Tag Archives: Rays

27 Sep

the night for three dogs

One former Mississippi State standout was hunting a playoff berth on Friday night, while two others were playing spoiler roles in the American League East title race. Nathaniel Lowe and the Boston Red Sox accomplished their mission, clinching an AL wild card, but Lowe’s fellow former Bulldogs Jordan Westburg and Jake Mangum could not spark upsets for Baltimore and Tampa Bay, respectively. Lowe, who joined the Red Sox in mid-August, went 1-for-2 with a sac fly as Boston rallied from three runs down to beat Detroit 4-3 on Ceddanne Rafaela’s walk-off triple in the ninth inning. Fenway Park went nuts. The BoSox are back in the postseason for the first time in four years — and, yes, they celebrated, champagne showers and all. “Just a total team effort. That was fun to watch,” Boston manager Alex Cora told mlb.com. Meanwhile, at Yankee Stadium, Westburg gave the Orioles an early lead with a three-run homer off Will Warren, the Jackson Prep product, but the Yankees powered their way to an 8-4 win. Warren (9-8) got the W as New York remained tied atop the AL East with Toronto, which beat Tampa Bay 4-2 at Rogers Centre. Rookie Mangum, batting .299 on the year, went 1-for-3 for the Rays, who briefly led early on. Toronto holds the tiebreaker over New York. Two games left for both. … In the National League wild card battle, Cincinnati rallied past host Milwaukee — the NL’s best team, record-wise — for a 3-1 win and is now tied with the New York Mets, who crumbled against Miami, losing 6-2. The Reds have won seven of 10. “There are things that are happening with the Reds right now that make you think they are destined for the postseason,” Reds broadcaster Jeff Brantley, the former MSU star, said during the game. The Reds hold the tiebreaker over the Mets for the final wild card. Two games left for both. P.S. On this date in 1935, Hughie Critz, one of Mississippi’s all-time best, played the final game of a 12-year career. The 5-foot-8 Starkville native, who attended MSU when it was called Mississippi A&M, hit .268 with 531 RBIs and 832 runs, playing for the Reds and the New York Giants. … Greenville native George Scott, another of the state’s greats, played his last MLB game on this date in 1979. “Boomer” hit .268 with 271 homers and 1,051 RBIs in 14 seasons; he spent most of his career with the Red Sox. He would play on in Mexico until 1984.

04 Sep

rays on rise

Suddenly, the Tampa Bay Rays are the hottest team in the big leagues. And one of their hottest hitters is Jake Mangum, the rookie outfielder out of Mississippi State. The Rays take a six-game win streak into tonight’s home game vs. Cleveland. They’ve climbed over .500 (70-69), past the Guardians, and are tied for fifth in the American League wild card standings, just 2.5 games out of a postseason berth. “Vibes are up,” right-hander Adrian Houser, former Biloxi Shuckers ace who won his eighth game on Wednesday against Seattle, told mlb.com. Mangum’s vibe is seemingly always up. “He’s always on go,” Rays manager Kevin Cash recently told the Tampa Bay Times. “The effort is never questioned.” The Jackson Prep grad — the Rays’ Heart and Hustle Award winner for 2025 — had three hits and an RBI in Wednesday’s 9-4 win vs. the Mariners. He is hitting .483 over his last seven games, .356 over his last 15. On the season, he is at .293 with 21 stolen bases. An excellent defensive outfielder, Mangum has yet to make an error, has chalked up five assists and routinely shows up on the highlight reels with diving catches. Also making contributions for Tampa Bay is Nick Fortes, the veteran catcher out of Ole Miss. The Rays, looking to upgrade their defense, traded for him in July. He has two homers, seven RBIs and six runs in 20 games with the club. Keeping the vibes up will be a challenge for the Rays, whose remaining schedule is tough. It includes four games with Cleveland, three with the Chicago Cubs, seven with Toronto and three with Boston. All, like Tampa Bay, are chasing playoff spots.

