Tag Archives: Padres

10 May

scatter shots

The Mississippi Braves, starting to make a move (perhaps) in the Southern League South, settle in tonight at Trustmark Park for a 10-game homestand. The M-Braves have won 10 of 14 to climb to 17-17. Prized prospect J.R. Graham (0-1, 2.42) goes to the mound against Montgomery. Pitching has carried the club. The M-Braves rank third in the SL in ERA and fourth in WHIP. Williams Perez, 22-year-old right-hander from Venezuela, has been a rotation revelation with a 1.50 ERA (but just a 2-3 record). Aaron Northcraft is 3-1, 2.82, David Bromberg 1-2, 2.01, Jason Hursh 2-2, 3.41. Closer Shae Simmons has eight saves and 1.13 with 21 strikeouts in 16 innings. Shortstop Elmer Reyes continues to rake at .347 with 16 RBIs, and M-Braves vet Mycal Jones has three homers in 13 games since rejoining the club. … Looking for some offense, St. Louis called up Pascagoula native Joey Butler, who was batting .360 with four home runs at Triple-A Memphis. The former ’Goula High and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College standout, who debuted with Texas in 2013, didn’t play Friday. Maybe he should have: The Cardinals went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and lost to Pittsburgh 6-4. … Mississippi State product Paul Maholm fell to 1-3 in his six starts for Los Angeles as San Francisco beat the Dodgers 3-1. Maholm allowed three runs on three hits (one homer) and four walks in 5 2/3 innings. The left-hander’s ERA is now 4.71. He may not keep his spot in the rotation much longer. … Milwaukee recently re-signed Tim Dillard, the former Itawamba CC star from Saltillo. The 12-year pro, who has some big league time, is currently in Triple-A. … Good sign for Chris Coghlan? The Ole Miss alum got a ninth-inning hit off Atlanta closer Craig Kimbrel on Friday and scored the game-tying run for Chicago. Alas, the hapless Cubs lost in the 10th (on yet another clutch hit by former M-Braves star Freddie Freeman). … Ex-UM standout Seth Smith was robbed of his third homer on Friday night in San Diego, but he did get three hits in the Padres’ 10-1 win over Miami and raised his average to .309. … Belhaven University is really good at home: an eye-popping 31-4 this season. But the Blazers, hosting the NAIA’s Jackson Bracket at Smith-Wills Stadium, aren’t the top seed in the regional. That would be Oklahoma Wesleyan, which brings a 52-6 record and a No. 3 national ranking to town. Belhaven (40-19) plays Oklahoma City in Monday’s second game, after Sterling and Houston-Victoria tangle in the opener. The winner of the latter gets Oklahoma Wesleyan in Monday’s late game.

08 May

ups and downs

The new job seems to be working out fine for Seth Smith. The former Hillcrest Christian and Ole Miss star, in his first year with San Diego, is batting .344 over his last 10 games and is at .295 for the year with two homers and seven RBIs. He batted .253 last season in Oakland. … Mississippi State product Tyler Moore, batting .200 in limited work for Washington, has been sent down to Triple-A Syracuse to make room on the roster for pitcher Doug Fister, coming off the disabled list. … Meridian Community College alumnus Corey Dickerson went 1-for-4 with two RBIs in Colorado’s 9-2 thumping of Texas on Wednesday. He is batting .348 with two homers and seven RBIs as a part-time outfielder. … Ex-MCC star Cliff Lee allowed six runs in 6 1/3 innings as Philadelphia lost to Toronto 10-0. Lee’s record dipped to 3-3 and his ERA jumped to 3.64. … Southwest Mississippi CC product Jarrod Dyson contributed a hit, two walks and a run and Schlater native Louis Coleman threw a scoreless inning in Kansas City’s 8-0 win over San Diego. Dyson is batting .286; Coleman, who has been scuffling, dropped his ERA to 6.30. … Billy Hamilton, the ex-Taylorsville High star, did not play in Cincinnati’s 3-2 loss to Boston. He has made just two appearances — no starts — since hurting his left hand on May 1. Ole Miss alum Zack Cozart took an 0-fer for the Reds and is batting just .200 despite a recent hot streak (.314 over his last 10). … Former Southern Miss star Brian Dozier picked up a couple of RBIs — he has 14 for the season — in Minnesota’s 4-3 loss to Cleveland.

27 Apr

kings of swing

Nomination for Understatement of the Year, College Edition: “We swung the bats well today.” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco made that comment today moments after the No. 12 Rebels produced 17 hits and beat nationally ranked Kentucky 18-5 in Lexington. Yes, 17 hits and 18 runs qualifies as swinging the bats well. Auston Bousfield, having an amazing season, went 5-for-6 with a home run, six RBIs and three runs. For the year, the junior from Florida is at .363 with five homers, 34 RBIs and 38 runs. The Rebels got three more homers in today’s win, from Will Allen, J.B. Woodman and Sikes Orvis. Orvis homered for the second straight day and now has 11 bombs for the year. Yes, the Rebels also swung the bats well on Friday, getting 15 hits in a 12-4 victory. They are 32-12, 12-8 SEC, heading into Sunday’s series finale. Chances are they’ll swing the bats well again. P.S. Former Ole Miss star Seth Smith, now with the San Diego Padres, missed a second straight game today because of a groin injury. Smith has been swinging the bat well, so to speak, hitting .313 over his last 10 games before the injury. He’s at .277 for the year. Smith homered in his first at-bat as a Padre back on March 31 but has hit just one since.

