Tag Archives: MLB

14 Sep

big league chew

Tony Sipp’s role with Houston might be considered a small one. But it is hardly insignificant – and he has filled it well. With his team down 3-0 on Sunday, the left-handed specialist out of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College struck out lefty-hitting Kole Calhoun of the Los Angeles Angels to start the bottom of the eighth inning. It was the only batter Sipp faced in his first appearance since Aug. 26; he had been shut down with a back ailment. Sipp then watched from the dugout as the Astros scored five runs in the ninth and beat the Angels 5-3. Houston maintained its 1.5-game lead over Texas in the American League West and pushed third-place L.A. 4.5 back. Sipp, who has been effective against righties as well as lefties, has a 2.12 ERA, 10 holds and 51 strikeouts in 46 2/3 innings this season. … Chris Coghlan, the ex-Ole Miss star, had a day on Sunday, going 4-for-5 with a homer (No. 16), an RBI (No. 40) and two runs. But his Chicago Cubs fell to Philadelphia 7-4 and dropped 6.5 games back of St. Louis in the National League Central. … The Cardinals lead second-place Pittsburgh by 2.5 games but suddenly have some concerns, one of which is Lance Lynn. The Ole Miss product is 0-2 and has allowed nine runs in 8 1/3 innings in his last two starts since hurting his ankle. He is 11-10, 3.17 for the year. … St. Louis recalled former Mississippi State catcher Ed Easley over the weekend. He is still seeking his first big-league hit; he is 0-for-2. The minor league veteran hit .251 at Triple-A Memphis this season. … Taylorsville High alum Billy Hamilton got the first steal of his career against Yadier Molina back on Sept. 2, 2013, and was 10-for-10 career against the Cardinals’ Gold Glove catcher – until Sunday. Molina cut Hamilton down during the Cards’ 9-2 win against Cincinnati. Hamilton has an MLB-best 56 steals and now has been caught eight times. … Former Meridian CC and State standout Tyler Moore went 2-for-4 to climb above the Mendoza Line (at .205) as Washington won 5-0 over Miami. But the New York Mets’ wild win over Atlanta kept the Nationals 9.5 games back in the NL East. Yes, that race is over. … Southern Miss product Brian Dozier had a couple of hits in Minnesota’s 5-0 win against the Chicago White Sox, but he has had a rough go of it lately, batting just .213 with three homers and 12 RBIs in his last 30 games. The Twins, just a game back of Texas for the second AL wild card, need Dozier to heat up. He has 27 homers, 70 RBIs and 94 runs for the year.

12 Sep

puttin’ on the hits

While memories of Pete Rose’s record-setting hit are still fresh — the 30th anniversary of No. 4,192 was Friday — here’s a look at the all-time hits leaders among players with various Magnolia State connections. The leader among Mississippi college alumni to play in the major leagues is Rafael Palmeiro, who finished with 3,020 and is one of just four retired players (along with Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray) to have both 3,000 hits and 500 homers. (He is also the only one not in the Hall of Fame, but that’s another story.) For the record, Will Clark, the other half of the Thunder and Lightning duo at Mississippi State, finished with 2,176 hits. Dave Parker leads Mississippi natives with 2,712 hits. Three others from the state are in the 2,000 hit club: Buddy Myer (2,131), Ellis Burks (2,107) and Frank White (2,006). George Scott, with 1,992, came up just short, as did Gee Walker (1,991). Interesting fact: Jeff Francoeur has more career hits (1,289) than fellow former Mississippi Braves star Brian McCann (1,281). Would never have guessed that. Who’s the all-time leader among former Jackson Mets? No, not Darryl Strawberry or Lenny Dykstra. It’s Hubie Brooks with 1,608. Gregg Jefferies is second on that list with 1,593. The highest ranking ex-Jackson Generals player is Bobby Abreu with 2,470. Lance Berkman had 1,905. P.S. Bobby Bradley, the former Harrison Central High star, made Baseball America’s All-Low Class A team as the first baseman. Bradley hit .269 with 27 home runs and 92 RBIs for Lake County in the Cleveland system.