02 Sep

dynamic duo

A tag team of former Magnolia State rivals played leading roles in Tampa Bay’s beatdown of playoff-contender Seattle on Monday night. Ex-Ole Miss star Nick Fortes and former Mississippi State standout Jake Mangum combined for five hits, four runs, three RBIs and a stolen base as the Rays claimed a 10-2 victory against the visiting Mariners. Fortes, who has not been much of an offensive contributor since the Rays acquired him in July, delivered a jarring blow early, a three-run homer in the second inning. A .218 hitter, catcher Fortes has four homers, two with Tampa Bay. Best known for his defense, he threw out a Seattle runner trying to steal. Mangum, the rookie outfielder, banged out three hits to raise his average to .291, scored a run (on Fortes’ homer) and stole a base, his 21st. The fall left the Mariners with a 73-65 record, second in the American League West and third in the wild card standings. The Rays haven’t yet tapped out — they’ve won four straight — but at 68-69, their playoff hopes have faded. P.S. Ole Miss alum Ryan Rolison, back with Colorado as a September call-up, worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings Monday in an 8-2 loss to San Francisco. The lefty — a rookie at 28 — trimmed his ERA to 7.15. … Boston’s Aroldis Chapman registered his 28th save on Monday with a 1-2-3 ninth and ran his remarkable streak of consecutive batters faced without yielding a hit to 46. MLB Network displayed a list of the longest such streaks since 2019 and ex-Ole Miss star Mike Mayers was No. 2 with 48 back in 2020. Mayers, who had an ERA of 5.21 in eight seasons, had a career year in 2020 for the Los Angeles Angels, putting up a 2.10 ERA in 30 relief appearances. … Today is Garrett Crochet day in Boston, where the Ocean Springs native and Red Sox ace will go for his 15th win against Cleveland. Crochet is 14-5 with a 2.40 ERA and is 10-1 in his last 15 starts. With the 6-4 win on Labor Day, Boston (77-62) is just 2.5 games behind Toronto in the AL East.

01 Sep

upward mobility

Miami brass decided to give Kemp Alderman a look at the Triple-A level, and they surely liked what they saw in his Sunday debut. After striking out in his first two at-bats, the Ole Miss product from Decatur hit a two-run homer in his third, helping Jacksonville beat Rochester 6-5. The radio broadcaster for the Jumbo Shrimp described Alderman’s homer as “a 414-foot missile to center field” at Vystar Ballpark in Jacksonville. Alderman, 23, hit .282 with 15 homers, 53 RBIs and 20 steals at Double-A Pensacola this season, his second full year in pro ball. He hit 31 homers in his three years in Oxford and won the Ferriss Trophy in 2023 on the heels of a huge offensive season. Miami drafted him in the second round that summer. Power is his top tool — scouting reports compare him to Hunter Renfroe — but oddly enough he went 28 games into his pro career in 2023 before going deep. Challenged at the Double-A level last summer, Alderman homered in his second game. He is Miami’s No. 11 prospect by MLB Pipeline. … Colton Ledbetter, also a second-round pick — out of Mississippi State — in 2023, might be in line for a promotion at Double-A Montgomery in the Tampa Bay system. The lefty-hitting leadoff batter, 23, went 2-for-6 with two RBIs, two runs and his 34th steal for the Biscuits on Sunday in a win against Biloxi. A sluggish August has dropped his average to .264, but he has a .342 OBP with six homers, 40 RBIs and 63 runs in 113 games as a firestarter for the Biscuits. He is ranked as Tampa Bay’s No. 18 prospect. P.S. Three pitchers with Mississippi ties went to the bump as starters in the big leagues on Sunday. Collectively, they went 0-2, allowing 19 hits, eight walks and 14 runs (11 earned) with 19 strikeouts in 16 innings. To be fair, Atlanta’s Hurston Waldrep — who played two seasons at Southern Miss before transferring to Florida — pitched well, allowing a lone run to Philadelphia over 5 2/3 innings. He got a no-decision in a game the Braves ultimately won. MSU alums Brandon Woodruff (5-2) and J.T. Ginn (2-6) got battered around for Milwaukee and the A’s, respectively. … Toronto moved former USM star Nick Sandlin (elbow injury) to the 60-day injured list, possibly ending his season. … MLB rosters can expand today — by two — possibly opening spots for some Mississippians in the minors.

