welcome back
Big league baseball roared back Friday from its midsummer nap, and Mississippians shared in the noisemaking. Brian Dozier, the ex-Southern Miss star, hit a leadoff home run for Minnesota, his 14th of the season and the 21st leadoff blast of his career, which makes him the all-time franchise leader in that stat. He also had a three-run double in the Twins’ 10-5 loss to Houston, which continues to look like baseball’s best team. … Former Mississippi State standout Adam Frazier got three hits for Pittsburgh and was on base for Josh Bell’s walk-off homer in the Pirates’ 5-2 victory over St. Louis. Frazier, who has played six different positions plus DH this season, is batting .263 with three homers, 28 RBIs and 35 runs. … Ole Miss alum Drew Pomeranz went six innings for Boston against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park, yielding four runs (including a go-ahead two-run bomb by Gary Sanchez in the fifth) while fanning seven. But Pomeranz, who is 9-4, escaped taking the loss when the Red Sox rallied against Aroldis Chapman in the ninth to win 5-4. … Tim Anderson, the East Central Community College alum, made MLB Network’s top plays with a leaping snag at shortstop in the Chicago White Sox’s 4-2 loss to Seattle. Southwest Mississippi CC product Jarrod Dyson notched his 21st stolen base for the Mariners. … Former M-Braves star Freddie Freeman had a homer – his 17th – and an RBI single in Atlanta’s gritty 4-3 win against Arizona; Freeman is batting .352. … Former Biloxi Shuckers star Orlando Arcia hit his ninth homer to help fuel Milwaukee’s 9-6 win vs. Philadelphia; Arcia is batting .282 with 33 RBIs and 35 runs for the first-place Brewers. Ex-Shuckers ace Josh Hader got a couple of outs and trimmed his ERA to 0.69 in nine appearances. P.S. San Diego put State product Hunter Renfroe on the 10-day disabled list (retroactive to July 10) with a neck problem. The rookie outfielder is hitting .231 with 16 homers.