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.