Tag Archives: Brewers

25 Sep

rounding third …

The 1-2 punch of Blaine Crim and Justin Foscue, a pair of Magnolia State college products, delivered again for Round Rock on Sunday and powered the Express into the Triple-A Pacific Coast League playoffs. Ex-Mississippi College star Crim went 2-for-3 with a homer and three RBIs and Mississippi State alum Justin Foscue added a double and two RBIs as Round Rock, a Texas affiliate, beat Tacoma 11-6. The Express, winners of seven of their last nine, will tangle with Oklahoma City (Los Angeles Dodgers) for the PCL title. Crim hit .289 with 22 homers and 85 RBIs in his fourth pro season. Foscue, the Rangers’ sixth-rated prospect in his third season, batted .266 with 18 homers and 84 RBIs. … Biloxi High product Colt Keith went 1-for-5 for Triple-A Toledo to finish his 2023 season with a .306 average, 27 home runs and 101 RBIs. Detroit’s No. 2 prospect, Keith, 22, played at Double-A and Triple-A this season, his third in the minors. … Kudos to Rick Sweet, who was the Jackson Generals’ first manager in 1991-92, for becoming Triple-A Nashville’s all-time winningest skipper with 321 victories over four seasons. Nashville is a Milwaukee farm club; ex-MSU standout Ethan Small went 2-4 with a 3.18 ERA and three saves in 38 games for Sweet’s Sounds this year. … In the big leagues, James McArthur, former Ole Miss star, struck out Yordan Alvarez with the tying run on base to save Kansas City’s 6-5 win at Houston, the last-place Royals’ third straight win vs. the Astros. Combined with Texas’ sweep at Seattle, the Astros are now 2.5 games back of the first-place Rangers in the American League West. McArthur, a rookie, has a win and two saves vs. Houston in his last five appearances. He has not allowed a run in 10 September games. … Ole Miss product Lance Lynn posted a third straight strong start (two runs in six innings) for the playoff-bound Dodgers, who beat San Francisco 3-2 in 10 innings. On the heels of a pair of bad outings, the 36-year-old Lynn has allowed just seven runs in 18 innings (3.50 ERA) in his last three; he is 6-2, 4.50, since the Dodgers acquired him at the trade deadline. Lynn has extensive postseason experience, having made 27 appearances since 2011.

24 Sep

not happening

J.P. France, the rookie out of Mississippi State, wasn’t bad on Saturday night. But he wasn’t good enough, nor was his team, the Houston Astros, who lost a big game, 3-2, at home to last-place Kansas City. France yielded a run in the first and two more in the fifth (the last on a wild pitch), and the Astros’ late rally came up short. They fell 1.5 games behind surging Texas in the American League West and are clinging to the third wild card by a half-game over Seattle. “Stuff was great, I’m pleased with that outing,” France told The Associated Press. The right-hander, who won seven of eight starts in one stretch this summer, went five innings Saturday and took the loss, falling to 11-6 with a 3.83 ERA. With losses in four of its last five games — two in a row to the Royals at Minute Maid Park — Houston does seem to have a problem. … Meanwhile, at Miami, ex-MSU star Brandon Woodruff also tasted frustration. Going to the bump with a chance to clinch the National League Central title for Milwaukee, the Wheeler High product gave up a three-run homer in the first inning and another run in the fourth before departing after five. The Brewers rallied to tie and get Woodruff off the hook but lost 5-4 to a Marlins team still in the chase for a wild card berth. “You know what?,” Woodruff told mlb.com. “It’s one of them ‘baseball days.’ You move on.” Woodruff’s ERA moved up to 2.28 over 11 mostly sterling starts. P.S. In a relatively short time, Hurston Waldrep’s home address has changed from Hattiesburg to Gainesville, Fla., to North Augusta, S.C., to Rome, Ga., to Pearl to Lawrenceville, Ga., where the Southern Miss alum made his Triple-A debut on Saturday. Atlanta’s first-round draft pick in July — 24th overall out of Florida — pitched 4 1/3 shutout innings for the Gwinnett Stripers. In eight appearances at the four levels of the minors, including a three-game stint with the Double-A Mississippi Braves, the gas-throwing Waldrep has a 1.53 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 29 1/3 innings. It would appear that the Braves have made another shrewd pick.