09 Sep

chills and thrills

For the first time in a Washington uniform, Jonathan Papelbon got beat. Across the country, Mitch Moreland, another former Mississippi State star, got Texas rolling toward a big win. Just like that, a lazy Tuesday night in September becomes one to remember. The New York Mets made an amazin’ rally from six runs down to beat Washington 8-7 at Nationals Park and extend their lead in the National League East to 6 games. After his fellow bullpen mates gave up six runs in the seventh, Papelbon, the closer, came on in the eighth and allowed a two-out, go-ahead homer to Kirk Nieuwenhuis. It was the only hit allowed in two innings by Papelbon, who was 1-0 and 6-for-6 in save chances over his first 14 games for the club. “It boils down to one pitch. It basically does. … I made one bad pitch,” he told mlb.com. The Nats can’t afford too many more. Meanwhile, at Seattle’s Safeco Field, Moreland blasted his 19th homer of the year in the second inning to put the Rangers on top and they hit three more bombs en route to a 9-6 win against the Mariners. Texas, which has won seven of 10, now trails Houston, a 4-0 loser to Oakland, by a single game in the American League West. “We are a long ways from where we want to be,” Moreland told mlb.com. Presumably, he means the postseason. Moreland is batting .287 with 69 RBIs. He hit just four homers in July and August combined, but he has scary power that could be a factor as Texas continues its playoff push. P.S. Billy Hamilton and Corey Dickerson were activated from the disabled list on Tuesday. Taylorsville’s Hamilton didn’t play for Cincinnati, and ex-Meridian Community College standout Dickerson went 0-for-1 as a pinch hitter for Colorado. … Ryan Weber, who pitched for the Mississippi Braves this season and in 2014, took the loss in his big league debut for Atlanta despite allowing just two runs in six innings against Philadelphia.

08 Sep

worth noting

In three starts against the Chicago Cubs this season, Ole Miss alum Lance Lynn is 0-3 and has yielded 12 runs in 14 1/3 innings. The St. Louis Cardinals right-hander, 11-6 against everybody else, lasted just 1 2/3 innings against the Cubbies on Monday, giving up seven hits, two walks and six runs in a 9-0 loss. Lynn was pitching on nine days rest. … Former Pillow Academy (and LSU) star Louis Coleman was back in the big leagues on Monday, working a clean inning for Kansas City. It was the first MLB appearance of the year for Coleman, who had eight wins, nine saves and a 1.69 ERA at Triple-A Omaha. His career ERA with the Royals is 3.23 over parts of five seasons. … Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton, the big league steals leader with 54, is expected to be activated today by Cincinnati. He has been out since Aug. 19 with a shoulder injury. Hamilton went 3-for-11 with four runs in a three-game rehab assignment with Double-A Pensacola. … Former Mississippi State standout Jacob Lindgren’s season officially ended when the New York Yankees put the lefty reliever on the 60-day disabled list. Lindgren had elbow surgery in mid-June; he had a 5.14 ERA in seven games as a rookie for the Yankees. … The Double-A Mississippi Braves, who missed the Southern League postseason, finished 69-67 overall and 36-32 in the second half, a game back of Pensacola. Emerson Landoni was the top hitter among players on the final roster with a .297 average. Kevin Ahrens had nine homers and 64 RBIs, Matt Lipka 16 steals. Mallex Smith, promoted at midseason, hit .340 with 23 steals in 57 games. Greg Ross led the team in wins with seven and in ERA (among SL qualifiers) with a 3.99. Tyler Jones posted 16 saves. … Biloxi will host Pensacola on Thursday and Friday in the first two games of the SL South Division best-of-5 series. … East Central Community College product Tim Anderson led the SL (and all of Double-A) with 49 stolen bases.

07 Sep

three’s company

Brian Dozier, the ex-Southern Miss star, hit his 27th home run and scored his 92nd run for Minnesota, which lost to Houston 8-5 on Sunday. Dozier is batting .242 with 69 RBIs and 10 steals. Jarrod Dyson, the Southwest Mississippi Community College product, hit a home run, his second, and got an infield hit in Kansas City’s 7-5 loss to the Chicago White Sox. Dyson is batting .258 with 27 runs and 23 steals. Chris Coghlan, the former Ole Miss standout, went 1-for-4 with a run in the Chicago Cubs’ 6-4 win over Arizona, a game most notable for Kris Bryant’s 495-foot homer. Coghlan is hitting .247 with 15 homers, 36 RBIs, 53 runs and 11 stolen bases. There is a common thread for these three players other than their Mississippi connection. Each one is filling the stat sheet for a team that was not forecast to contend in 2015 but is doing so. The Royals and Cubs appear to be postseason locks, and the Twins are hanging around in the jumbled American League wild card race. There are three compelling MLB series starting today, and all three of the aforementioned players, plus a couple more Mississippians, will be involved. Dyson’s Royals host Dozier’s Twins; Coghlan’s Cubs visit St. Louis, where today they’ll face UM product Lance Lynn (11-8, 2.80 ERA), who’ll make his first start since hurting his ankle on Aug. 29; and Washington, with Mississippi State alum Tyler Moore back on duty, hosts the New York Mets. P.S. The Mississippi Braves were eliminated from Southern League postseason contention on Sunday when they lost at Jacksonville and Pensacola beat Mobile.

