Tag Archives: Cardinals

14 Aug

fore for four!

There was something in the air Thursday. Maybe it was the Perseid meteor shower. Something. Two players from small towns in Mississippi had career-high four-hit games. What are the odds? In Minnesota, Amory’s Mitch Moreland banged out four hits that included his 17th home run of the season. He drove in four runs – giving him a career-high 61 for the year — as his Texas Rangers beat the Twins 10-5. In Los Angeles, Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton also went 4-for-4, scored four times and hit his fourth home run in Cincinnati’s 10-3 victory against the Dodgers. As he sprinted around the bases on the homer that easily cleared the wall in left, Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully said, “He runs out a home run like he’s afraid they’re going to change their mind.” Hamilton also swiped his 53rd bag of the year. (Note: The magic didn’t work for every Mississippi native in the majors: Tupelo’s Brian Dozier went 0-for-4 for the Twins.) P.S. Ole Miss product Lance Lynn (who was born in Indiana) suffered the worst start of his career, getting just two outs before getting pulled in the first inning of St. Louis’ game against Pittsburgh. Lynn allowed six hits and seven runs (three earned), and the Cardinals ultimately lost 10-5. “It was terrible, plain and simple,” Lynn told The Associated Press.

08 Aug

going into battle

The St. Louis Cardinals’ lineup doesn’t blow you away with star power, and their pitching staff has been without its ace, Adam Wainwright, all season. And yet here they are with 70 wins, most in the majors. They’re a playoff contender every year. What the Cardinals do is battle, every inning, every game, every season. Case in point: Former Ole Miss star Lance Lynn on Friday night at Milwaukee. Lynn didn’t have command of his fastball, which he relies on heavily. He allowed six hits and four walks in six innings. But he didn’t allow a Brewer to cross the plate. He battled, and St. Louis won 6-0. Milwaukee had two runners on in three of the first four innings and the bases loaded in the sixth. Lynn got out of that final mess with a strikeout, his seventh of the game. “With runners in scoring position, I was able to make a pitch,” the big right-hander told The Associated Press. Lynn, who missed some time with an injury this year, is 9-6 with a 2.76 ERA. He has 136 K’s in 127 1/3 innings. He has won 57 games since moving into the St. Louis rotation in 2012, throwing mostly fastballs. And battling.

10 Jul

the hot spot

On a night when the Yankees are at Fenway, the White Sox and Cubs are clashing at Wrigley and the Nats and O’s are dueling at Camden Yards, the best place to be might be PNC Park in Pittsburgh. That’s where former Ole Miss star Lance Lynn and his St. Louis teammates will meet the Pirates in a matchup of the two best teams in the National League. The pitching matchup is a dandy. Lynn, 6-4 with a 2.53 ERA, will be opposed by Pirates ace Gerrit Cole, 12-3, 2.28. The Cardinals won the opener of the four-game series 4-1 on Thursday night, snapping the Pirates’ four-game win streak and extending their lead in the National League Central to 5½ games. Lynn faced the Bucs in St. Louis on May 1, striking out 10 in seven innings in a game won by the Cards 2-1 in 10. Lynn has fared well against Andrew McCutchen (.132) and Pedro Alvarez (.182), not so well against Starling Marte (.381) and Neil Walker (.294, two homers, eight RBIs). Envy Jackson’s Chris Maloney, who, as the Cardinals’ first-base coach, will have a great view of what ought to be a great game. P.S. UM product Aaron Barrett, on the disabled list for Washington, has made three rehab appearances in Class A ball, working three innings with no earned runs allowed. Barrett has a 5.06 ERA in 30 games for the Nationals. … Former Picayune High star T.J. House remains on the DL in the minors for Cleveland. The left-hander last pitched on June 5. He was sent down by the Indians after going 0-4, 13.15 in four starts; he is 0-2, 3.86 in four games for Triple-A Columbus. … Meridian Community College product Cliff Lee reportedly will start throwing later this month, though his return to Philadelphia still appears iffy. The veteran lefty hasn’t pitched at all this season and made just 13 starts last year because of elbow problems.

