watch for it

There’s a nice Mississippi-angled sidebar to tonight’s Houston-Florida game. Astros ace Roy Oswalt, the ex-Holmes Community College standout from Weir, makes his much-anticipated return after missing a couple of starts with a back problem, and among the Marlins he’ll face is sizzling hot Chris Coghlan. The former Ole Miss star, scheduled to hit leadoff tonight, has recorded a franchise-record nine straight multi-hit games. He is having a tremendous rookie season, despite having been shifted from second base to a new spot, left field, which he has had to learn on the fly.
P.S. Props, a bit belated, go out to Marcus Thames, who belted his 100th career home run for Detroit on Sunday. Even in this era of sluggers, that’s a noteworthy milestone for the former East Central CC standout from Louisville, who, by the way, hit his first career blast off Randy Johnson. … Props, too, to former Mississippi Brave Martin Prado, who has 52 hits since June 30. He’s a big reason the Atlanta Braves have become a factor again in the playoff race. … And one more nod to Hillcrest Christian and Ole Miss alumnus Seth Smith, who got yet another pinch hit on Sunday — that’s 15 for the year, unofficially — for resurgent Colorado.