06 Sep

eleven

In recognition of the Atlanta Braves’ 11 straight losses, here are some significant contributions made on Saturday by 11 former Mississippi Braves no longer playing for Atlanta:

1. Alex Wood threw seven shutout innings for the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 2-0 win against San Diego.
2. Gregor Blanco went 2-for-4 with a home run for San Francisco in a 7-3 win over Colorado.
3. Charlie Morton allowed one earned run in six innings for Pittsburgh in a 4-1 loss to St. Louis.
4. Yunel Escobar scored one of Washington’s runs in the Nationals’ 8-2 drubbing of the Braves.
5. Chasen Shreve threw a scoreless inning for the New York Yankees.
6. Randall Delgado threw a scoreless inning for Arizona.
7. Jeff Francoeur went 1-for-4 with a run for Philadelphia.
8. Martin Prado had a hit for Miami.
9. Evan Gattis got a hit for Houston.
10. Erik Cordier worked two scoreless innings for the Marlins.
11. Jarrod Saltalamacchia went 1-for-3 for the Diamondbacks.

Note that Jason Heyward went 0-for-4 for St. Louis, which has the best record in baseball; Brian McCann went 0-for-1 as a pinch hitter for the Yankees; Jesus Sucre didn’t have a hit but was behind the plate for Felix Hernandez’s 16th win for Seattle; and J.J. Hoover, who has a 2.14 ERA for Cincinnati, allowed a run and took a loss, his first of 2015. Among those who didn’t play were Craig Kimbrel, Tommy LaStella, Sean Gilmartin, Kris Medlen, Luis Avilan, Jose Peraza and Phil Gosselin.

04 Sep

that’s gotta hurt

It’ll be interesting to see how the Mississippi Braves bounce back from Thursday’s jolting defeat. First place in the Southern League South was in their grasp, but the M-Braves could not hold it, fumbling away a four-run lead in the 10th inning at Jacksonville. With four games left in the regular season, the M-Braves (35-30) remain a half-game back of first-place Pensacola, which also lost on Thursday. The second-half champ will play first-half winner Biloxi in the division series. The M-Braves showed some grit against the Suns. Lucas Sims threw seven strong innings. Rio Ruiz hit a home run. Kevin Ahrens’ two-out hit in the ninth tied the score 2-2. Big hits by Matt Lipka and Emerson Landoni helped the M-Braves bolt ahead 6-2 in the top of the 10th. Tyler Jones, who has a team-best 16 saves and entered with a sub-3.00 ERA, was summoned to close it out. Two walks, two hits and two runs later, he was out of the game. Jorge Reyes came on, fell behind 2-0 to SL All-Star David Adams and then surrendered a game-ending three-run homer. Ouch. Game 2 of the five-game series is tonight. P.S. Former Mississippi State star Tyler Moore returned from the disabled list and went 1-for-2 as Washington, chasing an MLB postseason berth, demolished Atlanta 15-1. Meridian Community College product Corey Dickerson is 3-for-9 in two Triple-A rehab games and could return to Colorado’s active roster soon. Ex-Taylorsville High star Billy Hamilton, on the DL with a shoulder injury, is throwing and may start a rehab assignment this weekend for Cincinnati.