23 Aug

reverse course

Nobody can honestly say they saw this coming. In four games with Boston, ex-Mississippi State star Nathaniel Lowe is 3-for-10 with a homer, two doubles, four RBIs and three runs. On Friday night, he whacked a pinch-hit double in the seventh inning and scored the game’s only run as the Red Sox beat the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. He drove in two runs in Thursday’s 6-3 victory. When he was released by Washington on Aug. 14, Lowe had a .216 average; he had hit .205 with two homers in July and .091 with one in August. The Red Sox, with a need for a lefty-hitting first baseman, snapped him up, and Lowe, 30, seems reinvigorated by the move to a contending club. He is a .263 career hitter with 106 homers over seven seasons and a Silver Slugger award on his resume. “(S)o far, so good,” Boston manager Alex Cora said in an mlb.com piece. “He’s been great coming off the bench, twice, putting up good at-bats. He’s a good defender, and it seems like he’s happy.” After Friday’s win, Boston’s seventh straight over New York, the Sawx are now second and leading the Bombers by a half-game in the American League East and atop the wild card standings. Might Red Sox fans look back on the Lowe signing as a seminal moment in this season? Worth noting: The last time the Red Sox won the World Series — 2018 — they had a Mississippi State alum playing first base — Mitch Moreland. And stay tuned: Game 3 of this four-game series today matches Ocean Springs’ Garrett Crochet against Brandon’s Will Warren. The stadium should be at fever pitch. … Meanwhile, at a more subdued Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, another former MSU standout had a big night. Jake Mangum went 4-for-5 with two doubles, two RBIs, a run and a stolen base as the Tampa Bay Rays whipped St. Louis 10-6. The Jackson Prep grad, who’s also been slumping of late, boosted his average to .283 with the third four-hit game of his rookie season. He has contributed two homers, 14 doubles, 34 RBIs, 32 runs and 20 steals in 90 games for a Rays team that, at 62-67, has tumbled out of the playoff picture. P.S. Former Mississippi Braves star William Contreras hit his first career walk-off homer Friday to give Milwaukee yet another victory, its 20th in 25 games, 5-4 against San Francisco. … Snake-bit Baltimore put MSU product Jordan Westburg on the injured list again, this time with an ankle sprain. … Arizona named Tim Bogar, former Jackson Mets shortstop back in the ’80s, as its new third-base coach. … In the minors, Southern Miss alum Matthew Etzel banged out three hits and is now batting .423 with five RBIs, five runs and four steals in six games since Miami promoted him to Triple-A Jacksonville.

14 Aug

positive signs

Blaze Jordan, the former DeSoto Central High star, hit his first home run for Memphis — 13th overall in 2025 — as part of a 2-for-5, four-RBI performance in the Triple-A Redbirds’ 14-5 win Wednesday night against Charlotte. Jordan, recently traded to St. Louis by Boston, has four hits in his last two games after a sluggish start for Memphis. His homer came against erstwhile big leaguer Bryse Wilson. Jordan, the Cardinals’ No. 18 prospect, is batting .292 with 71 RBIs on the year. … Madison Central alum Braden Montgomery, the No. 1 prospect in the Chicago White Sox’s system, went 2-for-4 with a double for Birmingham and boosted his average for the Double-A club to .278 in 14 games. He is hitting .271 with 12 homers and 61 RBIs over three levels in his first pro season. … Mason Nichols, a 2025 draftee out of Ole Miss and a Jackson Prep grad, threw a clean inning in his pro debut for Low-Class A Charleston in the Tampa Bay chain. He worked the sixth and got a hold in the RiverDogs’ 3-2 win against Hickory. … Ex-Mississippi State star Brandon Woodruff tossed four scoreless innings in a scheduled short start as Milwaukee won its 12th straight, 12-5 over Pittsburgh. The Brewers are 7-0 in Woodruff’s starts; his ERA is 2.06. … Nathaniel Lowe, an MSU product, belted his first career grand slam, a first-inning bomb that helped propel Washington to an 8-7 win at Kansas City. The scuffling Lowe, who has 16 homers on the season, had not hit one since July 19 and is batting just .091 in August. … Former State standout Jake Mangum, also battling a slump, had an RBI knock, stole a base — his 17th — and scored during Tampa Bay’s four-run first inning against the A’s (and fellow Bulldogs alum J.T. Ginn). The Rays rolled on to an 8-2 victory at West Sacramento. Rookie Mangum is batting just .163 in his last 15 games but is at .275 overall. … And in the wild, wild Pioneer League, Kellum Clark, an MSU product from Brandon, went 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs to pace Rocky Mountain to a 16-1 win vs. Oakland. Clark is batting .386 with nine homers, 50 RBIs and 50 runs in 40 games in the independent league. He was released by the New York Mets last year after two seasons in their system.

