three stars — plus one

Three Mississippians in the majors flashed some major star power on Saturday.
1. Billy Hamilton. The ex-Taylorsville High standout went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, a run and a steal (No. 20) to help Cincinnati beat Washington 8-5. Hamilton, who has been scuffling (along with his team) and now hits ninth in the order, boosted his average to .228.
2. Joey Butler. The Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College product from Pascagoula went 2-for-3 with a home run (No. 3) as Tampa Bay topped Baltimore 3-0. Butler, getting regular playing time for the first time in his brief MLB career, is batting .309.
3. Brian Dozier. The former Southern Miss star from Tupelo (and Fulton) tripled off the glove of the right fielder, plating the go-ahead run in the seventh inning of Minnesota’s 3-2 victory over Toronto. Dozier’s 26 extra base hits (including nine homers) leads all MLB second basemen. He has 25 RBIs and 38 runs.
P.S. Williams Perez was never a ballyhooed prospect as he slowly climbed the ladder in Atlanta’s minor league system, but he certainly looked the part on Saturday night, when he threw seven shutout innings against San Francisco and notched his first big league win (beating Tim Lincecum). Perez, 24, who went 7-6 with a 2.91 ERA for the Mississippi Braves in 2014, was signed by the Braves out of Venezuela in 2009 and spent four seasons toiling in the low minors, finally reaching Class A Rome in 2013. With a 2.66 ERA over five games (three starts), he appears to have earned a spot in Atlanta’s rotation. … Perez was one of six former M-Braves to earn either a win or a save on Saturday. The others: Charlie Morton, J.J. Hoover, Chasen Shreve, Randall Delgado and Blaine Boyer (one of the original M-Braves of 2005).