SAL Hudson Valley Renegades

HVR Game Notes - May 6, 2023

Published on May 6, 2023 under South Atlantic League (SAL)
Hudson Valley Renegades News Release


Hudson Valley Renegades (17-8) vs. Wilmington Blue Rocks (11-12)

RHP Chase Hampton (0-0, 4.61 ERA) vs. RHP Kyle Luckham (0-0, 1.80 ERA)

| Game 26 | Home Game 14 | Heritage Financial Park | Wappingers Falls, N.Y. | May 6, 2023 | First Pitch 4:05 p.m. |

FRIENDS OF MR. CELERY: The Hudson Valley Renegades battle the Wilmington Blue Rocks for the fifth of 30 contests between the two teams this season. The Blue Rocks are the most-frequent opponent of the season for the Renegades. The clubs will play two series at Heritage Financial Park and three at Frawley Stadium in Wilmington.

LAST TIME OUT: Hudson Valley earned their first walk-off win of the season in a 3-2 victory over the Wilmington Blue Rocks on Friday night. After the Blue Rocks tied the game in the top of the ninth, Spencer Henson stole third base and then scored on a wild pitch to win the contest for the Renegades. Dustin Saenz had limited the Renegades offense to just one hit in the first six innings before Henson and Ben Cowles each clubbed solo home runs in the seventh and eighth, respectively. Zach Messinger and Juan Carela combined to complete the nine-inning game with Messinger striking out five and allowing just one run in five innings. Carela recorded a similar line, yielding just one run in four innings while striking out three.

MAKING MOVES: The New York Yankees made a pair of roster moves effecting the Renegades today, transferring Juan Crisp from Double-A Somerset to Hudson Valley and placing Ben Rice on the 7-day Injured List. Those are the first roster moves for the 'Gades since April 18, a span of 19 days. Crisp joins Harrison Cohen as one of two players on the current team who were not on the Hudson Valley Opening Day roster.

WALK (OFF) THIS WAY: On Friday night, the Renegades earned their first walk-off win of the season over the Wilmington Blue Rocks on a wild pitch that scored Spencer Henson in the ninth inning. The 'Gades recorded just two walk-off wins last season.

DOUBLE TRIPLE AGAIN: With two triples on Wednesday vs Wilmington, Aldenis Sánchez tied the franchise record for most triples in a game and became the second Renegade hitter to accomplish that feat this season. On April 25th in Greenville, Spencer Jones notched two triples in a four-hit night. The last time it was achieved was Aug. 6, 2018, by Ford Proctor against Brooklyn.

MAN ON FIRE: Over the past nine games, Aaron Palensky is 18-for-36 and slashing .500/.561/1.139 with two doubles, seven home runs, 15 RBIs, and four stolen bases. He is currently tied for first in HR (8), tied for third in RBI (22), tied for fifth in XBH (12), and fifth in TB (52) in the South Atlantic League.

FORE RIGHT!: With a sixth-inning home run on Sunday in Greenville, Aaron Palensky homered for the fourth straight game. He became just the fourth Renegade since 2005 to do so, joining Oswald Peraza (May 12-15), Jake Sanford (July 16-21, 2021) and Chad Bell (July 15-20, 2021). The streak was snapped on Tuesday vs Wilmington, but he homered in his next contest to run the stretch to a homer in five out of six games.

CAN'T STOP HIM: Caleb Durbin ranks as one of five Renegades hitters who are hitting over .300 in their last five games. Over this stretch, Durbin is hitting .421/.476/.579 with three doubles, two RBIs, two walks and a stolen base. The 'Gades infielder is currently riding a five-game hitting streak, his longest streak of the season. Durbin also leads the team hitting with RISP this year, hitting .389 and with 8 RBIs while striking out just twice in 18 ABs.

RECORD SETTERS: During their 12-game road trip, the Renegades tied or broke six single-game franchise records. The marks for most team strikeouts (pitching) in a 9-inning game (19) and walks (batting) in a 9-inning game (14), and individual marks for walks (Ben Rice, 4), triples (Spencer Jones, 2), and RBIs (Aaron Palensky, 7) have all been matched. Dubiously, Juan Carela's 12 hits allowed at Greenville on Saturday are also a club record.

ALL ABOUT THE RUN DIFFERENTIAL: With a +63 run differential in 25 games, the Renegades own the second-best run differential among all minor league teams in Double-A or below (Triple-A began a week early in 2023). Lake Elsinore (SD, A) sports a +66 differential and are only team ahead of the 'Gades. The Renegades have five games this season, where they have won by seven or more runs.

GAS STATION: Through 25 games this season the Renegades pitching staff has registered 286 strikeouts, the most in the SAL, all High-A teams, and sixth-most among all non-Triple-A teams in the minor leagues. On Tuesday vs Wilmington, the 'Gades bullpen racked up 12 strikeouts in six innings. Jack Neely and Bailey Dees combined to strike out seven in a row at one point.

MR. STEAL YOUR BASE: After going 12-for-12 on stolen base attempts in the first two games of the Greenville series, the Renegades are now 56-for-64 in stolen base attempts this season. They rank first in the South Atlantic League and High-A in steals and 5th in all of MiLB. The Lynchburg Hillcats (CLE, A) lead the way with 75 through 25 games. Caleb Durbin leads the team with 15 steals so far, the most in the South Atlantic League.

IT'S GONNA BE MAY: With a 14-7 (.667) record in April, the Renegades wrapped up their best calendar month since June 2021 (19-7, .730). The Hudson Valley offense led the way by clobbering 34 home runs in the month, the most in a month since hitting 35 in 27 games in June 2022. The 34 home runs are more than Hudson Valley hit during the 17 entire seasons during their run as a New York-Penn League team ('94, '95, '97, '00, '03, '04, '08-'17, and '19).

Check out the Hudson Valley Renegades Statistics

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South Atlantic League Stories from May 6, 2023


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