SAL Hudson Valley Renegades

HVR Game Notes - May 7, 2023

May 7, 2023 - South Atlantic League (SAL)
Hudson Valley Renegades News Release


Hudson Valley Renegades (18-8) vs. Wilmington Blue Rocks (11-13)

RHP Drew Thorpe (1-0, 2.86 ERA) vs. RHP Chance Huff (2-1, 4.50 ERA)

| Game 27 | Home Game 15 | Heritage Financial Park | Wappingers Falls, N.Y. | May 7, 2023 | First Pitch 2:05 p.m. |

FRIENDS OF MR. CELERY: The Hudson Valley Renegades battle the Wilmington Blue Rocks for the sixth 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: Alexander Vargas blasted a three-run home run the bottom of the seventh inning to lift the Renegades to a 3-1 victory over Wilmington on Saturday. Chase Hampton allowed just one run in five innings while punching out nine. Hampton has now struck out 19 in his last two starts over 9.2 innings. Jack Neely and Bailey Dees combined to hurl four scoreless frames afterwards. Ben Cowles, Aldenis Sánchez, Caleb Durbin, and Vargas each finished with two hits in the contest.

MAKING MOVES: The New York Yankees made a pair of roster moves effecting the Renegades on Saturday, 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.

LEAVING THEM ON: Over the course of the Renegades four-game winning streak against the Wilmington Blue Rocks, the 'Gades pitching staff has been lockdown. The Blue Rocks offense has stranded 37 runners on base while hitting just .083 (3-for-36) with runners in scoring position. This includes a current 1-for-23 mark over the last three games with their last hit in this situation, coming on Thursday via a Nick Shumpert RBI single in the eighth inning.

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 ten games, Aaron Palensky is 18-for-40 and slashing .450/.511/1.025 with two doubles, seven home runs, 15 RBIs, and four stolen bases. He is currently tied for first in HR (8), first in AVG (.371), SLG (.839) & OPS (1.290), fourth in RBI (22), tied for fifth in XBH (12), and fifth in TB (52), and sixth in OBP (.451) in the South Atlantic League.

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 two doubles, two RBIs, two walks and a stolen base. The 'Gades infielder is currently riding a six-game hitting streak, his longest streak of the season. Durbin is also second on 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 +65 run differential in 26 games, the Renegades own the 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 +55 differential and are the next closest team to the 'Gades. The Renegades have five games this season, where they have won by seven or more runs.

GAS STATION: Through 26 games this season the Renegades pitching staff has registered 298 strikeouts, the most in the SAL, all High-A teams, and fifth-most among all non-Triple-A teams in the minor leagues. On Tuesday vs Wilmington, the 'Gades bullpen racked up an impressive 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 6th in all of MiLB. The Lynchburg Hillcats (CLE, A) lead the way with 77 through 26 games. Caleb Durbin leads the team with 15 steals so far, tied for the most in the South Atlantic League with Max Ferguson (GVL).

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



South Atlantic League Stories from May 7, 2023


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central