Tag Archives: Cardinals

04 Jul

numbers to crunch

4 — Straight wins by the Mississippi Braves, who’ll take that streak into tonight’s Southern League game against Pensacola at Trustmark Park in Pearl. The M-Braves (4-2 second half, 33-42 overall) have struggled with the bats of late but scored 36 times during the win streak, including an 18-run outburst on Saturday.
10 — Hits in his last seven games, including two on Sunday, for Austin Riley, the DeSoto Central High product who is batting .385 over that stretch with two homers, six RBIs and five runs for the surging Atlanta Braves. Riley is fourth in the National League with 20 homers.
1 — Career starts vs. Atlanta by Dakota Hudson, the Mississippi State alum who goes for St. Louis against the Braves today at Truist Park. That one start was on May 25, 2019. Hudson is 6-4 with a 3.83 ERA. He’ll be opposed by ex-M-Braves star Kyle Wright (9-4), tied for second in the NL in wins.
2 — Wins in his last three starts for Justin Steele, the George County High product who’ll pitch for the Chicago Cubs against Milwaukee today at American Family Field. Steele is 3-5, 4.39, for the lowly Cubs.
1,600 — Career managerial wins for Buck Showalter, the former State standout who reached that milestone on Sunday when his New York Mets beat Texas 4-1. Showalter, who has managed five different MLB clubs, is No. 22 on the all-time wins list, having just passed Tommy LaSorda.
22 — Number of Mississippians to appear in an MLB game in 2022 after ex-Taylorsville High star Billy Hamilton got in as a pinch runner for Miami on Sunday. He scored his 440th career run in his 912th big league game.
18 — Strikeouts in 11 innings over two games (both wins) for Brandon Woodruff since the former State standout came off the injured list for Milwaukee. Woodruff beat Pittsburgh with six shutout innings (eight K’s) on Sunday and is 7-3 on the season.
9.00 — ERA in three games for Kirk McCarty, the ex-Southern Miss star who was designated for assignment Sunday by Cleveland. The rookie left-hander lost to the New York Yankees on Saturday (four runs in five innings), the second time he has faced them in his brief MLB tenure.
3 — Hits in five at-bats for Ole Miss’ Jacob Gonzalez, who also drove in two runs as he helped the Stars beat the Stripes 7-3 on Sunday in Game 4 of Collegiate National Team’s intrasquad series. The teams play again today at Charlotte, N.C.

29 Jun

three dog night

Collectively, they worked 14 1/3 innings, yielding eight runs on 16 hits and four walks with 17 strikeouts. A 5.03 ERA might not bring joy to the world, but two wins with one loss is a good feeling. Three former Mississippi State Bulldogs started in big league games on Tuesday night. Konnor Pilkington came back from Triple-A to make a spot start for Cleveland in Game 2 of a twinbill against Minnesota, and it didn’t go so well for the rookie left-hander. Dakota Hudson came back from a rough start last Thursday to post a better one, earning a win thanks to a St. Louis rally against Miami. Brandon Woodruff came back from the injured list for his first start since May 27, and the veteran right-hander was very good in Milwaukee’s win at Tampa Bay. “There’s a reason why hitters talk about his fastball. We saw it tonight,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell told mlb.com. Woodruff threw 76 pitches over five innings, allowing two hits and one run with no walks and 10 punchouts. He reportedly hit 99 on the radar gun several times. Woodruff is now 6-3 with a 4.44 ERA for Milwaukee, which won 5-3 to maintain a 1/2-game lead over St. Louis in the National League Central. The Cardinals beat the Marlins 5-3, scoring four times in the bottom of the fifth. Hudson (6-4, 3.83) worked five, allowing six hits and all three Miami runs. (Ex-Ole Miss standout Nick Fortes knocked in one of those runs.) Pilkington (1-1, 4.31, in nine appearances) gave up four runs on eight hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings in Cleveland’s 6-0 loss to the Twins. The teams split the doubleheader, leaving the Guardians 3 games back of the first-place Twins in the American League Central.

