one day in september

Start in Pittsburgh, where, in the ninth inning on Friday, Ole Miss alum Zack Cozart (single) and Taylorsville High product Billy Hamilton (stolen base, run) played big parts in Cincinnati’s huge comeback win. After getting three runs in the ninth, the Reds won 6-5 on a Joey Votto homer in the 10th. They’re now tied with ex-Jackson Mets manager Clint Hurdle’s Pirates in the National League wild card battle, both 2 games behind their Central Division rival St. Louis. … Flash to Tampa Bay, where, in the 18th inning, former Itawamba Community College standout Desmond Jennings doubled and scored the game-winning run on a hit by David DeJesus. “That was fun, man,” Jennings said. The Rays’ 5-4 win over Mississippi State product Buck Showalter’s Baltimore Orioles puts them atop the American League wild card race, with Cleveland now in second. The O’s are 2.5 games out. … In Cleveland, the Indians (Mississippi connection: ex-Ole Miss star Mickey Callaway is the first-year pitching coach) beat Houston 2-1. … At Kansas City, former JaxMets catcher Ned Yost’s resilient Royals (2.5 games back of Cleveland in the wild card) dealt Texas a blow with their 2-1 win. Last out of the game: MSU alum Mitch Moreland, 0-for-3 on the night, flies out to former Southwest Mississippi CC star Jarrod Dyson in deep center field. Texas, essentially done in the AL West, is a half-game behind Cleveland in the wild card standings. … Jump to Chicago, where Atlanta cut its magic number for clinching the NL East to 1 by beating the Cubs with a ninth-inning rally. MSU product Paul Maholm allowed four runs in 5 1/3 innings and got no decision when the bullpen blew a lead. … At Colorado, in a game with no playoff impact, ex-Meridian CC standout Corey Dickerson belted his fourth homer of the year; it came off ex-Mississippi Gulf Coast CC ace Tony Sipp, who took the loss for the Diamondbacks.