september magic

It’s one of the best times of the year in major league baseball — magic numbers are becoming relevant. Closest to clinching its division is Texas, which reduced its magic number in the American League West to 9 on Wednesday. The Rangers topped Detroit while Kansas City was beating Oakland. Amory native and Mississippi State product Mitch Moreland and Starkville native Julio Borbon each went 1-for-4 with a run for the Rangers. Cincinnati beat Arizona on Wednesday and now has a magic number of 10 in the National League Central. Ole Miss alumnus Matt Maloney worked 2 1/3 strong innings in middle relief to get the win, his first of 2010 (he won twice last year). … Surging Colorado moved within 2 1/2 games of the wild card lead with another big win on Wednesday. Curiously, the Rockies have made their recent run without a lot of contribution from ex-Rebels star Seth Smith. Considering Smith’s ability as a pinch hitter alone, it figures that he’ll be heard from down the stretch.
P.S. Former Hinds Community College coach Rick Clarke will be among the school’s Hall of Fame inductees on Sept. 23. In 22 years with the Eagles, Clarke won 565 games and took four teams to the juco World Series. His 1989 team was the first Mississippi juco to make the trip. Clarke coached three future big leaguers at Hinds, all pitchers: Patt Rapp, Steve Bourgeois and Chad Bradford.