was hit in the face by a pitch and went on the injured list for a long spell. He bounced back with a vengeance on Wednesday with a homer and two doubles. “I’m just trying to be smooth, nice and easy, just letting my hands work. It’s paid off,” Jones told mlb.com. He’s also made some big plays in center field. … The veteran Moreland, 34, who also missed a chunk of the 2019 season with injuries, has two home runs and five RBIs for a scuffling Red Sox team that was 1-4 entering Wednesday’s game against Jacob deGrom and the New York Mets at CitiField. Moreland’s fourth-inning double ended deGrom’s 31-inning scoreless streak. Moreland picked up another RBI in the eighth on an infield hit, helping Boston rally to a 6-5 win. … Woodruff, mixing a fastball that hit 99 mph and a devastating changeup against Pittsburgh, got 20 swings-and-misses. The one hit he yielded was an infield dribbler. Said Brewers manager Craig Counsell in an mlb.com piece: “Overpowering, I think, is probably the word that best describes it.” Woodruff is 1-1 with a 1.59 ERA, 15 K’s (tied for fourth-most in MLB) and two walks in 11 1/3 innings on the season. … Lynn actually has been more dominant than Woodruff. His 0.00 ERA is tied for the majors lead, and he’s the only pitcher with two starts at that number. His 17 strikeouts rank third in MLB, and he has allowed just three hits in 12 innings of work. Lynn (1-0) is stuck on 99 career wins after taking a no-decision on Wednesday against Arizona, though the Rangers won the game late. “(I)f you give your team a chance to win every day, that’s what I’m about. So far I’ve done that,” Lynn told the Dallas Morning News. P.S. Ex-Southern Miss star Brian Dozier, making his New York Mets debut tonight, has now been with five MLB teams in three years: Minnesota, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Washington, San Diego and now the Mets. The 33-year-old second baseman has been an All-Star, won a Gold Glove and earned a World Series ring. … USM product Cody Carroll and UM alum Bobby Wahl have been sent to the alternate camp by Baltimore and Milwaukee, respectively.