02 Sep

random numbers

7 – Outfield assists for Jarrod Dyson, the Southwest Mississippi Community College product who got another on Tuesday for Kansas City in just his 61st game.
5 – Triples for Seth Smith, the Ole Miss alum who legged one out for Seattle; he now has 31 career triples and 20 career stolen bases.
20 – Home runs this season, at two levels of the minors, by Hunter Renfroe, the former Mississippi State star who went deep for Triple-A El Paso (San Diego system).
8 – Number of Mississippians (natives or college alums) currently on the MLB disabled list.
3 – Mississippians in the minors assigned to the initial rosters for the Arizona Fall League: State alum Adam Frazier (Pittsburgh system), Ole Miss product Stuart Turner (Minnesota) and ex-Richton High star JaCoby Jones (Detroit).
50 – Runs for Chris Coghlan, the ex-Ole Miss standout who scored one in the Chicago Cubs’ 5-4 win over Cincinnati.
68 – RBIs by Brian Dozier, the former Southern Miss star who picked up a couple for Minnesota and is three shy of his career-high.
3 – Home runs allowed, in 10 big league appearances, by David Goforth, the UM product who gave up a pair for Milwaukee against Pittsburgh.
9 – Hits in big league games by former Mississippi Braves no longer playing for Atlanta; included were homers by Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Phil Gosselin of Arizona.
3 – Hits by former M-Braves currently playing for Atlanta, two by Freddie Freeman, the other by Daniel Castro. The Braves lost to Miami 7-1, their 14th loss in 15 games.
38 — Wins, vs. 57 losses, for Dan Jennings, the USM and William Carey alum who took over as Miami manager in mid-May. Reports are that Jennings will return to GM duties in 2016.

28 Aug

into the wild

Joey Butler celebrated his return to The Show with a couple of hits, a game-tying RBI and the go-ahead run in Tampa Bay’s 5-4 win over Minnesota, which had won six straight. Pascagoula native Butler was recalled by the Rays on Thursday when Itawamba Community College alum Desmond Jennings went back on the disabled list. The Twins, along with the Rays two of the eight American League teams (excluding current division leaders) within 5 games of a wild card, got a 1-for-3 effort from ex-Southern Miss star Brian Dozier, who scored his 87th run. … In another battle of AL playoff contenders, Mississippi State product Mitch Moreland went 1-for-4 with an RBI (No. 67) to help Texas to a 4-1 victory over Toronto, the AL East Division leader managed by former Jackson Mets catcher John Gibbons. … Former State star Buck Showalter’s Baltimore club, another playoff hopeful, fell to AL Central leader Kansas City 5-3. Southwest Mississippi CC’s Jarrod Dyson had a tough day for ex-JaxMets star Ned Yost’s Royals: 0-for-4 with an error (just his second of the year). … In the slightly less crazy National League, Washington, which was supposed to run away with the East Division title, kept pace (though still 6.5 games out) with the first-place New York Mets by holding off San Diego 4-2. Former State standout Jonathan Papelbon notched his fourth save for the Nationals but yielded a run, a hit, a walk and a balk in his one inning. … Ex-JaxMets skipper Clint Hurdle’s Pittsburgh Pirates grinded out a 2-1 win over Miami and tightened their grip on the first NL wild card spot. The Chicago Cubs lost 9-1 to San Francisco, another postseason contender, and dropped 4 games back of the Bucs, who are trying to keep NL Central leader St. Louis in range. … September is coming, and it’s only going to get better for MLB fans.

19 Aug

speed demons

Speed is good. Speed never slumps. Mississippi natives Billy Hamilton and Jarrod Dyson, two of the fastest players in the game, showed the value of speed in Tuesday night’s Kansas City-Cincinnati game, won by the Royals 3-1 in 13 innings. With the score tied 1-1 in the 11th, Reds center fielder Hamilton sprinted into right-center field and made a diving stop of a ball headed for the gap, then threw out Alcides Escobar at second base for the first out of the inning. In the 13th, the Royals’ Dyson scored the go-ahead run from first base after Reds pitcher Ryan Matheus threw Kris Medlen’s bunt down the right-field line. Hamilton also stole his MLB-leading 54th base; Dyson, not a regular for KC, got No. 23. (Hard as it is to believe, both also grounded into double plays.) P.S. There was a show of power, too. Ole Miss alumni Chris Coghlan and Seth Smith went deep, Coghlan hitting No. 14 on the year in the Chicago Cubs’ 10-8 loss to Detroit and Smith No. 10 in Seattle’s 3-2 win against Texas. Southern Miss product Brian Dozier still leads the all-Mississippi home run derby with 25, followed by ex-Mississippi State standout Mitch Moreland with 17.