26 Jun

early returns

Year 2 is going better for Blake Anderson, the first Mississippian picked (36th overall) in the 2014 MLB draft. The catcher from West Lauderdale High is batting .364 (8-for-22) with three RBIs in five games for Miami’s Batavia club in the short-season Class A New York-Penn League. Anderson hit just .108 in 26 games in the rookie Gulf Coast League last year. Meanwhile, Austin Riley, the first Mississippian picked this year (41st overall by Atlanta) out of DeSoto Central, is 0-for-8 in three games for the Gulf Coast League Braves. Other starts of note: LaDarious Clark, who played at Southeast Lauderdale and East Mississippi Community College, went 4-for-5 (with two triples) on Thursday, boosting his average to .360 in seven games at Spokane in the short-season Class A Northwest League. Clark was picked in the 12th round this year by Texas. Ti’Quan Forbes, the 2014 Mr. Baseball from Columbia and a second-rounder last summer, is also playing on that club, hitting .227 to date. … Ole Miss alum Scott Weathersby, picked in Round 10 this year by Houston, yielded two runs in two innings in his debut at Tri-City in the short-season New York-Penn League. … Ex-Rebels star Sikes Orvis (17th round, Chicago White Sox) is 2-for-20 at Great Falls in the rookie Pioneer League. … Northwest Mississippi CC product Dalton Dulin (17th round, Washington) is 5-for-11 for Auburn in the NYPL. P.S. Former Ole Miss ace Lance Lynn, back on the bump Thursday for St. Louis after 18 days on the disabled list, allowed two hits in six shutout innings to beat Miami. He is 5-4 and lowered his ERA to 2.84. ”That was a good one to come back to,” he told The Associated Press after the Cardinals’ 5-1 win.

25 Jun

big league chew

He ranks first in runs, first in home runs, first in RBIs and second in slugging percentage among American League second basemen. Brian Dozier’s 56 runs are tied for the most in the entire AL, and he is second in the league in doubles. Surely, the ex-Southern Miss standout will make his first All-Star Game this year. He had two hits against Chris Sale on Wednesday, scoring a run and knocking in another to help Minnesota to a 6-1 win against the Chicago White Sox. Dozier is batting .261 with 14 homers and 36 RBIs for a good Twins club. … Kendall Graveman, the Mississippi State alum pitching for Oakland, beat Texas to square his record at 4-4 and trim his ERA to 3.86. Graveman is 3-2 with a 2.31 ERA in seven starts since returning from a stint in the minors. … Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton, back in the leadoff spot for Cincinnati, drew a first-inning walk, stole second and third and scored to start the Reds on their way to a 5-2 win at Pittsburgh. Hamilton was hitless in his other four at-bats, dropping his average to .223, but he has 35 steals and 33 runs in 62 games. … Ex-Southwest Mississippi Community College star Jarrod Dyson, whose speed may rival Hamilton’s, stole his eighth bag (in 34 games) for Kansas City in a win over Seattle. … Ole Miss product Lance Lynn (4-4, 3.07) is slated to come off the disabled list and start today for St. Louis against Miami. The Cardinals are 47-24, best record in MLB. … Worth remembering: Wednesday (June 24) was the 53rd anniversary of Silver City native Jack Reed’s only big league homer. It came in the 22nd inning of the New York Yankees’ 9-7 win at Detroit. Reed played parts of three seasons (1961-63) with the Yanks.