07 Aug

caught up in middle

Games aren’t always saved in the ninth inning. Middle relievers frequently work on the razor’s edge. Drew Pomeranz, the 36-year-old left-hander out of Ole Miss, faced such a situation on Wednesday with the Chicago Cubs. He came on in the sixth with the Cubs holding a one-run lead, a runner on base, two outs and the dangerous Elly De La Cruz up for Cincinnati. Pomeranz struck him out on four pitches. And his job was done. Rookie starter Cade Horton would get the win. Pomeranz was credited with a hold, his ninth in 38 appearances, and reduced his ERA to 1.97. He also has a save and two wins on his 2025 ledger. The Cubs used three more relievers, added on some runs and won 6-1 at Wrigley Field. Take 2: In Washington, Konnor Pilkington, the ex-Mississippi State standout, got the call in the fifth inning, two on, one out and the Nationals locked in a scoreless battle with the A’s. Pilkington struck out Nick Kurtz, pitched around Brent Rooker and got J.J. Bleday on a ground ball to end the inning. The lefty went back out for the sixth and gave up a tie-breaking solo homer to Tyler Soderstrom — the first he has allowed in eight appearances — before getting two outs and departing for another reliever. The Nationals tied the score in the bottom of the sixth and went on to win 2-1 via a walk-off hit. Pilkington, called up just last month, has been an effective pitcher in clutch situations though he has no wins, saves or holds. He has inherited seven baserunners and not allowed one to score in his 7 2/3 innings of work; he has put up a 2.35 ERA for a last-place team. P.S. Ole Miss alum Nick Fortes got his first hit — a home run — in his sixth game for Tampa Bay since joining the club in a trade on July 29. The Rays, with Fortes behind the plate, beat the Los Angeles Angels 5-4. … Philadelphia has claimed UM product Jacob Waguespack off waivers from Tampa Bay and assigned the right-hander to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He has been on the injured list since late May. Waguespack, who has a 5.11 ERA in 31 career MLB games, had pitched well (0.46) in the minors this year.

31 Jul

just stuff

The St. Louis Cardinals, in the process of trading away big league pitchers, have added a couple of Mississippi products to their farm system. Former DeSoto Central High star Blaze Jordan was acquired from Boston as part of a deal for Steven Matz and ex-Mississippi State standout Nate Dohm was picked up from the New York Mets in the Ryan Helsley trade. Corner infielder Jordan, Boston’s No. 17 prospect (MLB Pipeline), is batting .308 with 12 homers and 62 RBIs between Double-A and Triple-A. Dohm, a hard-throwing right-hander drafted in the third round in 2024, is 3-5 with a 2.87 ERA as a starter in A-ball. He was the Mets’ No. 14 prospect. … Also on the move on Wednesday was veteran third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, traded from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati. Hayes is the son of Hattiesburg native and ex-big leaguer Charlie Hayes. The trade deadline is today at 5 p.m. CDT. … Mississippi college products Brent Rooker (23), Matt Wallner (13) and Jordan Westburg (12) all went deep in MLB games on Wednesday, and in his first game on a rehab assignment in Triple-A, Tim Elko hit his 17th minor league bomb. He has four big league homers. … Cool Moment, Take 2: Former Jackson Prep teammates Jake Mangum and Will Warren faced off for the second time this season in the Tampa Bay-New York Yankees game. Warren struck out Mangum in Wednesday’s first confrontation, then Mangum got an infield hit in the second. Mangum also got an infield hit off Warren back in April. Warren (4.64 ERA) allowed one run is six innings but got a no-decision in a game the Yankees won in extra innings. Mangum (.288) was 1-for-5 with a highlight-reel catch. … MSU product Konnor Pilkington from Pascagoula has thrown six scoreless innings with seven strikeouts since Washington called him up on July 22. … At Trustmark Park in Pearl, former St. Andrew’s standout Banks Tolley homered for visiting Schaumburg, but Brayland Skinner and Kasten Furr combined for nine RBIs as the Mississippi Mud Monsters took a 14-9 victory in the Frontier League contest.

