SAL Hudson Valley Renegades

HVR Game Notes - April 19, 2023

Published on April 19, 2023 under South Atlantic League (SAL)
Hudson Valley Renegades News Release


Hudson Valley Renegades (6-4) at Rome Braves (4-5)

LHP Joel Valdez (0-0, 9.82 ERA) vs. RHP Ian Mejia (1-0, 2.70 ERA)

| Game 11 | Road Game 2 | AdventHealth Stadium | Rome, GA | April 19, 2023 | First Pitch: 11 a.m. |

SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO SAY, 'WHEN IN ROME': The Hudson Valley Renegades continue their second-ever series in the state of Georgia on Wednesday as they take on the Rome Braves, the High-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves at AdventHealth Stadium. In 2022, the Renegades played their first six-game series of the season in Rome, dropping four of six to the R-Braves to close out a season-opening road trip. The set was highlighted by a five-hit game by T.J. Rumfield, and a mammoth 467-foot home run by Everson Pereira.

GO ON...: The Renegades and Rome Braves face each other 12 times this season, with each team hosting the other for a six-game series. The 'Gades play more games with the R-Braves than against any SAL South opponent this year, and also more time than SAL North foe Greensboro (3 games). Incredibly, Hudson Valley has been scheduled to play Rome 24 times in 2022 and 2023, while Greensboro, a division rival, has been slated for just nine contests.

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: After falling behind 2-0 two batters into the bottom of the first inning, the Hudson Valley Renegades bounced back with authority to defeat the Rome Braves 8-2. Spencer Henson, Alexander Vargas and Ben Rice all hit home runs for the 'Gades, while the team also stole six bases. Chase Hampton surrendered a two-run home run to Drake Baldwin five pitches into his night, but settled down after to allow just two more baserunners and strike out six in 4.2 innings.

ALL ABOUT THE RUN DIFFERENTIAL: With a +34 run differential in 10 games, the Renegades boast the fourth-best run differential among all minor league teams in Double-A or below (Triple-A began a week early in 2023). Only the Rocket City Trash Pandas (+40 -- LAA, AA), Fayetteville Woodpeckers (+36 -- HOU, A), and Lake Elsinore Storm (+38 -- SD, A) have posted better scoring margins than Hudson Valley this season.

DURBIN MOTORING AROUND: In the top of the fourth, Caleb Durbin stole second base, third base and home in succession to produce a run. He became the first Renegades player to steal second, third and home in the same inning since Anthony Seigler did so on July 6, 2022 at Jersey Shore. That rare feat is more common in the minor leagues, but has only been accomplished 54 times in the AL or NL, with 40 instances happening before World War II.

BENNY AND THE JETS: Renegades C Ben Rice is off to stellar start at the plate this season. The Dartmouth grad currently ranks first in HBP (5), third in OBP (.564) and t-12th in AVG (.333) in the South Atlantic League. Rice is second on the 'Gades in average, doubles (2), and OPS (1.119). He only trails Spencer Jones in all three categories.

STAY IN THE YARD: Marcos Cabrera's inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the sixth on Thursday against Aberdeen was the first inside-the-park home run for the Renegades since Eric Wagaman circled the bases against Jersey Shore on June 9, 2022 at Heritage Financial Park. Wagaman's inside-the-parker was part of a 10-run inning for Hudson Valley in a 15-1 rout of the BlueClaws.

PITCHING LEADING THE WAY AGAIN: The Renegades rank first in ERA (2.37) among South Atlantic League teams and all High-A teams. The 'Gades rank third among all MiLB teams with a 2.37 ERA this season, trailing only Rocket City (2.13 -- LAA, AA) and Lake Elsinore (2.14 -- SD, A). This comes after Hudson Valley paced the SAL in ERA in 2022 (3.62), and finished with the second-best ERA among all High-A teams. The Hudson Valley bullpen has been even better, sporting a collective 1.61 ERA through 44.2 innings, the best mark in MiLB.

RISPY BUSINESS: In the past four games, the Renegades pitching staff has left 29 runners on base. Aberdeen finished an unbelievable 1-for-35 in the final three games of the series with runners in scoring position. This season, opponents are hitting just .111 with RISP against Renegades pitching, the lowest mark in all of MiLB. The Akron RubberDucks (CLE, AA) are second-best with opponents hitting .129 with RISP.

MR. STEAL YOUR BASE: After going 6-for-6 on stolen base attempts in Tuesday's series opener with Rome, the Renegades are now 24-for-26 in stolen base attempts this season. They rank second in the South Atlantic League in steals, trailing only Jersey Shore (25). The Lynchburg Hillcats (CLE, A) went 11-for-11 in steal attempts on Tuesday to rocket to the top of the MiLB steals leaderboard with 39 through 10 games.

CAREER DAY FOR AARON: In Wednesday's 12-5 win over Aberdeen, Aaron Palensky drove in four runs and collected four hits, while falling just a double shy of the cycle. The four hits set a new career-high while the four RBIs tied his career best. The former Nebraska Cornhusker tallied 4 RBIs last year, on August 21 against the Brooklyn Cyclones, when he connected for a grand slam.

SPENCERS BRING THEM IN: In last Tuesday's series opener with Aberdeen, Spencer Jones and Spencer Henson each hit two HR and had 5 RBIs. They became the first pair of HV teammates to homer twice and collect 5 RBIs in the same game since Everson Pereira and Carlos Narvaez did so at Greensboro on 6/17/2022. Previous to that, the last time two 'Gades teammates had 5 RBIs in the same game was on 9/2/2012 when Luke Maile and Justin O'Conner each had 5 RBIs at ABD.

Check out the Hudson Valley Renegades Statistics

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South Atlantic League Stories from April 19, 2023


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