22 Jun

touching the bases

Hunter Renfroe, the ex-Mississippi State standout, hit a pair of home runs in a game for Double-A San Antonio on Sunday. San Diego’s 2013 first-round pick, Renfroe is batting .343 over his last 10 games and is at .244 with five homers and 26 RBIs on the season. This is his first full year in the Texas League. … JaCoby Jones, the former Richton High star, had a two-run triple in Saturday’s Florida State League All-Star Game. The Pittsburgh shortstop prospect is in his first full year at high Class A Bradenton. … Jacob Lindgren’s season may be over. The State product, who made his big league debut for the New York Yankees this season, is having elbow surgery and is expected to be down about 12 weeks. The left-hander had a 5.14 ERA in seven MLB innings. … Ole Miss alum Lance Lynn is slated to come off the DL and start Thursday for St. Louis at Miami. Lynn, out two weeks with a forearm strain, is 4-4 with a 3.07 ERA. … The Mississippi Braves lost 12 of their last 15 to finish 33-35 in the first half of the Southern League season. Following the SL All-Star break, the M-Braves begin the second half at home on Thursday. … Ole Miss’ Errol Robinson is among the Cape Cod League batting leaders with a .322 average over nine games; he has scored 10 runs and stolen five bags. His Hyannis team is 8-3. Robinson hit .297 as a sophomore for the Rebels this year. … Blue Mountain College’s Dylan Earnest threw a five-hitter with six strikeouts to lead the Tupelo Thunder to a 4-1 win over the Tallahatchie Rascals on Sunday in Cotton States League play. Tupelo is 5-3, a half-game back of the Tippa Tribe (6-3) in the Deep South Division of the New Albany-based college summer circuit. The Golden Triangle Jets (6-4) lead the Rascals (5-3) in the Delta Division. … Zach Penprase, the onetime Mississippi Valley State star, is now playing his eighth season for Fargo-Moorhead in the independent American Association and hitting .292. Shortstop Penprase, 30, had a brief fling in affiliated ball; he was drafted by Philadelphia in 2006.

21 Jun

good vibrations?

Max Scherzer had a much-celebrated great game for Washington on Saturday. His teammate Tyler Moore had a much-needed good game, which makes two in a row for the former Mississippi State star from Brandon. While Scherzer was firing his first career no-hitter against Pittsburgh, Moore, starting for the second straight day, was going 1-for-2 with a walk and two RBIs in the 6-0 victory. Moore had two hits on Friday, when his average for the year stood at .177. He is now batting .200 with four homers and 13 RBIs. Moore, who gets most of his at-bats as a pinch hitter, has one homer and four RBIs for the month. Moore’s value is in his power. He perhaps could have used a tuneup trip to the minors this season, but he is out of options and the Nationals apparently don’t want to risk losing him by exposing him to waivers. Moore hit 10 homers as a rookie in 2012 but has only 12 over the past three seasons. Washington, pegged by many as a World Series team, is only three games above .500. Maybe Saturday’s emotional win will serve as a jolt, for both the team and Tyler Moore. P.S. Seth Smith, the Ole Miss alum from Jackson, homered for Seattle in a 6-3 win on Saturday, his sixth of the year and first off a left-hander. The lefty-hitting Smith rarely faces lefties (14 ABs in 2015), and Saturday’s bomb was the first allowed this year by Houston’s Dallas Keuchel. … Ex-MSU star Ed Easley, still without an MLB hit (see previous posts), has been sent back to the minors by St. Louis.

16 Jun

showing up

A Jackson Generals player from years ago made the comment when asked what it took for him to get to the big leagues: “I just kept showing up.” Joey Butler, now starring for the Tampa Bay Rays as a 29-year-old rookie, apparently has that kind of resolve. Butler played at ’Goula, Perk and UNO. He’s been through Spokane, Bakersfield, Frisco, Surprise, Round Rock, Magallanes, Mazatlan, Memphis, Orix and Durham. He got his first taste of the big leagues in 2013 with Texas, his original organization (15th round, 2008). He got 12 at-bats. St. Louis, which had taken Butler on a waiver claim, called him up last year for five at-bats. Then he went to Japan. He came back to the States this spring but didn’t make the Rays’ roster out of camp. He went to Triple-A Durham. The Rays called on May 3 when Itawamba Community College alum Desmond Jennings went on the disabled list. Finally given an opportunity to play regularly in the majors, Butler has gone off: .344, four homers, 16 RBIs, 15 runs in 37 games. The Pascagoula native and ex-Mississippi Gulf Coast CC star is also said to be a great guy in the clubhouse. “I think the entire dugout gets excited when he comes to the plate …,” Rays manager Kevin Cash told saintpetersblog.com. There is something to be said for just showing up. P.S. On this date in 1945, Boo Ferriss lost a game for the first time in his big league career. The Shaw native and former Delta State coach had begun his rookie season with eight straight victories for the Boston Red Sox before losing a 3-2 decision to the New York Yankees. Ferriss would go 21-10 that year and 25-6 in ’46 before injuries curtailed his career.