29 Jul

on the move

Former Madison Central High standout Braden Montgomery has been promoted to Double-A Birmingham in the Chicago White Sox’s system. The 12th overall pick last year (out of Texas A&M by Boston), the 22-year-old Montgomery, a switch-hitting outfielder, hit .269 with 11 homers, 57 RBIs, 50 runs and 11 stolen bases over two levels of A-ball. He is the ChiSox’s No. 2 prospect and No. 26 overall in the minors, per MLB Pipeline. … Michael Fowler, a Southern Miss product, has signed with the Milwaukee Brewers, the independent Mississippi Mud Monsters announced. Fowler, who only recently joined the Mud-sters’ roster, went 2-1 with a 1.92 ERA in seven games, striking out 15 in 9 1/3 innings. This is his first pro season. … Will Verdung, the MACCC’s player of the year for 2023 at Itawamba Community College, has been placed on the injured list at High-Class A Rome by the Atlanta Braves. The third baseman is batting .279 with no homers and 22 RBIs. Verdung mashed 25 homers in two years at ICC and went deep in his first pro at-bat in 2023 but has hit just two homers since. … Oak Grove outfielder Eric Booth Jr., Magnolia Heights infielder Cole Prosek and Jackson Prep outfielder Kevin Roberts Jr. have advanced to Phase 2 of USA Baseball’s U18 National Team Training Camp in Cary, N.C. There will be a second cut to 20 players, who will compete in the U-18 Baseball World Cup in Okinawa, Japan. … Nick Fortes, just acquired by Tampa Bay from Miami, is in the Rays’ lineup at catcher for tonight’s game at Yankee Stadium, facing New York ace Max Fried.

29 Jul

trade breeze

A pair of former Mississippi college standouts will trade places today in a deal that will soon be overshadowed when the trade winds pick up in MLB. Tampa Bay, in need of a defensive-minded catcher, is acquiring former Ole Miss star Nick Fortes from Miami, sending ex-Southern Miss star Matthew Etzel, a third-year minor league outfielder, to the Marlins. The Rays are 54-53 after beating the New York Yankees on Monday and are hanging on the fringe of the American League wild card race. Fortes, in his fifth big league season, was batting .240 with two home runs and 10 RBIs in 59 games as a part-timer for Miami. He’ll join a Rays team that includes Mississippi State alum Jake Mangum and share catching duties with Matt Thaiss, a .219 hitter. Etzel is currently on the injured list at Double-A Montgomery. He is batting .230 with five homers, 34 RBIs and 17 steals. Originally drafted by Baltimore in 2023 and traded last summer, the speedy Etzel is a .267 career hitter with 83 steals. He’ll likely go to Double-A Pensacola and join a club that includes Ole Miss product Kemp Alderman. P.S. Former Mississippi Braves star Michael Harris II, in the throes of a tough offensive year, was named the National League player of the week. He batted .478 with six extra-base hits, including two homers and two triples, last week. … A host of former Biloxi Shuckers started for Milwaukee on Monday in an 8-4 win over the visiting Chicago Cubs that moved the Brewers a game up in the NL Central. Shuckers alum Sal Frelick, batting leadoff, went 2-for-4 with a walk, a homer and two runs as the Brewers overcame a ragged start by ex-Shuckers star Jacob Misiorowski. … Former Jackson Prep star Konnor Griffin, currently in High-Class A for Pittsburgh, is now Baseball America’s No. 1 overall prospect; MLB Pipeline previously ranked Griffin No. 1.