30 Mar

big sunday

The state’s Big 3 Division I schools find themselves in very different positions heading into series finales today. Ole Miss seeks to avoid a sweep at Alabama; Mississippi State will play a rubber game against Arkansas at Dudy Noble Field; and Southern Miss goes for the sweep at Florida Atlantic. Worth noting, too, is a doubleheader in Lorman, where Jackson State will try to rebound from a 4-3 loss to struggling Alcorn State in Saturday’s SWAC series opener. Ole Miss, coming off a thumping by USM at Trustmark Park in Pearl last Tuesday, saw ace Chris Ellis (0.67 ERA) get KO’d early by Alabama in a 7-6 loss on Friday, then fell 6-5 in 10 innings on Saturday. The Rebels, ranked ninth, are now 21-7, 4-4 SEC. State, ranked 13th, moved to 5-3 in the league and 19-10 overall by beating Arkansas 5-1 in Game 2 on Saturday after dropping Game 1 of the twinbill 4-0. USM clinched its third straight Conference USA series win with a 5-2 over Florida Atlantic on Saturday. The Golden Eagles won the opener 2-0 on Friday. USM has won four straight games overall to reach 15-12 and 6-2 C-USA. P.S. Jackson native and Ole Miss alum Seth Smith hit his first homer of the spring in San Diego’s last exhibition game on Saturday. The left-handed hitting Smith, batting .325 with seven RBIs in his first camp with the Padres, should see plenty of playing time early on, though he may sit in tonight’s opener against Los Angeles Dodger lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu. The Padres put Carlos Quentin on the disabled list — where he joins Cameron Maybin — and sent Kyle Blanks to Triple-A, reducing the crowd in their outfield. Smith is one of five on the opening day roster.

26 Mar

on the move

Tyler Moore will start the 2014 season at Triple-A Syracuse, having been sent down Tuesday by the Washington Nationals. Moore, who played at Northwest Rankin High, Meridian Community College and Mississippi State, is a .241 career hitter with 14 home runs and 50 RBIs over parts of two seasons with the Nationals. The right-handed hitting Moore can play first base or the outfield and has power that Washington, the favorite in the National League East, surely will find use for later in this season. … Former Mississippi Braves standout Jeff Francoeur has signed a minor league deal with San Diego. Francoeur had a good spring with Cleveland but was cut last week. If you’re keeping score, Francoeur has now gone from the Braves to the Mets to the Rangers to the Royals to the Giants to the Indians to the Padres. He’s a good guy and a lot of people are hoping he’ll get some more big league time.

04 Mar

taking a position

Cameron Maybin’s arm injury may mean more playing time for Seth Smith in San Diego’s outfield. Maybin, the Padres’ erstwhile center fielder, reportedly could be out until June. If Will Venable shifts from right to center, which seems likely, former Ole Miss star Smith and Chris Denorfia could form a nice lefty-righty platoon in right field. San Diego has Carlos Quentin slotted for left field, with Kyle Blanks and utilityman Alexi Amarista also vying for playing time somewhere in the outfield. Smith, acquired from Oakland in an off-season trade, batted .253 with eight homers in 2013. P.S. If a hot start in the spring is a good omen, then these guys should be smiling: Southern Miss product Brian Dozier (5-for-7 for Minnesota); Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton (3-for-9 with two steals for Cincinnati); Southwest Mississippi Community College alum Jarrod Dyson (3-for-5 with three walks for Kansas City); Ole Miss product Zack Cozart (5-for-9 for the Reds); ex-Meridian CC star Corey Dickerson (5-for-10 for Colorado); former Jackson Generals right-hander Freddy Garcia (five scoreless innings in two starts for Atlanta); future Mississippi Braves outfielder Matt Lipka (4-for-12 with four RBIs for the big Braves); and ex-M-Braves star Jeff Francoeur (2-for-3 today with two RBIs for Cleveland).

01 Feb

sipp catches on

Tony Sipp, the former Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College star from Pascagoula, has signed a minor league contract with San Diego and will go to big league camp with the Padres later this month, according to a variety of reports. Sipp, a 30-year-old power left-hander, has a career 3.84 ERA, though he slipped last season to a 4.78 with Arizona. He would appear to have a good chance of making San Diego’s roster, which isn’t overrun with lefty relievers.

04 Dec

new digs for mr. smith

Seth Smith is on the move again, this time via trade from Oakland to San Diego, where there is the promise of more at-bats than the ex-Ole Miss star got in 2013. The Padres, who have an abundance of outfielders, were seeking another left-handed hitter. Smith, a corner outfielder who got most of his 368 ABs last year against right-handers, batted .253 with eight homers and 40 RBIs, a rather lackluster stat line. He hit 14 homers for the A’s in 2012 and has 73 for his career, with a high of 17 in 2010. That was in Colorado, home to the best hitter’s park in MLB. Oakland’s O.Co Coliseum is a pitcher’s park, and San Diego’s Petco Park is even more pitcher-friendly. Bottom line: The 2014 season could be challenging for Smith, who may be battling for playing time with Carlos Quentin, Cameron Maybin, Will Venable and Chris Denorfia. Venable is the only other lefty swinger in that mix.