Avina Homers, Extends On-Base Streak as Pats Fall to Cats Thursday
EL Somerset Patriots

Avina Homers, Extends On-Base Streak as Pats Fall to Cats Thursday

Published on May 28, 2026 under Eastern League (EL)
Somerset Patriots News Release


Somerset Patriots pitcher Hayden Merda
Somerset Patriots pitcher Hayden Merda
(Somerset Patriots)

The Somerset Patriots fell to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats 14-2 at TD Bank Ballpark on Thursday night in Bridgewater, NJ.

With Jace Avina's home run in the eighth inning, Somerset has homered in 13 of its last 14 games. The Patriots' 82 home runs this season lead Double-A and are fourth in MiLB. Somerset's 82 home runs in the first 48 games of the season are a Double-A record in the Research Tool Era (since 2005).

Avina's home run also marked Somerset's only extra base hit of the night. The Patriots extended their extra base hit streak to 48 games. At the time of the game ending, the franchise record streak is the longest active streak in Double-A and second-longest in MiLB.

Somerset's pitching staff tallied 13 strikeouts. The Patriots' 11.2 K/9 leads Double-A and ranks ninth in MiLB. Somerset's bullpen totaled eight strikeouts across 4.2 IP in relief of starter Xavier Rivas. The bullpen's .316 K% leads Double-A and ranks second in MiLB.

LHP Xavier Rivas (4.1 IP, 11 H, 11 R, 2 BB, 5 K) tallied his fifth consecutive outing punching out at least five batters. His 48 K this season leads all Patriots pitchers.

RHP Hayden Merda (1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K) worked his sixth consecutive scoreless outing, pushing his scoreless streak to 9.0 innings. Across his last 12 outings, Merda has tallied a 0.55 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, .169 BAA with 30 K, 5 BB and 1 ER in 16.1 IP. In that stretch, he's struck out 46.2% of hitters helping up his season-long strikeout rate to 43.0%. Merda's 43.0% strikeout rate ranks third among all Double-A relievers and fifth among all qualified MiLB relievers.

RF Jace Avina (2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, R) smacked his 13th HR of the season with a leadoff blast in the eighth inning. Avina's eight home runs to lead off an inning lead Double-A and rank second in MiLB. Only two MLB hitters (Byron Buxton, James Wood) have more leadoff home runs than Avina. Avina joins Tyler Hardman and Garrett Martin as the only Patriots with 13-plus homers this season.

Avina extended his on-base streak to a career-high 26 games. His active 26-game on-base streak leads all active Eastern League hitters and is the longest by a Patriot this season. During the streak, Avina is slashing .321/.408/.651 with nine HR, 24 RBI and 18 XBH. He's raised his OPS from .629 to .895 in that span. Avina's 26-game on-base streak is the longest by a Patriot since Dylan Jasso's 28-game on-base streak 5/20/25 - 6/24/25 last season. It is the fourth-longest by a Patriot all-time.

2B, 3B Kevin Verde (1-for-3) picked up his first career Double-A hit in the second inning.

Check out the Somerset Patriots Statistics

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Somerset Patriots pitcher Hayden Merda
Somerset Patriots pitcher Hayden Merda
   



Eastern League Stories from May 28, 2026


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