remember the time

Freddy Garcia and Ramon Castro got back in sync on Thursday night, when Castro hit a pair of homers and Garcia went six innings for the win as the first-place Chicago White Sox beat Seattle 9-5. Castro has become Garcia’s personal catcher this season, reestablishing a relationship spawned when both were coming up in the Houston system. They were paired together with the Jackson Generals in 1998, when both showed their big league potential. Garcia is 10-4 in a bounce-back year. With Castro calling his games, Garcia won six straight starts before suffering a couple of rough outings on July 18 and 24. On Thursday, the big right-hander was sharp again (7 hits, no walks, 3 runs and 3 strikeouts). Castro is hitting .327 with five homers in limited time. … Former Jackson Mets star Gregg Jefferies is among the featured athletes in Sports Illustrated’s latest “Where Are They Now?” issue (Aug. 2-9). Jefferies is a hitting instructor and high school coach in his native California. His 1987 season with the OJMs still rates as one of the best by any who have played for the JaxMets, Gens or M-Braves. Jefferies, then a shortstop, batted .367 with 20 homers, 48 doubles and 101 RBIs. He was the Texas League MVP and Baseball America’s minor league player of the year for the second year in a row. It still must gnaw at OJMs fans that Jefferies was summoned to New York before the TL Championship Series, which the Mets lost.
P.S. Mississippi State alumnus Mitch Moreland got a single in his first major league at-bat Thursday night and went 2-for-4 for the Texas Rangers.