20 Jun

something’s brewing

A three-game home run streak for Hunter Renfroe has coincided with the three-game win streak Milwaukee will take into a big four-game series against National League Central rival St. Louis starting tonight at American Family Field. The teams, both of which feature Mississippi products, are tied atop the division at 38-30. Former Mississippi State star Renfroe, whose 444-foot homer at Cincinnati on Sunday was his first on a Father’s Day since the death of his dad — his “best friend” — last summer, has 13 homers on the season and is batting .250 with 27 RBIs as the prime power source in the Brewers’ lineup. This series will feature some good pitching matchups, including Thursday’s between ex-State standout Dakota Hudson of the Cardinals and Jason Alexander, a 29-year-old Brewers rookie. Hudson, who beat Boston at Fenway on Saturday, is 5-3 with a 3.31 ERA in his first full season after Tommy John surgery. He has never faced Renfroe in the big leagues, and their careers at State did not intersect. Missing from this series, unfortunately, are State product Brandon Woodruff, one of the Brewers’ top starters, and ex-Meridian Community College star Corey Dickerson, a St. Louis outfielder. Both are on the injured list and on rehab assignments. P.S. East Central CC alum Tim Anderson, out roughly three weeks with a groin injury, is expected to return to the Chicago White Sox’s lineup at shortstop today against Toronto. Anderson is batting .356. … Blaze Jordan, the 19-year-old slugger from DeSoto Central High, clubbed two homers as part of a three-hit game Sunday for Boston’s Low-Class A Salem team. Jordan, a second-year pro, is batting .291 with six homers and 37 RBIs in 57 games this season.

19 Jun

rising son

Among the bundle of sons of former major leaguers who have made The Show, there is Ke’Bryan Hayes, whose father, Hattiesburg native Charlie, has from all indications done a great job of guiding him down the proper path. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 25, is a rising star at third base for the Pittsburgh Pirates, a .278 hitter over three seasons with a good blend of power, speed and defensive skills. Earlier this year, the Pirates showed their faith in him with an 8-year, $70 million contract. Charlie Hayes, a Forrest County AHS alum who played in the majors from 1988-2001 (.262, 144 homers), has said he never tried to force baseball on any of his three sons, Ke’Bryan being the youngest. But, “if we were gonna do it, we were gonna try to do it the proper way every single time,” Charlie told espn.com in a recent piece. The lessons worked, as Ke’Bryan was a first-round pick out of a Texas high school in 2015. Off the field, the younger Hayes also seems to handle things the proper way. “He’s an impressive player, especially the way he carries himself,” St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol told The Sporting News. “It’s fun to watch someone who has the combination of skill and, you can tell, just his good character.” Charlie rates some credit for that, as well. P.S. Props to Lucedale native Justin Steele, who threw five solid innings to beat Atlanta and ace Kyle Wright at Wrigley Field on Saturday. It was the first win for the Chicago Cubs lefty since April 9, when he beat Milwaukee and ace Brandon Woodruff. Steele, who has a 1.89 ERA in three June starts, is 2-5, 4.27. … Props also to Mississippi State product Dakota Hudson, who battled for five innings to beat Boston at Fenway Park. The St. Louis right-hander is now 5-3, 3.31, for the first-place Cardinals.

17 Jun

there and here

For what it’s worth — probably not much — 247sports.com predicts that Ole Miss will last just three games in the College World Series, beating Auburn, then losing to Arkansas and Stanford. Saturday’s opener against Auburn does loom large. The teams’ mid-March meeting doesn’t provide much of a gauge. The Rebels won 13-6 and 15-2 (in the rubber game) and lost 19-5. Neither of UM’s emergent aces — Dylan DeLucia and Hunter Elliott — started in that series, though both pitched well in relief in the wins. The Rebels’ pitching depth beyond those two and closer Brandon Johnson, which held up nicely in the regional and Super Regional, will be tested in Omaha. … Up in the Cape Cod League, Kellum Clark is off to a hot start for Wareham. The Mississippi State sophomore from Brandon went 3-for-5 with three doubles and three RBIs in a win on Thursday and is 4-for-10 in three games in the elite summer league. … The slumping Mississippi Braves could use some spark, and there’s a player at High-Class A Rome bidding for a promotion to the Double-A club. Shortstop Vaughn Grissom, a top 10 prospect in Atlanta’s system, is batting .288 with eight homers, 39 RBIs and 12 steals for the R-Braves. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Grissom hit two grand slams in a 4-for-7 effort on Thursday. … MSU alum Jordan Westburg is batting .414 with three homers and nine RBIs in his first seven games for Triple-A Norfolk in Baltimore’s system. Wonder if the awful Orioles might give him a look later this summer? … Meridian Community College product Corey Dickerson went 1-for-3 with a homer for Triple-A Memphis on Thursday in his first rehab assignment for St. Louis. Dickerson was batting .194 for the Cardinals when he injured a hamstring on June 4. … East Central CC product Tim Anderson is 4-for-11 in three games for Triple-A Charlotte on his rehab assignment. Anderson, who went down with a groin injury on May 30, was batting .356 in 40 games for the Chicago White Sox. … Hunter Renfroe is known for his power bat and cannon arm — not his wheels. The ex-State standout, playing for Milwaukee, tried to score from first base on a hit into the right-field corner against the New York Mets on Thursday. Didn’t work out. He was cut down for the second out in the ninth inning of the Brewers’ 5-4 loss at CitiField.