23 Sep

ain’t we got fun

Minnesota clinched its division; Milwaukee clinched a playoff berth with a 16-run outburst; Texas won its third straight and moved into first place in the American League West; and San Diego won its eighth straight to cling to its wild card hopes. Mississippians were involved in many of Friday night’s big events. At Minnesota, former Southern Miss star Matt Wallner drew a pair of walks and picked up an RBI in the Twins’ AL Central-clinching 8-6 win against the Los Angeles Angels. The Brewers, who lead the National League Central by 8 games, put up a 12-run second inning en route to pounding Miami 16-1. Ole Miss alum Nick Fortes had the misfortune to be behind the plate for the Marlins, whose NL wild card hopes took a blow. Former Mississippi State standout Brandon Woodruff (5-1, 1.89) goes to the mound today at loanDepot Park with Milwaukee a win away from clinching the division title. MSU product Nathaniel Lowe scored a run and drove in a run — his 80th RBI — to help Texas beat Seattle 8-5 and move a half-game ahead of Houston and 1 up on the Mariners in the crazy AL West. Ex-Ole Miss star James McArthur, a sudden sensation for Kansas City (see previous posts), got the last five outs for the last-place Royals as they beat Houston 7-5. McArthur, a rookie, is 1-0 with two saves and a 0.00 ERA in his last seven appearances. MSU alum Dakota Hudson, who has pitched well down the stretch for St. Louis, threw six innings, allowing two runs, but couldn’t stop San Diego, which rallied for a 4-2 victory. The red-hot Padres (76-78) are 4 games back of the third NL wild card and behind three other clubs. Former DeSoto Central High standout Austin Riley smacked his 37th homer and drove in four runs — 96 RBIs — as Atlanta beat Washington 9-6 and moved closer to clinching home field throughout the NL playoffs. The Braves (99-55) have a 4.5-game lead on the Los Angeles Dodgers, who lost Friday. In games of lesser import: Former State star Brent Rooker homered for the third straight game and sixth time in his last nine, giving him 29 on the year for Oakland, which beat Detroit. Ocean Springs native Garrett Crochet, making his first MLB appearance since June 15, blew a save and took the loss for the Chicago White Sox against Boston. P.S. Billy Hamilton, the veteran big leaguer out of Taylorsville, went 1-for-3 with a run and stolen base as Triple-A Durham beat Gwinnett 3-0 and clinched an International League playoff berth. Hamilton, hoping for a call-up, is 4-for-13 with five steals in six games for the Tampa Bay affiliate.

14 Sep

something to see

Fans in Biloxi are being served quite the treat this week. The Double-A Shuckers and Montgomery Biscuits are in a showdown for the second-half championship in the Southern League South, and both teams are stacked with major league prospects. (For the record, fans did not exactly flock to MGM Park for the first two games of the series: An announced 1,801 turned out to see the Shuckers win the opener 11-7, and 1,552 witnessed the Biscuits’ 4-2 win on Wednesday.) Biloxi trails Montgomery by 1.5 games and needs to win three of the remaining four to win the title and make the postseason for the first time since 2019. The Shuckers feature six of Milwaukee’s top 10 prospects, according to MLB Pipeline’s rankings. That list includes No. 1 Jackson Chourio, No. 2 Jeferson Quero and No. 7 Brock Wilken. Chourio, an outfielder, is batting .276 with 22 home runs, 88 RBIs and 41 steals. He is the No. 2 overall prospect in the minors. Wilken, a third baseman, hit a grand slam in his Biloxi debut on Tuesday. Tampa Bay’s top-rated prospect is Biscuits third baseman Junior Caminero, who is batting .315 with 20 homers and 62 RBIs; he is the No. 6 overall prospect. Montgomery also trots out Rays No. 2 Carson Williams and No. 13 Mason Auer. Former Mississippi State standout Colby White, coming back from Tommy John surgery last season, threw a clean inning for the Biscuits on Wednesday. White reached Triple-A in 2021 and is on Tampa Bay’s 40-man roster.

