Hunter Renfroe had some fun with numbers on Saturday. The ex-Mississippi State standout went 3-for-3 with a walk, two doubles, a home run, four runs and two RBIs, helping San Diego beat Colorado 8-5 at Petco Park. The home run, his 31st of the season, was his 300th career hit and produced his 200th career RBI. He has 87 career homers in three-plus seasons in the majors. …
At Petco Park tonight, a pair of Mississippi high school sluggers with big league dreams will take part in the Perfect Game All-American Classic (MLB Network, 7 p.m.). DeSoto Central High’s Blaze Jordan and Columbia Academy’s Slade Wilks are on opposing teams. Jordan, a right-handed hitting third baseman who goes 6 feet 2, 218 pounds, won the High School Home Run Derby competition at this year’s MLB All-Star Game. He was featured in Baseball America when he was in ninth grade, and the Perfect Game profile calls him a “travel ball legend.” He is a Mississippi State commit. Wilks, listed at 6-2, 215, is a lefty-swinging outfielder also cited for his prodigious power; the PG profile says he has started at Columbia Academy since eighth grade and has 44 homers entering his senior year. He is a Southern Miss commit. …
Meridian Community College alum Corey Dickerson’s seventh home of the season was the only run Philadelphia scored in a loss to San Francisco on Saturday, and ex-MSU star Adam Frazier’s sixth homer was the lone run Pittsburgh tallied in a defeat against St. Louis. P.S. Ripped open an old (very old) pack of baseball cards on Saturday — in homage to National Baseball Card Day — and as fate would have it, there was a Mississippian in the bunch. Matt Lawton, the Gulfport native and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College product who enjoyed a good 12-year big league career. This was a 2002 Topps Series 2 basic edition card. Lawton is pictured in what appears to be a Cleveland Indians spring training unie. After spending the first six-and-a-half years of his career in Minnesota, Lawton was traded to the New York Mets in 2001, then dealt to Cleveland that off-season. Lawton played for seven teams before he was done, made two All-Star Games and finished as a .267 career hitter. …
Also in this particular pack of cards was a Shane Halter, who also has a Mississippi connection: His son Gunner played at MSU last season. There was a Marcus Giles and a Vernon Wells and a Joe Nathan and a special card honoring Barry Bonds for his 2001 MVP award. A nice haul. But is there ever really a bad one?
