the view out west

Seth Smith walloped a home run for Oakland on Tuesday night, his first since June 16 – and first since having Lasik surgery last week. Smith, the ex-Hillcrest and Ole Miss standout, is having a down year (.240, seven homers, 34 RBIs), but maybe the ocular tuneup was what he needed to get him going. His homer on Tuesday was a key blow for the A’s, who beat Detroit 6-3 and remained 2.5 games behind first-place Texas in the American League West. The Rangers, getting an RBI hit from Mississippi State product Mitch Moreland, beat Seattle 4-3. Oakland currently holds the No. 2 wild card spot in the AL, but there are a lot of dogs still in the fight. The last few weeks of the season are going to be fun to watch in that league. P.S. Miami has sent former Ole Miss star Chris Coghlan to Triple-A New Orleans for a rehab assignment. … Former Mississippi Braves right-hander Paul Clemens pitched six strong innings for Houston in his first MLB start (not his first appearance) on Tuesday, but the Astros’ bullpen blew the save against the Chicago White Sox. Jackson native Donnie Veal cherry-picked the win for the Sox. … The M-Braves, now tied for first in the Southern League South with five games left at Jacksonville, topped the 200,000 mark in attendance after a strong final homestand. The announced average for 2013 was 2,861, down slightly from 2012 (2,904). The average in 2005, the club’s first year at Trustmark Park, was 3,847.