09 Jun

minor matters

D.J. Davis, the first Mississippi-connected player chosen in the 2012 draft, is making a strong bid for promotion in the Toronto system. The ex-Stone County High star drove in eight runs on Monday for the low Class A Lansing Lugnuts. The lefty-hitting outfielder, who went 4-for-5 with a home run and two doubles in the game, is batting .294 with three homers, 30 RBIs, 32 runs, four triples and nine steals over 53 games in his second tour of the Midwest League. A key for Davis this year has been cutting down on his strikeouts. … Chris Stratton, also a first-rounder in 2012 (No. 20 overall to Davis’ 17), made his Triple-A debut in the San Francisco system last Friday. Stratton, from Tupelo by way of Mississippi State, allowed one run in 6 1/3 innings in a victory by Sacramento. He was 1-5 with a 4.14 ERA at Double-A Richmond before his promotion. … Knocking on the Double-A door is Horn Lake’s Cody Reed, a second-round pick out of Northwest Mississippi CC by Kansas City in 2013 (and the third Mississippian picked in that draft, after Hunter Renfroe and Tim Anderson). The 6-foot-5, 220-pound left-hander is 5-3 with a 1.29 ERA for Wilmington in the high-A Carolina League. … Anderson, the East Central CC alum who missed a couple days with a shoulder injury, is playing again at Double-A Birmingham (Chicago White Sox) and is hitting .304 with 21 bags. MSU product and Crystal Springs native Renfroe, at Double-A San Antonio in San Diego’s system, has scuffled a bit (.226, three homers). … Ole Miss alum Bobby Wahl, another 2013 draftee, is also toiling in Double-A and has a 3.76 ERA with four saves for Midland (Oakland) in the Texas League. P.S. Ed Easley, drafted way back in 2007 out of MSU, got his first big league RBI on Monday for St. Louis. He is still looking for his first hit; he is 0-for-2 in three plate appearances. … Hinds CC’s Randy Bell was named an NJCAA first-team All-America pitcher. The South Alabama signee was 12-0 with a 2.37 ERA for the state champion Eagles.

28 May

some rain must fall

Tony Sipp had gone all season — 16 appearances out of the Houston bullpen — without allowing a home run before last Thursday. That’s when Detroit’s James McCann took Sipp deep for a game-winner in the bottom of the 11th inning. Sipp, a Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and Moss Point High product, made his next appearance Wednesday in Baltimore. The left-hander was brought in to face lefty Chris Davis in the bottom of the eighth with the score tied. Davis hit the first pitch out, and the Orioles went on to win 5-4. “I just missed with it, just left it up, middle,” Sipp told mlb.com. Sipp hasn’t missed much this season. The 29-year-old has a 1.53 ERA with 20 strikeouts over 17 2/3 innings for the surprising Astros, who continue to lead the American League West. For his MLB career, spanning seven seasons, Sipp has a 3.64 ERA, 20 wins and six saves working mostly as a situational lefty. Not bad for a 45th-round pick (by Cleveland out of Clemson in 2004). P.S. With the Wednesday recall of Donnie Veal by Atlanta and the recent promotions of Jacob Lindgren (New York Yankees) and David Goforth (Milwaukee), there are now nine Mississippi-connected pitchers in the big leagues and two more on the disabled list. Picayune High product T.J. House, assigned to Triple-A after a recent rehab stint, could be close to returning to Cleveland. … Former Mississippi State star – and Ferriss Trophy winner — Ed Easley was recalled by St. Louis from Triple-A Memphis on Wednesday but didn’t play against Arizona. He is still seeking his first appearance in an MLB game. Catcher Easley, 29, also was on the Cardinals’ roster for three games in April.