01 Jun

dog day afternoon

In St. Louis, the day belonged to Dakota Hudson. In Cleveland, it was Konnor Pilkington’s time to shine. The former Mississippi State pitchers were brilliant on the bump Wednesday, Hudson beating San Diego with one of his best starts of the year and Pilkington shutting down Kansas City for his first big league win. Hudson (4-2) went seven innings for the Cardinals, allowing one run on four hits in a 5-2 win. At one point, the right-hander retired 18 in a row. “Exactly what we needed,” Cards manager Oliver Marmol told The Associated Press. Pilkington, a rookie making just his sixth appearance, went five innings, allowed no runs on five hits and fanned eight, including the first four batters of the game. The lefty has claimed a spot, at least temporarily, in the Guardians’ rotation. “My stuff plays,” he told the AP after the 4-0 game — and after receiving a beer shower from his teammates. P.S. Former Ole Miss pitcher and big league manager Mickey Callaway, suspended by MLB in May 2021 after allegations of sexual harassment against female media members, has been fired as manager of Acereros de Monclova in the Mexican League. The team was 16-17. Callaway managed the New York Mets in 2018-19 and was fired after posting a 163-161 record. He was working as the Los Angeles Angels’ pitching coach last year when he was handed a suspension that extended through 2022.

27 May

bark in the park

There will be a Dog-fight, of sorts, in St. Louis tonight when the Cardinals send Dakota Hudson to the bump to face Milwaukee and Brandon Woodruff. The big right-handers were teammates at Mississippi State in 2014. Neither had much of an impact on that Bulldogs club — combining for two wins — but are now key pieces of the rotation for their respective MLB teams, keen rivals in the National League Central. Woodruff, from Wheeler, is 5-2 with a 4.76 ERA for the Brewers, who lead the division at 29-16. He is coming off his best start of 2022. Hudson is 3-2, 3.60 for the Cardinals, second at 24-20, and is coming off a shaky start. Woodruff was an 11th-round pick out of Starkville in 2014 and has blossomed in pro ball, making two All-Star teams and putting up a 33-23 overall record in Milwaukee. Hudson went 34th overall in 2016 and rose quickly, making his MLB debut in 2018. He missed most of last season after Tommy John surgery and is 27-12 overall. P.S. Konnor Pilkington, another former MSU star, went 3 1/3 innings on Thursday in his second big league start for Cleveland. The rookie lefty gave up three runs in a game the Guardians eventually won 4-3. … George County High product Justin Steele was charged with seven of the 20 runs Cincinnati scored against the Chicago Cubs in a 20-5 win and fell to 1-5, 5.40. … Ex-Ole Miss standout Mike Mayers, who has a 5.40 ERA as a middle reliever, has been designated for assignment by the Los Angeles Angels. He was an effective pitcher for the club in 2020 and ’21.