12 Sep

something special

Brandon Woodruff, a two-time All-Star who has made 113 starts in his big league career and won 46 times, did something Monday night he had never done before. The big right-hander from Wheeler via Mississippi State threw a shutout, dominating Miami in a 12-0 win by Milwaukee at American Family Field. “I’m not gonna lie,” Woodruff said in a postgame TV interview. “My heart was racing in the ninth inning.” There have been only 19 individual shutouts in MLB this season, and only Houston’s Framber Valdez has more than one. The Brewers have had only one other complete game shutout in the last six seasons. Woodruff threw 106 pitches — imagine that! — and allowed six hits, all singles, and one walk while striking out seven. He is 5-1 with a 1.93 ERA, having missed some four months of the season on the injured list. He’ll carry a 21-inning scoreless streak into his next start. “This is Brandon Woodruff,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said in an mlb.com story. The first-place Brewers (80-63) lead the Chicago Cubs by 3 games in the National League Central. Of note: Former Mississippi Braves catcher William Contreras was behind the plate for Woodruff’s gem. Ole Miss product Nick Fortes went 0-for-3 for the Marlins, who are currently tied for fourth in the NL wild card standings. P.S. Jackson Prep’s Konnor Griffin went 5-for-26 with three RBIs and five runs and made two pitching appearances for Team USA, which finished fourth in the U-18 World Cup at Taipei, Taiwan. LSU commit Griffin is a highly rated 2024 MLB draft prospect.

11 Sep

going forward

On the day when the Atlanta Braves clinched a National League playoff berth with a victory at Truist Park, there was also a clinching at Trustmark Park, home of the Braves’ Double-A club. But it wasn’t the Mississippi Braves who celebrated on Sunday — it was the visiting Tennessee Smokies, who rallied late to beat the M-Braves 6-4 and clinch the second-half title in the Southern League North. One of the key players for the Smokies — a Chicago Cubs affiliate — is former Southern Miss star Walker Powell, who is 11-6 with a 3.57 ERA. The league leader in wins and WHIP (1.07), he pitched brilliantly in a no-decision against the M-Braves last week. The M-Braves finished their 2023 home schedule before an announced crowd of 2,113 with a 32-36 record. They are 26-37 (last in the SL South) in the second half and 59-72 overall with a series left at Pensacola. … There will be a clinching this week at MGM Park in Biloxi, where the Shuckers and the Montgomery Biscuits, two of the hottest teams in the minors, will play a six-game series that’ll decide the second-half title in the SL South. The Biscuits (Tampa Bay) have won 10 straight games and lead the Shuckers (Milwaukee), who’ve won nine of 10, by 1.5 games. … Among other clinchings in the minors on Sunday, Binghamton (New York Mets) claimed a second-half division title in the Double-A Eastern League with a 10-0 win at Hartford. Ex-Mississippi State standout Rowdey Jordan went 2-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs for the Rumble Ponies. The third-year pro is hitting .227 with 13 homers, 58 RBIs and 28 stolen bases. P.S. Kudos to Atlanta manager Brian Snitker, the skipper of the original M-Braves club in 2005, who has had the big Braves in the postseason six straight years, winning the World Series in 2021. Six former M-Braves played in Sunday’s 5-2 win over Pittsburgh.

