taking some lumps

Dakota Hudson pitched Saturday and got knocked around. So did fellow Mississippi products Mike Mayers, Chris Stratton and Brian Dozier. Wait a second … Brian Dozier? Yes, the former Southern Miss star, the Washington Nationals’ second baseman, took the bump for the first time in his big league career in a blowout loss at Arizona. He got three outs but also surrendered a three-run homer to Eduardo Escobar, an ex-teammate — and still good friend — from their Minnesota days. The Diamondbacks won 18-7. For what it’s worth, nine of Dozier’s 16 pitches were strikes, but he may be saddled with an 18.00 ERA for the rest of his days. In other pitching news: Mississippi State alum Hudson, in a recent funk for St. Louis, lasted just 3 2/3 innings against Oakland, allowing three earned runs on five hits and five walks in an 8-3 defeat. His record fell to 10-6, his ERA rose to 3.99. Former Ole Miss standout Mayers worked in relief for the Cardinals but didn’t provide much: two runs in 1 1/3 innings. Stratton, another ex-State star, yielded three runs in 2/3 of an inning for Pittsburgh in a loss to Ole Miss alum Mickey Callaway’s resurgent New York Mets. MSU product Jonathan Holder had a good day for the New York Yankees, throwing two clean innings in relief in the Bombers’ 9-2 Game 1 win over Boston. P.S. The Houston Astros threw a four-man no-hitter against Seattle, the club’s 12th no-no and second combo. The other came in 2003, when six pitchers no-hit the Yankees. Weir native and Holmes Community College alum Roy Oswalt started that game but left after one inning with an injury. By odd coincidence, Oswalt was formally inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday night.