09 May

fun while it lasted

On paper, it was a mismatch. On the field, for three innings at least, it was not. George County High product Justin Steele, making just the 15th start of his big league career, cruised into the fourth inning Sunday at Wrigley Field with a 1-0 lead against the Los Angeles Dodgers and ace Walker Buehler. A wonky fourth — two infield hits, two walks, a wild pitch — cost Steele and the Chicago Cubs the lead, and the young left-hander couldn’t answer the bell for the fifth, departing with a thumb injury after his warmup tosses. The Dodgers, with Buehler going seven innings, won the game 7-1. Buehler entered the game, his 100th career start, with a 3-1 record and a 2.12 ERA. Steele was 1-3, 5.50, winless since beating Milwaukee (and fellow Mississippi native Brandon Woodruff) in his first start of 2022. Originally set for a Monday start, Steele found out only hours before ESPN’s Sunday night feature that he’d be getting the ball against the National League’s best team, the one with three MVPs in the lineup. He struck out Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman to start the game and yielded just a lone hit (to Cody Bellinger) through three. The wheels started to come off in the fourth. Steele, 26, battled long and hard — eight years — to reach the big leagues in 2021. He’s now battling to nail down a role with a rebuilding Cubs club, and there certainly have been encouraging signs. P.S. Two other Mississippians made Mother’s Day starts and experienced mixed results. Konnor Pilkington, former Mississippi State standout, made his first career start — fourth appearance — for Cleveland and lasted 3 2/3 innings (two runs allowed) in a game the Guardians won 4-3 against Toronto. Ex-State star Dakota Hudson, having an erratic season for St. Louis, went four innings, yielding five hits, four walks and three runs in a game the Cardinals lost 4-3 to San Francisco.

24 Apr

more like it

Maybe it was good timing, but maybe it was also a good sign for Dakota Hudson, who looked like his old self on Saturday when he pitched St. Louis past Cincinnati. Former Mississippi State star Hudson, not sharp in his first two starts of 2022, threw 6 2/3 shutout innings against the Reds, who lost, 5-0, for the 11th straight time. Hudson (1-1) allowed just two hits, walked four and fanned four at the Great American Ball Park, typically a hitter’s paradise. “It’s big,” he told mlb.com. “I feel like it’s the first of many (wins) to go down the road.” Hudson was the 34th overall pick by the Cardinals out of State in 2016, reached the big leagues in 2018 and was an emergent star before an arm injury — and Tommy John surgery — derailed him in late 2020. He was 23-10 at the time, including a 16-7, 3.35 ERA effort in 2019. He battled back from the injury to make two appearances for the Cards last summer in the heat of the playoff chase. He allowed six runs in seven innings in his first two outings this season. Saturday’s results were much more encouraging. … Meridian Community College product Corey Dickerson, off to a sluggish start (.182) with St. Louis, drove in one of the runs on Saturday. Expect his production to pick up. P.S. Miguel Cabrera joined the exclusive 3,000-hit/500-homer club on Saturday, becoming one of only seven players to reach both of those milestones. Former MSU standout Rafael Palmeiro is one of the seven.

22 Mar

big league chew

Billy Hamilton, the all-time leader in stolen bases among Mississippi natives in MLB, may get a chance to add to his impressive total in 2022, having signed a minor league contract with Seattle on Monday. The former Taylorsville High star, now 31, has played sparingly in recent seasons while bouncing from team to team to team. He doesn’t hit much (.240 career), but he can still run. He was 9-for-9 in steals for the Chicago White Sox last season and has 314 bags since his 2013 debut. And he can still go get it in the outfield; a diving catch he made in the rain last July was one of his all-time best. Don’t be surprised if Hamilton makes the roster with the Mariners, who have designs on the postseason this year. P.S. Corey Dickerson, the Meridian Community College native from McComb, made his St. Louis debut on Monday, going 1-for-2 with a walk as the DH and leadoff batter. Dickerson was a Mark McGwire fan growing up and is wearing Big Mac’s No. 25. The lefty hitter said in recent interviews that he plans to swing more for power this year. He hit just six homers in 336 at-bats in 2021 but has belted as many as 27 in a season (with Tampa Bay in 2017). … Texas beat Cleveland 25-12 Monday in a Cactus League game that lasted 4 hours, 17 minutes and “featured” 42 hits and 14 walks. Mississippi College alum Blaine Crim, playing for Texas, had one of the hits, ex-Mississippi State star Jack Kruger, also with the Rangers, drew one of the walks and Petal High product Demarcus Evans, one of the Rangers’ eight pitchers, allowed three walks and two runs.