09 Sep

playoffs? yes, playoffs

Jacob Robson, Mississippi State alum and onetime big leaguer, homered and drove in two runs to spark Kansas City to a series-clinching 4-0 win Friday night against Sioux Falls in the Wolff Cup opening round, aka the independent American Association playoffs. Robson and fellow former Bulldogs standout Gavin Collins combined for three RBIs in KC’s 9-1 win in the series opener on Wednesday. The Monarchs advance to the semifinals, where they’ll face Sioux City, which eliminated Fargo-Moorhead, in a best-of-3 series beginning Monday. Former Itawamba Community College star Delvin Zinn went 2-for-7 with a couple of RBIs for Sioux City in its opening series. Ole Miss alum Parker Caracci pitched for Sioux City in that series. Robson — who got seven at-bats with Detroit in 2021 — hit .250 with 10 homers, 31 RBIs and 23 steals for the Monarchs this season, and Collins batted .315 with 10 bombs and 41 RBIs. Former Delta State star Dalton Moats went 5-3 with a 4.61 ERA for KC but is not currently active. Zinn, who swiped 92 bases in six seasons in the Chicago Cubs’ system, got 29 bags for Sioux City this year despite hitting just .211. … Former Columbia High star Ti’Quan Forbes, after a brief foray into the Mexican League, is back with New Jersey in the independent Frontier League, which started its postseason on Thursday. Forbes’ Jackals won their playoff opener and play Game 2 in the best-of-3 division series today against Quebec. Forbes, a longtime minor leaguer, batted .298 with 17 homers, 45 RBIs and 16 bags for New Jersey. P.S. The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, a Milwaukee Brewers affiliate based in Grand Chute, are celebrating Bratoberfest tonight and giving away a bobblehead of Mississippian Tim Dillard shooting the team’s Bratzooka, which he did at a game last year. Ex-big leaguer Dillard, a Saltillo High and ICC alum, is now a Brewers broadcaster following an 18-year pro career that ended in 2020.

08 Sep

have a day

Mississippians in the minors made some major noise on Thursday. Start with the clamor out of El Paso, where Mississippi State alum Justin Foscue went 4-for-5 with two homers, two doubles and five RBIs as visiting Round Rock beat the host Chihuahuas 11-10 in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. Foscue, the Texas Rangers’ No. 6 prospect, is batting .271 with 15 homers and 68 RBIs. Teammate Blaine Crim, former Mississippi College star, had two hits and two RBIs for the Express and is batting .285 with 74 RBIs. At the Double-A level, ex-Pascagoula High standout Willie Joe Garry Jr. entered the game for Wichita in the top of the ninth inning, stole second base and scored the game-winning run against Corpus Christi on a throwing error by the catcher. Garry, breaking out since his move up to Double-A in the Minnesota system, is batting .273 with seven steals, 13 runs, four homers and 19 RBIs in 25 games for the Wind Surge. In a brilliant Double-A pitchers’ duel at Trustmark Park in Pearl, Southern Miss product Walker Powell put up six scoreless innings (three hits, two walks, six strikeouts) for Tennessee, matching the effort of Atlanta prospect Luis De Avila (one hit, three walks, 11 K’s). The Smokies, a Chicago Cubs’ farm team, got a run in the eighth to beat the Mississippi Braves 1-0. Powell lowered his ERA to 3.57 and trimmed his Southern League-best WHIP to 1.07. At High-Class A Wisconsin, ex-Hattiesburg High star Joe Gray Jr. went 3-for-4 with a double, three runs and an RBI to boost the Timber Rattlers — a Milwaukee affiliate — past Cedar Rapids 11-6. Gray is batting .249 with 17 doubles and 57 RBIs. At High-A Bowling Green, MSU product Kamren James hit a homer — his ninth — and drove in four runs, but the Hot Rods, a Tampa Bay affiliate, lost to visiting Greensboro 19-10. And finally, at Low-A St. Lucie, ex-Brandon High and MSU star Kellum Clark hit his first professional home run, banged out two other hits and drove in four runs to power the Mets to a 14-7 win against Daytona. A 2023 draftee, Clark is batting .250 in 10 games for St. Lucie after hitting .308 in rookie ball.

