Big League Bulldogs (entering 8/7): Spelling relief D-A-W-G-S
In the 2020 Major League Baseball season, former Mississippi State pitchers Chris Stratton of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Jonathan Holder of the New York Yankees are teaching big leaguers one of the best ways to spell 'relief' is D-A-W-G-S.
Stratton and Holder again put up strong outings for their respective teams on Thursday, combining to throw 3.1 scoreless innings.
Stratton's effort aided a come-from-behind win for the Pirates. He entered to start the seventh inning with Pittsburgh trailing the Minnesota Twins 5-3. Stratton held the Twins right where they were at as he pitched around a two-out single in the seventh, then retired the first two men he faced in the eighth before being lifted.
In all, Stratton hurled 1.2 scoreless innings, struck out one, didn't walk anybody and gave up only a pair of singles. Not long after, Pittsburgh put Stratton's strong relief outing to use as the Pirates scored a run in the eighth and two more in the ninth to walk off with a 6-5 victory.
Holder's Yankees weren't able to emerge victorious, but it wasn't because Holder couldn't hold up his end. Like Stratton, Holder pitched 1.2 scoreless innings. He entered with a runner on second and one out in the bottom of the seventh and left him stranded as he got Phillies slugger Rhys Hoskins to ground out, then after walking Bryce Harper, Holder struck out J.T. Realmuto.
Holder followed that up by posting a scoreless frame in the eighth. He did allow a one-out single, but struck out two more Phillies to keep the Yankees down just 5-4. New York couldn't complete its comeback try, but it appears Holder is perhaps performing as well as he has in his MLB career to this point.
As for the other former Bulldogs who are active MLB players, here are Thursday's stats for the three that saw action and season stats for all former MSU stars:
THURSDAY/SEASON STATS
2B Adam Frazier (Pirates) - Won 6-5 over Twins
- On Thursday: 0-for-4
- Thursday's plate appearances: Fly out to CF, Line out to CF, Ground out (on bunt) to P, Fly out to LF
- Season stats: .149 BA, .231 OBP, .465 OPS, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 3 R
RP Chris Stratton (Pirates) - Won 6-5 over Twins
- On Thursday: 1.2 inning pitched, 2 hits allowed, 0 runs allowed, 0 walks allowed, 1 strikeout
- Season stats: 0-0 record, 2.84 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, 7 K, 6.1 IP
RP Jonathan Holder (Yankees) - Lost 5-4 to Phillies
- On Thursday: 1.2 inning pitched, 1 hits allowed, 0 runs allowed, 1 walk allowed, 3 strikeouts
- Season stats: 0-0 record, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 6 K, 5.0 IP
DID NOT PLAY THURSDAY
SP Kendall Graveman (Mariners) - Lost 6-1 to Angels
- Season stats: 0-2 record, 8.31 ERA, 1.62 WHIP, 10 K, 8.2 IP
SP Dakota Hudson (Cardinals) - Game vs. Tigers postponed
- Season stats: 0-1 record, 8.31 ERA, 1.85 WHIP, 4 K, 4.1 IP
1B Mitch Moreland (Red Sox) - No game scheduled
- Season stats: .286 BA, .286 OBP, 1.048 OPS, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 4 R
RF Hunter Renfroe (Rays) - No game scheduled
- Season stats: .184 BA, .279 OBP, .674 OPS, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 4 R
SP Brandon Woodruff (Brewers) - Won 8-3 over White Sox
- Season stats: 1-1 record, 2.08 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 21 K, 17.1 IP
- Scheduled to start again Sunday vs. Reds
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