06 Sep

clutch performers

Having lost two straight and with the Chicago Cubs breathing down their necks in the National League Central, the Milwaukee Brewers needed a rescue on Tuesday night at Pittsburgh. Up stepped Brandon Woodruff. The ex-Mississippi State standout from Wheeler threw seven shutout innings, never allowing a runner past first base, to lead the Brewers to a 7-3 win that kept them 2.5 games ahead of the second-place Cubs. Woodruff, who missed almost four months (April 8-Aug. 6) of the season with a shoulder problem, is now 4-1 with a 2.30 ERA in eight starts. Over his last three, the former All-Star right-hander has allowed three runs in 19 innings with 25 strikeouts and six walks. Tuesday’s 97-pitch outing was his longest of the year. “I think Woody is back,” Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell told mlb.com. “I think he’s really been back for a while.” … In another meaningful game, former MSU stars Jordan Westburg and Adam Frazier delivered in the clutch in Baltimore’s comeback 5-4 win against the Los Angeles Angels. Frazier smacked a pinch-hit double in the ninth and scored the tying run in that frame as the O’s rallied for two to take a 4-3 lead. After the Angels tied it, Westburg bounced into a 6-3 putout — with the infield in — to push the go-ahead run across from third base in the 10th. The first-place Orioles maintained a 3.5-game lead over Tampa Bay in the American League East. Westburg, a rookie, is batting .268 with 20 RBIs in 52 games. P.S. In the minors, Ole Miss product Kemp Alderman had a double and an RBI for Jupiter as Miami’s Low-Class A club clinched a Florida State League playoff berth with a 5-0 victory over Dunedin. Alderman, a second-round pick in July, is batting .196 with six doubles and 11 RBIs for the Hammerheads.

30 Aug

steele-y performance

No Mississippi native has won a Cy Young Award. Justin Steele, the left-hander from Lucedale, is building a mighty strong case. Steele threw six shutout innings Tuesday night to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 1-0 victory against Milwaukee at Wrigley Field. The former George County High star has 15 wins, tied for the National League lead, and a 2.69 ERA, second in the loop. He also has a league-best 18 quality starts, perhaps none bigger or better than Tuesday’s. The Cubs’ win snapped the first-place Brewers’ nine-game win streak and trimmed second-place Chicago’s deficit to 4 games in the NL Central. Steele was struck in the left leg, just above the knee, by a line drive in the second inning but, unfazed, went on to throw 111 pitches, allowing just six hits and one walk while fanning eight. When he got a punch out for the final out of the sixth, he walked off the mound to a standing ovation from the 33,294 at the Friendly Confines. “I loved it. I love pitching in that environment,” Steele told mlb.com. Steele out-dueled former Biloxi Shuckers ace Corbin Burnes, a former Cy Young winner (2021), who pitched seven brilliant innings for Milwaukee. … Cliff Lee, a Meridian Community College alum from Arkansas, won the American League Cy Young in 2008 with Cleveland. Former Jackson Mets standout Mike Scott won the NL award in 1986 with Houston. The award was initiated in 1956. P.S. The AL West race sure looks like fun. Seattle, Texas and Houston are tied at the top after Tuesday’s results. Mississippi State product J.P. France picked up his 10th win for the Astros, going 5 2/3 (two runs) to beat Boston 6-2 at Fenway Park. France gained a measure of revenge against the Red Sox, who pounded the rookie right-hander for 10 runs in a loss last week. Ex-State star Chris Stratton got the final two outs of the sixth inning, stranding two inherited runners, to pluck the win for Texas, which beat the New York Mets 2-1 at CitiField. Stratton has a 2.00 ERA in 11 games for the Rangers.